Volunteering is a commitment. Understand the motives behind volunteering, and you help persuade reluctant volunteers to commit.

That, and more, in today’s Lunchtime Links:

Making a commitment: “Do I have time for this? Is this something I can commit to? How can I give back?” These are the typical questions that run through volunteers’ minds. Organizations should consider their indecisiveness at the time of recruiting. “For nonprofit organizations, it’s vital to develop a strategy that can overcome the objections of potential volunteers and answer the big question: “What’s in it for me?” Dean Vella of University Alliance recommends. “Try offering shorter-time commitments, flexible schedules, and opportunities to volunteer from home. Finally, don’t hesitate to communicate at every opportunity that volunteering can make you feel good, [reduce] stress, and expand your horizons.”

No time to rest: What time do you wake up in the morning? The Guardian asked seven of the world’s top business CEOs, including leaders at AOL and Ericsson, when they get up on a business day and why. All of them wake up early, even before the sun rises. (Though in the case of AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, he’s learned to stop sending emails before 7 a.m.) Not only that, their work follows them home. What are some of your leadership habits?

The key to happiness: The topic of employee happiness is hot these days. If your staff doesn’t feel good about working for your organization, the mood could be reflected in their work. To run a proactive organization, create a positive and jovial culture. When MEC, an international media organization, offered a workshop on happiness for its Manhattan staff, the results were pretty fantastic. “MEC reports that every single attendee was happier at the end of the course than they were at the beginning, and some of the improvements were significant. One employee showed an increase of 32  percent in happiness level, while three others showed above 20 percent increases. The average happiness uplift for the entire class was 12 percent,” Fast Company reports. Check out some of the key lessons from the program here.

What’s on your reading list today? Let us know in your comments below.

(Stockbyte/Thinkstock)