Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ contains timeless insights which can be beneficial for those managing and leading volunteers. Fostering positive relationships with your volunteers, communicating effectively and positively influencing volunteers and colleagues are fundamental attributes of those who effectively lead volunteers. This book provides guidance on these topics and is a valuable tool to reflect on one’s own behaviour and refresh on some important principles to consider when interacting with your volunteers.

Carnegie advises us to never criticise or condemn others as doing so puts the other person on the defensive, damages their sense of pride and provokes resentment. Next time a volunteer incorrectly follows instructions or goes against policy, instead of criticising or not addressing the issue, Carnegie encourages us to think about things from the other person’s perspective and try to understand the individual and the cause of their behaviour. Perhaps the volunteer wasn’t provided with the required training or a staff member asked them to perform the task differently or potentially there is a cause in the volunteer’s personal life. Showing compassion and understanding with gentle questioning can assist with discovering the root cause and together you and the volunteer can work collaboratively with the aim to improve.

Carnegie urges his readers to ‘make the other person feel important and do it sincerely.’ As leaders of volunteers it is crucial to take the time to really get to know your volunteers, call them by their preferred name, greet them with an enthusiastic smile and demonstrate your genuine interest in them. This might sound entirely obvious but it can be all too easy to get caught up in the business of the day and find yourself listening but not truly focusing on the person you are talking to. Sometimes simply actively listening to a volunteer and encouraging them to talk about themselves can make all the difference in making them feel valued and respected. Taking the time to remember specific details about your volunteers e.g. what they are studying or where they have been on holiday and asking them questions about their interests or achievements can increase your connection with them and demonstrate your value for them as an individual.

An essential principle of volunteer management and a key message from this book is to provide ‘honest and sincere appreciation.’ As an alternative to giving a general ’thank you for volunteering today’, it can be advantageous to provide specific and genuine appreciation in recognising the task the volunteer has completed. Additionally by demonstrating the impact of the volunteer’s work, you can further enhance your appreciation towards the volunteer e.g. ‘Jane, thank you for your help today in cleaning the dog yards. Your assistance enabled us to ensure all the dogs were walked.’

‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ can be a valuable tool to increase your leadership competence and improve your ability to work effectively with your volunteers for more productive and satisfying relationships.

Have any books influenced your work leading and managing volunteers? Please share these  along with any key messages to help others improve their capability to effectively lead volunteers.