March 2024 - Parks and Recreation - 12

WE ARE PARKS AND RECREATION
Lessons on Influence
By Chris Dropinski
"
I
t is human nature - we need to influence like we need to breathe. " " You
cannot both alienate and influence at the same time. " I wish I could
take credit for these pearls of wisdom, but mentors I sought out
along my career journey passed them on to me. They came when
I was ready to hear them and after my share of missteps.
Now that I have retired, I realize
how God blessed me with
such a fulfilling career. As park
and recreation professionals, we
Putting our profession
in context gives us an anchor.
We are both a social service
and a business.
all know how " fun " and rewarding
it is. But it is also full of challenges.
We want to contribute,
and we want our contributions to
influence. We want our voice to
be heard, and we want to effect
outcomes. We want to share our
ideas and be respected as leaders
in our own agencies.
Putting our profession in context
gives us an anchor. We are
both a social service and a business.
We cannot lose our sense
of mission but need to add to
that a sense of accountability,
transparency and fiscal responsibility.
Build
your
credibility.
Maximize
what you are capable
of by recognizing and appreciating
partners - in health, in
transportation, in planning and
in other fields - and work to influence
collective efforts to best
serve our communities.
You may think that you need
to wait for a promotion or a certain
level of status to have enough
power to influence, but real power
is something that is earned, not
given. The ability to influence is a
valuable skill. Power is not a skill;
it is the result of effectively using
Chris Dropinski reflects on lessons
learned about influence throughout her
park and recreation career.
12 Parks & Recreation | MARCH 2 0 2 4 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
influence. Every day, you have an
opportunity to influence others and
find your real power.
If you alienate others, you give
up your ability to influence. If you
insist on being " right " and do not
listen to learn the perspective of
others, they will be too busy formulating
their defense, fleeing or
freezing to listen to you.
Words of Advice
With great appreciation, I took this
advice from many of my colleagues
throughout my career. Now it is
time for me to give back.
* Listen to learn something new -
not just to hear and not to match
what you already know from the
past.
* Give yourself permission to try
new things and " trade up " for
new understandings of what will
bring more value.
* Create room for others to influence
and open yourself to the influence
of others.
* We are not perfect. When you
make mistakes, learn from them.
Encourage some risk taking.
I needed to hear these pearls of
wisdom early and often. I put them
to use daily. I challenge our next
generation of park and recreation
leaders to carry on courageously,
with determination and sincerity,
to develop their influence and find
their power.
Chris Dropinski is former Senior
Manager of Parks, Recreation and
Libraries Practice at BerryDunn
(chrisdropinski@gmail.com).
March 2024 - Parks and Recreation

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