In the heart of a leader, three words act as a reliable, internal GPS: I love volunteers.

Get this right and an organization or ministry will fly high. Ignore it, and you can count on the crash. This truth occupied a big chunk of my life recently, thanks to a high school prom.

Specifically, I'm talking about the after-prom, an entity that barely existed in my high school days. Sure, the prom dance was a big to-do back then. But the activities that followed seemed like more of an after-thought. So with authentic naiveté, I attended the January parents-of-the-junior class meeting to hear from the school administration about this supposed non-event, run exclusively by parents. Sixty minutes later, I left the meeting better informed and committed to help.

"You did what?" my wife said (or "exclaimed," "demanded," "cursed"; you choose the word) when I explained the role I volunteered her and I to tackle as a team. Apparently, the title "chairmen" results in far less excitement for her ...