My Development as a Leader

As I have just started by term as president of Delta Zeta sorority at The Ohio State University I can see how my views on social change are different than they used to be.  I am the kind of person who believes in leading by example. As president I am someone the whole chapter looks to for guidance and support, If I am not being the best I can be and leading by example then the whole chapter will suffer. Before becoming president I did not view social change as such a hard concept for people to understand. Constantly there are issues people want resolved. A problem I have been having in our chapter is people do not deal well with change and when someone wants to change something for the better, not everyone will agree. With that if the change is for the better you cannot always please everyone you just have to do what is best for the group as a whole. In chapter four it states "It is about creating values-based umbrella large enough to accommodate the various interests of followers, but focused enough to direct all their energies in pursuit of a common good(105)". This is something that we try to strive for in our chapter but sometimes it gets hard. We are so diverse everyone wants something different and it is hard to please everyone. That is why we have developed many leadership positions and policies that accommodate almost everyone like the umbrella in the above quote. 

When I was younger I used to view social change as one person changing things for the better but during my time in Delta Zeta I have found much more gets done when there is a collaborative environment. "When leadership is not done in secret and imposed upon followers but is a collaborative and empowering process between leaders and followers, the organization can accomplish more than ever thought possible (106)." Without the help of chapter members, chair positions, and executive officers I would not be able to do what I do. I get so much accomplished with the help of everyone else around me in Delta Zeta. When one person has an idea and shares it with everyone else whether it be a normal chapter member or a chair position we all listen to their idea, suggest other options and come up with a plan to implement it. Showing that with collaboration much more can be accomplished. I know I would be lost without my executive board standing with me helping us accomplish more and more everyday.

I have also come to see that social change can take a very long time but if you do something each day for the better change will eventually come. I am not the kind of person who is very patient but since I have taken this position I have learned that I need to be patient and work with people in order to get things done. Along those same lines the book brought up a great point about maintaining the change that has been made and avoid slipping back into old habits. For example we just got new furniture on our first floor (formal and informal room) and there is no eating or napping on these couches. This is a very big change because before we had old couches in the informal room so people used to eat and nap in the informal room all the time. Because of this we need to maintain the change by reinforcing people not eating/napping in the informal room and speaking to people who do so the change can be for the better making both rooms look nice for years to come. This goes back to leading by example, if an exec member decides they are going to eat their takeout in front of the tv in the informal room on the furniture then everyone else will think it is okay, when it really is not. I know that since my term as president is just beginning through the obstacles I face i will develop new view on social change and will continue to learn to approach things differently. You learn more as you go and I am sure over the next year I am going to learn so much about leadership and the right way to lead a group of people and effectively making social change for the better.