Whether you are a volunteer yourself, or a staff person paid to work with volunteers, one of the most difficult problems you will face (and probably already have!) is deciding how best to deal with the single-minded, blinkered-focussed volunteer who demands to be allowed to do everything their way without any guidance (which they call interference) from anyone else. What to do?

One of the problems that has to be faced – and recognized – is that very often these solo player volunteers produce your best results.

Once you sense that you have found such a person, the first thing you must do is to ask the soloist why they has developed such a suspicion, perhaps even approaching paranoia, about accepting the input of others. You may find that your soloist has had a disappointing experience at some previous time when a committee ground a good project to a halt. We all know the old cliché about the best committee being made up of three members – one of whom has died and another of whom is always out of town.

However, the probability remains that at some point your soloist is going to need some help, even if they are not willing to so admit. Tell them that you are going to give them a “support group”. Under no circumstances, call it a committee. Make certain that your support group is composed of people who will not be ego-driven and whose personalities are not likely to conflict with your soloist. Tell your soloist that they should listen to the advice of the support group – perhaps even in a structured meeting every now and then – but that the final decision will always be theirs.

You may at this point wonder whether you can construct a support group of individuals who will be so selfless. If you stop to think about it for a moment, however, you will realize that in every volunteer group are people waiting to be told what to do and who do not want to carry the ultimate responsibility for a project.

An example: Your soloist declares that they will stage an auction night, but will do so only without any interference and will report only to the head of the organization involved. Your first step is to make certain (before anything else) that the budget limitations are set. Once that is done, you should determine what support your soloist is going to need. Perhaps the auction is going to need accounting services, transportation of the items to be auctioned, hiring of a suitable locale, engaging of an auctioneer (unless it’s a silent auction), scrutineers, and so on. Make sure that these skills are represented in your support group. Whatever you do, don’t put someone on the support group who really wants to run the auction! Additionally, of course, if your organization is a large one, there may be administrative routines to follow when money is to be spent or commitments made. Cut these to a minimum.

Why am I suggesting that you turn your whole organization upside down in order to placate one individual – an individual who probably attracts as much opposition as support? The answer is very simple – more often than not, the soloist is among the most productive and creative people in your organization. Limiting yourself to working with administratively comfortable people will guarantee mediocre results.

Bruce Raymond has been active as a volunteer leader in the charitable sector, most recently serving as president and then chairman of the Variety Children’s Charity. This article is based on material from his forthcoming book, “Seven Golden How-To Rules for Volunteers, or How to get the most out of doing for nothing what you wouldn’t do for money”. For more information, call (416) 485-3406, or fax (416) 487-3820.