Leading a nonprofit can be more than full-time work. Despite the time pressures, I think it is important to volunteer in a professional context. Before I joined the American Physiological Society, I held several volunteer and advisory roles that matter to me professionally and personally. I serve on the AAAS Council representing Section Y, which covers general interest in science and engineering. I sit on the Kavli Foundation President’s Advisory Committee. And I serve on the Steering Committee for CASTL-K12, the Collaborative for Advancing Science Teaching and Learning in K-12, a NASEM initiative focused on equitable implementation of science standards.

Each time I join a new organization, I ask my supervisor for their approval to continue in these roles. That is not a formality. It is a genuine check for conflicts of interest and a way to be transparent about how I show up professionally outside my primary job. If a new opportunity comes up after I start, I check then too. So far, my boards have always said yes, even when the work is not directly connected to my day job. But I ask every time.

I also do this work on my own time. That means evenings, weekends, or using vacation days for in-person meetings. It is a real investment, and I have to be selective. You cannot say yes to everything.

The CASTL-K12 work might look like the least obvious fit for a physiology society CEO. It focuses on K-12 science education, not adult scientific professionals. But I just returned from a two-day steering committee meeting, and I came back full of ideas.

Heifetz, Linsky, and Grashow, in The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, describe a concept they call getting on the balcony. The idea is that when you are on the dance floor, you are inside the action and can only see what is immediately around you. When you step onto the balcony, you can see the whole floor. Tangential volunteer work does something similar. It pulls you out of your daily context just enough to give you a different vantage point. Watching how NASEM staff structure and facilitate the steering committee’s discussions gave me approaches to use for an upcoming board meeting. The meeting’s focus on organizational collaboration introduced me to frameworks I had not encountered before. The tangential work turned out to be very relevant.

I work for an organization that depends entirely on professionals choosing to volunteer their time. It matters to me that I do the same. I learn, and I give back. That exchange is worth protecting, which is why I keep doing it even when my day job is demanding.