On conviction

In thinking about what makes us effective development professionals, the word "conviction" kept coming to mind. Several definitions in Merriam's International Dictionary apply to us: 1) a strong persuasion or belief; 2) the state of being convinced; and 3) a feeling or awareness of the rightness, truth or certainty of what is thought, spoken or done. It's interesting that the Latin root is convictio meaning demonstration.

The reason this quality of conviction seems so important is that it takes us back to what is most compelling about raising funds for our organizations - their missions. To persuade others to join in supporting our missions, we must ourselves be convinced of the rightness of what our institutions are all about. We have to believe in what we're doing.

In my column on motivating ourselves, I quoted psychologist Abraham Maslow, "Self-actualizing people are, without one single exception, involved in a cause outside their own skin, in something outside of themselves. They are devoted, working at something, something which is very precious to them - some calling or vocation in the old sense, the priestly sense."

As the practice of development has advanced its professionalism, I fear that we may have lost this sense of having a calling or vocation. While establishing ethical standards, developing a body of knowledge, and certifying our mastery of skills are important, it may be that our rational, analytical propensities are overtaking our emotional, creative qualities (left brain versus right brain).

We tend to think of our skills as being transportable from one employer to another. And our professional skills certainly are, but where are we emotionally? How persuasive can we be in describing our organizations missions and visions with passion? How portable is our conviction? In earlier columns I wrote about our responsibilities as leaders and that people look to leaders to inspire them. James Kouzes and Barry Posner in The Leadership Challenge state, "We believe that it's not necessary to be a famous, charismatic person to inspire a shared vision. It is necessary to believe, however - and to develop the skills to transmit that belief."

How can we believe passionately in feeding the hungry one week, and in the next week...