Can’t wait to get in the trenches

Last weekend, I was watching an interview with the director of a local community service organization that offers free after-school activities and tutoring.

The guy spends most of his time fundraising (if you know nonprofits, you know this is a never-ending task), hiring, managing employees, dealing with vendors and contractors, managing programs, budgeting, and training.

The interviewer asked him what his favorite part of running the center is.

He replied,

Man, it’s going to sound crazy, but driving the bus.

He said driving the bus to pick up and drop off kids lets him get outside the building, interact with the students they serve, and stay in tune with their needs, struggles, and triumphs.

He specifically mentioned the bus being a sort of comfortable, organic place where he could ask the kids what could be better about the center and the programs they run and they’d share honest answers freely.

That’s great leadership.

Not only that, this guy perfectly articulated what startup advisors mean when they say, "Get out of the building."

He was running a customer success survey hand-to-hand, on the ground, one-on-one. And he never lost his love for doing it! In fact, he was always looking for the chance to drive that bus as a reprieve from office work and a way to reconnect with why he went into this service in the first place.

It’s not always easy, and most of us don’t have physical buses full of customers, users, or partners.

But can we find a way to do whatever our version of driving the bus is? Can we ask people what we can do better in a genuine environment? Can we take joy in it?

I can think of a few better challenges to mull over this weekend.