If you asked me to name the qualities of a good volunteer, you might expect me to say skill, or experience, or a big heart. Those all help. But after years of watching volunteers come and go, I’ve noticed that the ones who thrive over the long haul share something more ordinary. I call it FAT. The volunteers who last are Flexible, Available, and Teachable.
Yes, it’s a silly acronym. I use it because people remember it, and because none of those three words describes a talent. All three describe choices.
Where FAT comes from
Jesus described the life of a follower this way: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Look at the word daily. Following Jesus isn’t a one-time decision you make at an altar and then file away. You practice it. Each of the FAT qualities is one way that daily practice shows up in a garage, a kitchen, a nursery, or a parking lot.
- Flexibility is denying your preferences for the sake of the mission.
- Availability is the daily discipline of showing up, even when it costs you.
- Teachability is staying a follower instead of becoming the expert who’s done learning.
Put together, they describe a person who has figured out that serving isn’t mainly about their comfort or their schedule or their expertise, but about the God they follow and the people they serve.
Flexible: doing what needs doing
Flexibility is the willingness to do what needs doing, and not just what you came to do.
Picture a volunteer who will only work inside their specialty. They won’t sweep the floor or make a parts run or hold a flashlight for someone else’s repair. Every one of those refusals might sound reasonable on its own. Put them together, though, and you’ve got a bottleneck, and a person who has slowly started serving their preferences instead of the mission.
Kevin is one of the most flexible people I’ve ever worked with. His background is electrical engineering, and his preference is administrative work and customer care. But if there’s a car that needs fixing and he’s the one available, he fixes it. He helped build our facility before he ever touched a vehicle. He drives customers home. Whatever’s needed, he does.
I’ve watched other volunteers set up what I call “bespoke conditions” for their service: it has to be this kind of job, at this time, with these people. Look closely and the conditions are almost always about the volunteer. And when service becomes mainly about the server, it has stopped being service.
That doesn’t mean your gifts don’t matter. They matter a great deal, and a good leader will work to put you where you fit. It just means you hold your preferences with an open hand.
Available: being there when it counts
The world is full of well-meaning people who intend to serve. The ones who make a difference are set apart by something simple. They show up, and they keep showing up, even when other things are competing for their attention.
Tim started volunteering at The Garage when he was twelve. He’s eighteen now. His handprint is in the concrete under our first lift, because he was a kid who was present when something was being built. What I love most about Tim is that when a session runs late and a weaker volunteer would find a reason to leave, Tim stays. He learned early that his word means something, and that showing up is a form of love.
Availability has little to do with a wide-open calendar. Lots of people with busy lives are wonderfully available, and lots of people with free time aren’t. What matters is whether your yes can be counted on once you give it.
Teachable: staying a student
Teachability is the willingness to learn, to be corrected, and to stay humble about what you don’t know.
Chuck, our lead mechanic, will tell you when he doesn’t know something. For a man with real expertise and real authority, that’s not a small thing. When you’re skilled, the temptation is to bluff past the gaps. Chuck doesn’t. He says, “I don’t know. Let’s find out.”
That posture does two things for him. It keeps him growing, because you can’t grow in a skill you’ve decided you’ve already mastered. And it makes the whole room safer. When the most experienced person admits what he doesn’t know, the newest volunteer feels free to ask questions instead of guessing. Proud mistakes cost time. Humble questions save it.
Teachability gets harder the longer you serve and the better you get. So if you’ve been at this a while, this is probably the one to keep the closest eye on.
A quick self-check
Here’s a simple way to take stock this week. For each quality, finish the sentence honestly:
- Flexible: The job I’d most like to avoid at my next shift is ______. Would I do it if I were the one available?
- Available: The last time I backed out of a commitment, the real reason was ______.
- Teachable: The last time someone corrected me while I was serving, I felt ______.
Then ask which of the three needs the most growth right now. Most of us have one strong suit and one that needs work, which is normal. Don’t use this to feel guilty. Pick one and practice it on purpose.
Choices, not personality types
I want to be clear about this, because it’s easy to hear FAT and think, “Well, I’m just not a flexible person.” These aren’t personality types. They’re choices. Made once, they don’t amount to much. Made consistently, week after week, they produce the kind of volunteer who changes things.
And you don’t have to make them on willpower. The same Jesus who calls us to deny ourselves daily is the one who first gave himself for us. We follow someone who is always ahead of us, and that’s exactly why we can stay teachable.
I unpack each of these more fully, along with the volunteers who taught them to me, in Full Service. If you lead a team, the chapter works well as a discussion starter. Pick one of the three words and ask your people where they see it, and where they don’t.
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