The conversation goes something like this: “She’s an amazing volunteer. She’s so passionate, and puts so much time and effort into the cause. In fact, she’s the one who actually got this part of the program up and running 20 years ago. She’s wonderful but…”

You know who I’m talking about. Most organizations have at least one volunteer who matches the comments above. The phrase usually used is “the old guard”, those volunteers who have been around forever, who have made a real difference in the organization, who care passionately but...

• But they are stuck in the way “we’ve always done it”.

• But they seem to be unwilling to treat certain other volunteers respectfully.

• But they won’t let go of the reins of “their” program.

• Any one of a dozen other behaviours that drive you crazy and harm the program.

You don’t really want to let them go. They’ve contributed too much over the years to just terminate their service. And they hold so much organiaztional knowledge and history. Also, they still can contribute in a huge way. If you can just get them to follow the rules.

The key to dealing with old guard volunteers is looking at where their contribution breaks down.

Are they one of those who is resistant to change? “But we’ve always done it this way” is a common cry, and not just from old guard volunteers. Change is frightening for people, especially if they don’t really see the reason for it. Which........

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