"And, in the end, the love you take/ Is equal to the love you make." – The Beatles
So with a lot of new energy around the Community there is a need to clarify some of my thoughts around why we as Community Leaders give and for what reasons. I would be lying of I said that I did all the speaking, helping to lead a .NET User Group and volunteer to work on community events totally out of the goodness of my heart. I can tell you that I try to give more than I take from these endeavors in the community. My wife can agree with that statement when she sees the spending I do for the travel, lodging and food for the events and also the time away from my family. She knows and understand the reasons why I work so hard for the Community. So why do I do what I do?
- I received a lot of support starting out and view my involvement as a way to Pay it Forward. I also wish I would have had more support in my career during the rough times and had a group to listen and be heard. This is probably the #1 reason why I work in the community. I want to share what I know and make my industry stronger and improve the quality of software and technology. I hope I do that within my company as well as the Community.
- Exchanging ideas with other like minded technologists and developers. We cannot work in vacuums and/or just inside the walls of our companies if we want to grow and become better at our professions. We need to seek that outside influence and make ourselves uncomfortable by learning beyond sometimes our current capacities. We also need to share what we have learned with others so that others can share in that discomfort that we all need to be better and grow.
- To speak on a subject to people makes you learn more about your profession. When I speak I have to not only learn the subject thoroughly but I have to be able to speak about it. That second part is difficult and will make most people learn not only about the specific technologies but the adjoining technologies also. if I speak on ADO.NET Data Services I also have to know quite a bit about Entity Framework so that I can speak on a complimentary/foundation technology for ADO.NET Data Services.
- The message in #3 also rings true for mentoring. Everyone should have a Mentor and be a Mentor. That is part of the Community I strive for. Interact with a single person instead of a room of people is just an impactful for you and the person you are mentoring. I started mentoring 6 months after college and have gotten10X more from it than anyone I mentored through the years.
- You can make some very string friendships by working in the Community. I have friends I have made at all the events and Community groups I participate in and I am a better person from them. I hope those people feel the same way. No matter if those friendships are entirely online or are people in your area you see routinely, they help you as a person and professional be better and also allow you to have that support we all need in our lives. Always answer the call for help from your friends and ask for help when needed.
- Finally I work in the Community for selfish reasons like reputation, networking and career building. I want to have the best career I can have and so does the next guy. What I have learned through the years is that if you help people get to better places they tend to help you also. We can think of it as karma also. No one can expect to just be handed everything just by demanding or expecting it. I work hard keeping my contacts, friends and business acquaintances relationships strong so that if I ever need help I can reach out and get the help. I cannot however expect that help if I never give when others are asking for help. We should never expect anything in return though when asked for help. That is my highest rule in regards to faith, family and work. if I ever expect anything in return, I am not really giving but making that person or people obligated to help me when the time comes. They should want to help for the the same reason i do.
I am glad I got this off my chest. I also hope the reader of this post already knows these views and lives by them. So go out and help the Community and make others better. I bet you will realize that you are much better for it.