A CAREER IN LIONISM
By Lap Cheung
Zone A-1 Leo and New Century Lion Liaison

Recently, a young gentleman that I was trying to recruit into our club asked the question: “What’s the difference between a Lion and a volunteer?” He was really asking why he should become a Lion when he could volunteer when and as he wished already. So I replied that being a Lion was like having a career, while being a casual volunteer was like having a job.

Casual volunteers serve in assigned jobs with limited responsibilities. While volunteers can take pride in helping their communities, they don’t create or implement the programs in which they work. They simply fill an assigned role by the service organization for which they work.

On the other hand, Lions create and implement the service programs in which they serve. As an individual Lion, you can determine your roles in these activities. You can go through the offices and become a Club President; you can help coordinate the activities of a group of Clubs as a Zone Chairperson; you can serve on District-wide committees and become a District Officer. You can even become an International Director. At each of these levels of service, it is possible for an individual Lion to propose, help develop, and then operate, a service or fund-raising program. In other words, you can have a real volunteer career in the Lions.

Of course, most people who join the Lions begin by thinking of themselves simply as volunteers who enjoy working in the atmosphere of a service club. But they soon find that they are helping to plan fundraisers, and manage volunteer services, social activities and projects. Soon, they are contributing their own ideas and developing them within a network of fellow Lions, who come from all professions and walks of life, and who WILL support their initiative and help them develop the diverse skills needed to accomplish their goals.

As an institution, the Lions also offer leadership and organizational training at a fraction of the cost that professional training services charge.  Furthermore, the skills and experiences offered by Lions are transferable to any professional career. As individuals develop their careers as Lions, they are guided by mentors who “know the ropes.” Then they become mentors and Guiding Lions themselves. This leads to close, life-long friendships, just one of the rewards of being a “career Lion.” Since the community of Lions is international, individual Lions will always be welcomed and nurtured wherever they go.

In contrast, people who are simply “casual volunteers” will not receive a lifetime of nurturing support, opportunity and recognition that Lions receive as a matter of course. For young professionals, flexibility is a key issue. They have schedules that make it hard to attend regularly scheduled meetings and are frequently on the move. New Century Lions Clubs help provide the necessary flexibility by using modern communications technology to create a flexible network through which Lions can meet and interact, as well as plan, create and execute service and fund-raising projects. “Distributed action,” like distributed computing, can accomplish wonders when creatively managed.