Throughout December, we are delighted to welcome SI leadership
to the SoroptiVoice blog spot! This week, SIA President Pat talks about the importance of encouraging leadership skills and opportunities within our own clubs and nurturing new members. Next Friday SISWP President Yvonne will close the year for us (30th). Click here to read SIE President Kathy’s blog from December 2nd. Click here to read SIGBI President Maureen’s blog from December 16th.
When we hear the phrase “educate to lead”
we most often think of our mission and goals to improve the lives of women and
girls through education, empowerment and enabling opportunities. We certainly
want women’s voices to be heard in board rooms, and local, national and
international governmental bodies.
However I think the phrase may apply just as equally to another of our
goals to “be a strategic organization with proactive leadership at all levels
to enable us to deliver results”.
At many levels of our organization, members
are not stepping up to take on leadership roles. If our seasoned members are to create
opportunities for others, we must ensure that we do the same within our own
organization to develop leadership skills that will serve the organization well
in its awareness, advocacy, and action roles.
Terminated membership information for SIA has proved
interesting in that all too often our membership declines because of
“personality conflicts” or “it was not a welcoming atmosphere” (according to
those surveys). One of the core issues that confronts service clubs
internationally is declining memberships and at the heart of that is
civility. We must ensure that new
members are welcomed, involved and well treated and our more mature members are
valued and retained. Just as our
mission states that we “…transform the lives of women…” so too, must we be
consistent with that message within our clubs, regions and unions, federations
and our international organization. During
a recent induction of a new member at my own club, a visiting club president
commented that “she has no idea what wonderful friendships and opportunities
await her!” That’s what we want all our
members – old and new to experience.
How do we ensure that Soroptimist
volunteers are dynamic, proactive and able to deliver results to achieve our
global mission? Here are a few
strategies that have proven effective:
1. Ensure
that the new member is thoroughly oriented in Soroptimist Club procedures,
protocols and traditions. Assign them
some meaningful responsibility – perhaps to a fundraising committee so they’ve
an opportunity to work directly with other members and become more acquainted.
2. Engage
members in the work of the club with clearly written job descriptions and
realistic expectations. Don’t delegate
a job with the expectation that it will be done exactly the same way as you
would have done it. Newer, younger
members may want to “change it up” to attract a wider audience. Check in to see
if they need help not your advice – that is, unless you are asked.
3. Encourage,
coach and mentor newer members. Have
them sit by you so they can ask questions during a business meeting – they
might not understand all the Soroptimist achronisms or want to know more about
the International President’s Appeal, for example.
4. Survey
your members occasionally to determine their likes, dislikes and plan
strategically taking the survey into account.
Newer members bring fresh ideas in event planning, the target audience,
communications, and service delivery. We
must harness that energy for club and member growth.
5. Create
an atmosphere where one can test their leadership skills in a non-threatening,
non-judgmental environment. Praise the
work publically and offer constructive criticism privately.
If we are indeed to be “the global voice
for women and girls”, we must recognize that at the heart of our mission, is a
dedicated, trained volunteer in whom we Soroptimists must invest as richly as
we those we seek to serve in our global mission.