Last year, I wrote in the guide to setting up your own Salesforce Saturday: “Running a [group] is great, but if you’re unavailable due to a cold or other equally traumatic life event (e.g. kids birthday party), then you don’t want everyone else’s fun to stop… “
The guide references various reasons for not being able to run a group.
But I rather missed a point. There are many positive reasons for stepping down from running a group, whether that actually be a Community Group (as in my case), Salesforce Saturday, or something else.
Since I’m now in this positive position, waving goodbye to being a co-leader at the Amsterdam User Group after 3.5 years, I wanted to share my reasons, to correct that earlier omission… and also to celebrate the DutchSFCommunity of course!
Spoiler alert. That paragraph did go on to say:
“the biggest sense of achievement comes when it is self-sustaining and can run without you(!)”
That part is 100% spot on.
Late 2016
I visited the nascent Dutch Salesforce Community and spotted a kind, welcoming, informal Salesforce User Group, led by Giorgio Vinci. It was about a dozen people surrounding a large TV.
At the time there were two other groups, the Netherlands Nonprofit Group and the Amsterdam Developer Group.
January 2017
With Giorgio’s approval we migrated to the official Amsterdam User Group (“AUG”) as an initial team of three plus one: Sergey Erlikh, Giorgio Vinci, myself and a young(er) chap called Andre van Kampen who literally got involved because he was standing by us when the three of us were discussing logistics.
July 2020
Since then, the community has exploded, and I feel grateful to have been there so early on and helped on that journey.
All the original groups meet more frequently, with more people in attendance. In fact, there’s now at least 17 active groups in the Netherlands, covering just about all areas of the country as well as many other independent Ohana initiatives such as DecodeSFCertifications and RefugeeForce. There’s even a day long international conference, YeurDreamin (returning January 2021), initiated by that aforementioned Andre van Kampen.
Am I still having fun?
Every AUG meeting brings me something new and exciting, whether it’s trying new formats, saying hello and getting to know new people, or working in the background with Salesforce to try out innovative marketing ideas. At our most recent meeting, I led my very first panel discussion, proving the learning never stops!
But I’ve always stressed we’re there for our community members, not for ourselves, so I had an unexpected epiphany just after our July meeting, that it seemed the appropriate moment to step down. I hadn’t even been consciously thinking about it prior to that, but suddenly it just felt exactly the right time, and the right thing to do.
Thankfully unexpected life events have not got in the way, so here are some good possible reasons for stepping down as a CGL:
But, being honest, all of these being true weren’t enough of a reason for me to quit. AUG had occasionally reached those moments in the past too, under different combinations of leaders, but there are some other truths I’ve come to realise:
Before you ask (as if you were an invigilator), yes I have documented what I’ve learned. Check out YeurLeadin for more info 😊
Epilogue: So is this the last you will see of me?
Don’t be silly!
And I look forward to attending AUG as a member and participant. What could be better than that?
p.s. It’s cruel, but I’m not going to list all my thank yous. I can’t do it. To risk leaving someone out? Every interaction, especially every interaction where people haven’t minded that I’ve forgotten their names despite the fact that we’ve 3+ times previously, have all contributed hugely to my journey and my excited bounciness!
Two exceptions: the Dutch community as a whole, who have taken me in and leave me speechless with wonder, every time, with their generosity and support to one another. The other exception is my original Admin User Group leaders (Chris Edwards, Francis Pindar, Matt Morris and Mike Gill), when I lived in London, who understood there was a void and created a safe and welcoming space for geeky people to meet, have fun and learn from each other. I know that they, in turn, would thank their mentors. For what it’s worth, I continue to pay it forward with pleasure. #Ohana you rock!
ABOUT THIS BLOG
This blog is devoted to all matters Leadership, and it’s even better if there’s an Ohana-tinge to it. Whether you’re coming at it from a Community Group, Salesforce Saturday, Community Conference or Product Champion perspective, the aim is that we can all learn from each other.
Subscribe to our mailing list or follow us on twitter to be kept up to date.
This particular article has been written by Paul Ginsberg (Twitter / LinkedIn) a member of the Amsterdam User Group. Want to contribute? Just contact us! (proof reading and mentoring available)