Council
Members Attend Leadership Bootcamp
By Walter
Hanig, President
STC Administrative Council members from San Luis Obispo to Riverside to San Diego met at Cal State Long Beach on September 21 to discuss leadership techniques and share ideas for improving their effectiveness. Jack Molisani from Los Angeles led the discussion; he and Region 8 Director-Sponsor Bonni Graham prepared the agenda.
Lance-Robert, VP-Finance, and I represented the San Diego chapter.
Lance and I picked up a number of useful suggestions for recruiting volunteers.
- Explain the difference the volunteer will make.
- Define the problem to be solved.
- Identify the time commitment and schedule.
- Above all, help volunteers succeed and thank them publicly. "Recognition is the compensation we provide to volunteers."
- Match the volunteer's skills and traits with the need. Bonni calls this "managing by personality flaw."
We also discussed the universal question all councils have: "What do members want?" One idea for soliciting input was to have surveys on tables at meetings and exchange raffle tickets for completed surveys. Another technique was to invite members to council meetings. Only a few might attend, but you'll get input you'd otherwise miss. In the reverse direction, council members were urged to publicize decisions and discussions from council meetings.
We learned that most other chapters face financial and logistical challenges, from no-shows at meetings to the lack of a fixed meeting location. The Orange County chapter has implemented a charge for those who make a meeting reservation but do not show up. This charge has been in place for several months with no push-back from the membership. Lance and I felt fortunate to have a regular, central meeting location and stable chapter finances.
There was
some discussion on dealing with personnel problems. The best approaches
involve open, constant communication and documentation. Jack quoted a
Chinese proverb, "Palest ink is better than best memory." This
attitude applies to job descriptions for council positions, too.
In summary, the Leadership Day was well worth getting up early and spending most of a Saturday. Lance and I took away other ideas too; you'll be seeing the results of these in future chapter activities.
