Every association begins with a mission driven by the desire to advance, improve, nurture, or support meaningful change that disrupts the status quo. As young professionals, we enter our respective organizations eager to give our ideas, our energy, and our talents to make a difference in the world.

What we have is passion, though what we might not have are the tools to master the art of giving. What does this mean?

As a bright-eyed, young pharmacist, I joined the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists to complete an executive fellowship: a 12-month program aimed at immersing individuals in healthcare association management. Like most young professionals, I became a member of a team made up of inspiring leaders with experience, intellect, and talent. I was prepared to give my very best efforts and make the world a better place. I thought surely with the talent and manpower of staff and volunteers, we should be able to fix healthcare in the first six months, and then move on to world hunger. What happened is that I envisioned the output (change) without the challenge of the process (giving). Here are four lessons I’ve learned along the way when it comes to mastering the process.

It’s not about what you think is best. It’s not enough for you to think or know what’s best to achieve the mission. Part of learning in any profession is information gathering, which will allow you to understand the logic behind each process and to discover internal and external influences behind decision making. You have to listen to your members, other staff members, and internal or external stakeholders who may follow a different pace or have a different perspective. Success comes with buy-in, not independent decision-making and impulsive giving.

Create dynamic expectations. As you start to integrate into your new team and become comfortable in your new role, you start to create expectations of how things should flow and what the outcomes should be. Association work is a team sport. Any team is more successful when all players contribute to the goal, but to do so, they must all believe in that goal. You can’t expect quick results and spotless work from yourself or others if you have not appreciated the different perspectives that add value to the conversation. Instead of creating expectations based on your beliefs, create dynamic expectations that accommodate the beliefs of others, so everyone can give with passion.

Any team is more successful when all players contribute to the goal, but to do so, they must all believe in that goal.

Allow innovation to mature. Association professionals are constantly surrounded by new ideas—whether through partnerships, healthy competition, or other industries. This creates an urgent desire to change the thinking of you, your team, and your membership. You want to test new ideas and turn them into action. Don’t forget that innovation needs dedication to succeed, and that dedication must come from an audience that is ready to embrace or to be curious to explore what you have to give.

Don’t lose your passion. Change is a lifelong process, and in a constantly evolving and dynamic world, it is important to understand that the goal isn’t the solution. Rather, the goal is improvement. It is easy to expect instant gratification or seek results that fix a specific problem. The reality is that small, incremental, positive changes are steps in the right direction. Whether you are able to achieve your original mission and find fulfillment in a bigger goal or realize that your mission is so vast that small accomplishments are the goal itself, don’t lose your passion. After all, you don’t want to forget why you started in the first place: to give.