Many successful businesspeople have had the business “aha” moment in their careers when everything clicked, and a seemingly routine event or conversation altered their career path, enhanced their career or changed their perspective to lead them to a new or better discovery. If we are lucky in business, we will have a handful of these experiences in our careers.

It may be talking to an unexpected employee who gives sage advice, a former business leader who passes down their wisdom or a child who gives a fresh perspective that can only come from innocence.

For me, mine was several years ago, when I was at a conference and we had a guest speaker. This speaker came highly accredited — but they all do — and although I gain something from every presentation I see, on this day I had an “aha” moment. A recent email from this speaker sparked me to share this story, and the advice, with you.

First off, the speaker is a gentleman named Bob Harris. He doesn’t know me. We are not friends or even Facebook friends, and I haven’t seen him since that day several years ago. We haven’t talked on the phone, or emailed back and forth and he wouldn’t remember me if I moved in next door to him. In fact, Bob Harris has no idea at all the impact he had on me.

In nonprofit circles, Bob is a revered expert. He continually gets the highest marks at wherever he presents and he has a large industry following. His website, nonprofitcenter.com, is a hidden gem for any industry leader.

He spoke at one of our Maine Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives meetings several years back. The group is made up of people like me, leaders of local and regional chambers of commerce, and during our session they were posing numerous questions to him about policy, ethics, board interactions, member recruitment and governance. He was responsive and engaging, doling out incredible insight — but being quite calm and steady throughout.

To see a true expert practice his craft is a sight to behold. Each question would be a complex 40-second retelling of a specific issue that chamber was facing and Bob magnificently would respond in a self-assured and efficient manner, addressing the root of the issue, giving its resolution and rarely taking longer than 20 seconds to do so. His self-assured nature was not boastful or arrogant, but simply the calm resolve that only an expert knows. It was impressive.

In that three-hour session, I learned more about my industry than I had in the previous five years — and that learning continues today.

I’m fortunate enough to receive Bob’s monthly e-newsletter with a tip or two about a nonprofit issue. His May 2017 tip was about the return on investment (ROI) for volunteering and specifically board service. It’s a common issue in nonprofit groups, and many of you are a part of them.

If you are not a chamber volunteer or a volunteer for the Brunswick Downtown Association or Main Street Bath, maybe you volunteer for the United Way, or Big Brothers Big Sisters, or the Gathering Place, or People’s Plus. Maybe you help with a booster club for your child, or coach soccer or Little League — maybe you’re the concession stand guru. There are plenty of opportunities to give back in this region.

Some businesses wonder why their people should take time out of work to volunteer. What’s in it for them? What’s the return on investment for the business?

Bob Harris helped me and all nonprofits by answering that question in his May newsletter.

What Bob did, in his efficient manner, is list out the skills that a board volunteer acquires by volunteering on a board of directors. Each skill is accompanied with a description like “Community Service — Learning to position the association as a good corporate citizen” and “Forecasting — Monitoring internal and external forces which have an impact on programming.”

It’s true. As a volunteer board member, many do learn about community service and forecasting. The description included helps a business owner see why that skill would be transferable to their organization. Efficiently, Bob Harris is helping to explain why taking time away from work is beneficial to the employee because the skills gained by volunteering can be used in the company the volunteer works for.

Other skills a volunteer board member acquires, according to the piece, are: collaboration and negotiation, lobbying, evaluation, public speaking, selflessness, time management, networking, budgeting, roles respect and about a dozen more. This kind of advice, and these simplistic and efficient documents, are essential for all association leaders, be it nonprofit or not.

I encourage you, if you get the chance to see Bob Harris present in person, that you do so without hesitation. If your company is stuck on policy development, check out his website for some ideas, as it is full of templates of documents all companies need (conflict of interest, roles and responsibilities templates, etc.)

And if you are a local nonprofit agency who has these type of policy questions, give me a call or drop me an email and we can chat. I’d also love to hear about any industry leaders you rely on. There is a lot to know in this world, and it becomes a whole lot easier for all of us if we share it with one another.