Learning to Lead by Mike Flaherty

Posted on 30. Apr, 2009 by mike in Participant Blogs

Mike Flaherty, HEAT Program Participant

I just got back from doing my first two home audits with Veterans Green Jobs close partner organization, the Southwest Conservation Corps. It was a lot of fun and very educational. The training we received last week more than prepared us and that knowledge will continue to grow throughout the rest of the training process. We learned how to use thermal imaging devices, conduct a blower-door test (checks for air leakage), and a lot about appliance efficiency.

Going into homes of low-income families to help show them how to lower their energy bills each month is just one tiny drop in the vast ocean of what VGJ can accomplish. I’m not only learning how to conduct home energy audits; I’m learning how to be a leader in the field of Green Energy. I want to continue developing my ideas and see them come to fruition some day in the future. I want to show others how easy it is to make a difference, even if those differences are seemingly slight.

I still have three more audits to do today and I look forward to them. This morning we conducted audits on homes that only had Spanish speaking residents, which lent to some awkwardness. I can’t lie and say it didn’t seem reminiscent of doing home raids in Iraq. I never had to do any home raids, but those in my group that had agreed with me on that notion. The good thing is that you get the chance to actually show them how you’re helping them, and not just terrorizing them in their own home. Though it was hard to explain everything we were doing, I tried to break out some old high school knowledge to communicate better. I suppose I could use some brushing up on my Spanish

Back to my theme for this blog … I have always been told that I possess the qualities of a leader. In my younger days, some had told me that I had a tendency to lead people away from the good of the cause. While some told me that my natural ability to lead is very coveted by those who do not have “it”. I never feel like a leader until the time comes for me to take the reins and lead. I’m 27 years old now, and want to start becoming the leader I never thought I could be, yet others knew I could be. I’m learning more about leading now than ever before. I am now in the position where people are relying on me to lead, and to do well at it. I know I won’t let them down, for they have taken me this far. I have those around me that I look up to and hope to learn more from, and also to maybe teach them a thing or two as well.

Veterans Green Jobs WILL produce leaders for the Green Movement, and I hope to be living proof of that over the course of the next few months and past the next few years.