My LinkedIn friend is doing astounding ‘heart and shield’-led work, in a way that few of us could. Drawing on her (horrifying) childhood experiences, she is energising the changes she wants to see. I say heart-led because she is open and warm; and shield-led because her mission is all about people being safe and protected. I really appreciate LinkedIn for connecting us.
People creating positive change for others are often driven by something close to their heart and a will to shield people from harm. We don’t want another person to have to walk in those shoes, or at least want the next person to have a better experience, be better cared for and better understood. Really generous stuff.
Many stumble into civil society, or charity, or the community sector. We come to it less as a career choice, more of an accidental means to an end, a way to get the job done. We probably aren’t civil society experts, in fact our lived experiences may well leave us with less in the way of resources, education and professional networks to help us. We learn on the hoof, asking the daft questions, and accepting help where we can find it.
Sometimes we feel surrounded by people speaking in jargon, acronyms and terms which everyone else seems to understand, and working from very different assumptions to our own. It can feel like you woke up on a different planet! I know how easy it is to get overwhelmed by all the encoded terminology. You can start to feel, well, a bit small.
But guess what? you probably already know the meaning of some of that stuff, even if you aren’t familiar with the words or acronym? In fact you may already be doing what those words mean. For example, the moment my clinical herbalist friend realised that she was already doing this mysterious buzz word – ABCD or Asset Based Community Development – was joyous for us both!
Jargon is okay, it has its uses. But don’t let it affect your confidence or get in the way of you doing the work you need to do. If you are heart-led, you can learn the words, and I can help. We might even generate some new ones!
Freelance charity management consultancy 