ASIS International UK President, John A. Petruzzi Jr. Highlights The Key Benefits Of Volunteer Work For Individuals

An ASIS International UK Chapter member for nearly 20 years, John A. Petruzzi, Jr., CPP, will serve as President of the association’s Global Board of Directors in 2021. John Petruzzi’s discussed his goals for the coming year in a Q&A session. The ASIS blog asked Petruzzi to discuss the impact of his ASIS volunteer roles on his career.

Power of the ASIS family

John A. Petruzzi said, “I’ve often said that I owe much of my success to the power of the ASIS family. From my personal experience, which mirrors the feelings of many of my mentors, volunteering is a two-way street. However much you put in, you will more than likely reap twice the reward. In particular, volunteering creates immeasurable value by building a broad personal network.”

Few key highlights on the topic from the discussion:

• Through volunteering, one gets the opportunity to meet new people who more than likely they wouldn’t meet in the normal walk of life, whether business or personal. These connections will begin to diversify their network and equally importantly, in turn, would result in diversification of thought processes. Diversification positively influences one’s career journey.
• Besides building network and diversity of thought, volunteer work will more than likely also introduce new challenges that will require letting go of the comfort zone and building new skills. Think of how these problem-solving processes will better develop an individual contributor, manager, and leader.
• One area that is considered key in volunteering work is ‘truly making a difference to the community’. By jumping headfirst into the world of volunteering, one will quickly find things that need refining. Personal life experiences influence the way one sees the role and its responsibilities. In many cases, there will be opportunities to leverage unique experiences. As one drives these changes into their new community, others will undoubtedly benefit.

There are many quotes out there about the rewards of volunteering. However, the key one is that there is no better feeling than that created by positively impacting the lives of others. In the time spent with ASIS International, John says, “Volunteering has positively influenced my life due to the network I’ve leveraged. This is the power of the ASIS Family!”