If you were in charge of your club, part-time job, school newspaper, etc., what would you do differently?
Maybe you’d have fewer meetings, try a different fundraiser, or do more to recruit new members.
Maybe you’d rearrange the stock at the store to make it easier for employees to take inventory, let customers know about the special items on sale, or make a sign that lists the employees' favorite sandwich combinations at the deli.
Maybe you’d publish more articles about the less visible teams in the sports section, or generate more ads so the paper would be better funded, or replace the editorial section with profiles of students who are doing newsworthy things.
Whatever your answers are, why not try doing them?
Don’t wait for someone to offer you the chance. The world rewards people who take initiative. Take the first step and do part of the work to show that you’re serious about it. Then ask for permission to put it to use.
“I have an idea for a fundraiser. I already scouted out a location to do it and wrote the emails to promote it. Can I show them to you at our meeting today to see what you think?”
“I had an idea about rearranging the stock in the back. I tried it with a few items—can you take a look and tell me if you like it? If you do, I’ll rearrange the rest of it myself.”
“I was thinking we could replace the editorial section with some profiles of students. I wrote a few of them to show you what I mean. What do you think?"
You don't always have to wait to be in charge.