Last Thursday and Friday I was at the Baldrige Regional Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Nearly 200 people from a wide variety of organizations, across all sectors attended to hear stories of the journey and best practices from Baldrige Award recipients. The energy, which was obvious among the pre-conference workshop attendees, noticeably grew throughout the conference sessions on Friday. It was as though one person's enthusiasm "infected" another -- in a very positive way.
Another evidence of the "contagious" nature of quality was the growing commitment by dozens of volunteers, many from the Baldrige-based state program, MassExcellence, to make this event a success. Coordinated by the staff at the Baldrige National Quality Program, these volunteers helped to market the event, coordinate logistics, reach out to welcome the pre-conference attendees, and perform countless other tasks -- some visible to the attendees and some not, but no less important. Quality people have a passion for making things happen!
How do we harness this kind of "contagion" in our own organizations -- both the ones we work in and those not-for-profit endeavors we support? I'd love to hear your stories.
Last Fall, I attended a meeting to recruit a new leadership team for the Boston Section. After Gil Andrade asked for specific position volunteers, one table started with a volunteer for BOSCON, the annual big conference. Suddenly, from the same table, a new incoming chair, a new treasurer, and a new secretary emerged by volunteering. Engagement in quality and leadership is contagious, and we should all infect a few more people.
Posted by: David Manalan | October 6, 2009 1:35 PM