• Make Time. Every successful business leader volunteers their time and money for worthy causes. These causes help you learn from others and concurrently give back to a cause that people are passionate about. Everyone is busy but no matter what, one should always make time to give back.
• Community contributions build leadership skills. Giving back to the community can be integrated into building your career because it develops leadership skills that you would not get anywhere else.
• Find a cause outside your profession that you feel passionate about. That passion will make it easier for you to make time.
• Always take time to mentor the younger generation. You will learn something about them and yourself.
• Take time to vote. If you have time to go out and eat, then you have time to go vote.
— Albert Shen, owner of Shen Consulting, Inc. He sits on the Board of Trustees at Seattle Community Colleges and is a board member of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, an organization that hits close to Shen’s heart as his mother is a breast-cancer survivor.
