Building the Bench: Developing Leaders

As a leader, do you ever feel like this? Or this? As a leader, do you ever feel like this?

Or maybe, you feel like you are expected to be a superhero, but you really feel like this…

…and all you really want is for someone to say this:

If you’re a leader, and that sounds like you, then you need to BUILD A BENCH! Mark Lichtenberg The best leaders are seeking to make themselves obsolete. Who’s in the room? How many of you are current officers in your local? Presidents? How many of you are interested in becoming leaders in your local? Of the current officers, how many have been in your current position for 2 years or less? 3-5 years? 5-10 years? 10-20 years? 20 or more years? How many of you identify with this statement: “If I want it done right, I might as well just do it myself”? How many of you have difficulty encouraging members in your local to volunteer for Association work?

What We’ll Cover Identifying Opportunities for Involvement Identifying Members with Leadership Potential Maintenance of Leaders and Potential Leaders Mark Lichtenberg

Opportunities for Involvement Not all potential leaders are ready for the spotlight, so how do we involve them in the Association without scaring them away? Consider activities that are behind the scenes or less time intensive as an introduction to Association work Example: Member newsletter or website – gets them “in the know” while allowing them to work within their comfort zone Angie Baker First step: members need to be able to communicate why they are members of the Association (Tell Your Story) Also, be sure to be able to clearly explain what you are asking a potential leader to do! (REFERENCE JOB DESCRIPTION IN HANDOUTS) Small groups, chart paper, brainstorm – post and do a gallery walk CHART PAPER MARKERS POST AND WALK

Identifying Members with Leadership Potential Common characteristics of leadership The only things you need to be a leader are…? Top expectations of followers for their leaders: courage, confidence, competence Involvement opportunities that foster these characteristics are extremely important Leadership inventory Knowing your members’ strongest characteristics and engaging them with people and activities to ensure success can go a long way in developing future leaders Veronica Hobbs The only things you need to be a leader are…FOLLOWERS! True colors exercise Reference the other tools in the handouts as resources: Communication inventories TRUE COLORS MATERIALS OTHER HANDOUTS

Maintenance of Leaders How can we address burn-out? Among current leaders Stay on the same page with periodic checks Reasonably divide the work Know your limits Among potential leaders Know their interests and allow them to use them Offer opportunities, don’t brow-beat Avoid giving too much too soon Association mentors The importance of recognition Mark Lichtenberg Periodic checks – especially in locals where the President tends to do all, it is easy for the President and other leaders to get off track Don’t overdo it – for yourself or for a potential leader Recognition – a little goes a long way; none also goes a long way in the wrong direction

Contact Information Veronica Hobbs – UniServ Director, Area 21 – vhobbs@ista-in.org Mark Lichtenberg – UniServ Director, Area 20 – mlichtenberg@ista-in.org Angie Baker – UniServ Director Intern – angiebakeremail@gmail.com THANK YOU!!!