"Think ahead, Don't let day to day operations drive out planning"
Sometimes I think people get so caught up in day to day operations that they really forget what they want to do in their leadership position. I know I am guilty of this, there are so many things to get done each day and so many emails to respond to you sometimes wonder what are you doing for the future and how are you going to get there. A big thing I have learned throughout this course and during my time as president thus far, is that everyday is a new day you cannot let what happened yesterday rest on your shoulders the next day. Everyday is a new day to try and reach your goals and make the chapter better than you found it.
I know one way I can utilize this experience to better my chapter in the upcoming semester is by sharing what I learned about the 7 c's to my executive board and having them consider reading the book. Going along with that I think a lot of people sometimes think oh I am in a leadership position I will automatically make change, but this is not the case. You need to be a change agent and do something for a group that is bigger than yourself. A lot of what I am trying to do is better the chapter not just for my sake but for the sake of everyone in our chapter and the sake of the greek community as a whole.
I think our chapter does very well with citizenship. We try and be great citizens of the greek community. Everyone enjoys going to and supporting other chapter's philanthropies. One area to improve with this is going to all four councils' events not just IFC and PHA. We also do really well with controversy with civility, if there is ever a disagreement about something that effects the whole chapter members will argue with controversy with civility until they reach a consensus. We also do well with collaboration whether that be in our chapter or with other groups on campus. In our chapter girls share common goals and want to make change and they do so together by collaborating. We also collaborate with groups on campus, we just got done hosting our first annual Hustle for Hearing 5k with the Student's Academy of Audiology which we collaborated very well with to raise money for speech and hearing in the Columbus Area.
Some areas we need to work on regarding the 7c's include common purpose, consciousness of self, and congruence. Within our chapter I would definitely say we all have common purpose of the values we were founded upon it is just a matter of whether everyone in the chapter lives out those values. There will always be that 10% that does not like anything you do and they do not agree with your purpose. in the future I am going to try and create buy in a with a few of them to get them on board for my or the exec board's ideas. This will also create commitment with everyone in the chapter. Not all of our women are conscious of self, either they do not know what their values and beliefs are or if they do they do not share them with others for fear of embarrassment. I am going to work harder to make people feel comfortable to stand up for what they believe in, I think this could really create some change within the chapter. Finally congruence, since congruence is an individual value I cannot force women to be congruent with our values but we can show them what are good ways to live out our values and make them want to be congruent. We are getting better at this by putting more emphasis on ritual and hosting fun and serious ritual workshops. On any given day there is no way everyone in my chapter lives on the 7c's but they all know there is always room for improvement.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Passion
"nothing great in this world has been accomplished without passion"
I can honestly say I do not think about my passions on a daily basis, but I know by thinking of what comes naturally to me, and about what I would do for free, what and what puts a smile on my face I easily identify the passions in my life. I know one of the things in life I am very passionate about is my family. My parents mean everything to me and I thank them every chance I get for the opportunities they have given me. Along with my parents my aunts and uncles and cousins are also a big part of my life. Growing up an only child my cousins were like my siblings, we did everything together. They also influenced my decision to come to Ohio State. Currently 3 of my cousins go here and its great to hang out with them and knowing they will always be there for me. I am also very passionate about my academics, I knew coming to Ohio State I would be able to further my education at a great university. I also knew by joining a sorority there would be an emphasis on academics and furthering our educations. As president I really want to re-motivate the chapter to do better in school. Sometimes it gets hard but at the end of day I actually enjoy learning new things. I am also very passionate about Delta Zeta, I can honestly say my college experience would be nothing without my beautiful sisters. Right before formal recruitment I was looking to transfer back home because I had not found my place at Ohio State yet. Naturally DZ saved me and here I am today. It has been the best 3 years of my life. I have met so many people and learned so many things, I honestly never want to graduate (even though its a year away) I know I have to :( Finally I would be lying if I said I wasn't passionate about sports. Ever since I was little I loved sports, my dad coached my soccer and basketball teams and I ran cross country and track. I grew up with a father who always listened to sports radio so I picked up on stuff in the car. That is part of the reason I wanted to come to Ohio State because of the great sports teams they have here and the traditions associated with them. My passions can definitely be seen through the way I lead. I want to make change in things that I am passionate about that is why I wanted to make a difference in Delta Zeta.
I can honestly say I do not think about my passions on a daily basis, but I know by thinking of what comes naturally to me, and about what I would do for free, what and what puts a smile on my face I easily identify the passions in my life. I know one of the things in life I am very passionate about is my family. My parents mean everything to me and I thank them every chance I get for the opportunities they have given me. Along with my parents my aunts and uncles and cousins are also a big part of my life. Growing up an only child my cousins were like my siblings, we did everything together. They also influenced my decision to come to Ohio State. Currently 3 of my cousins go here and its great to hang out with them and knowing they will always be there for me. I am also very passionate about my academics, I knew coming to Ohio State I would be able to further my education at a great university. I also knew by joining a sorority there would be an emphasis on academics and furthering our educations. As president I really want to re-motivate the chapter to do better in school. Sometimes it gets hard but at the end of day I actually enjoy learning new things. I am also very passionate about Delta Zeta, I can honestly say my college experience would be nothing without my beautiful sisters. Right before formal recruitment I was looking to transfer back home because I had not found my place at Ohio State yet. Naturally DZ saved me and here I am today. It has been the best 3 years of my life. I have met so many people and learned so many things, I honestly never want to graduate (even though its a year away) I know I have to :( Finally I would be lying if I said I wasn't passionate about sports. Ever since I was little I loved sports, my dad coached my soccer and basketball teams and I ran cross country and track. I grew up with a father who always listened to sports radio so I picked up on stuff in the car. That is part of the reason I wanted to come to Ohio State because of the great sports teams they have here and the traditions associated with them. My passions can definitely be seen through the way I lead. I want to make change in things that I am passionate about that is why I wanted to make a difference in Delta Zeta.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
values and commitment
"Personal leadership is the process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with them".
When you are a part of a sorority you know that your values are not going to align with all of your sisters. Because of this you have to find a way to transform them into group values. Being the president of an organization does not mean that your values or ideas are always right it is stepping back and listening to other people's ideas and seeing their values as if they were your own. Using everyone's values a group can come together and set specific values and goal for the organization. When my exec board was first starting their term we had a retreat and everyone found out what type of leader they were and we developed goals of what we wanted to accomplish and what we valued as an exec board. One of the things we wanted to focus on was not pre gaming before events as an exec board. So because of this the exec board and I do not pre game for events and by leading by example we hope the rest of the chapter will eventually follow. Although the rest of the chapter may not value this as an exec board we have developed a group value of being responsible before social events by not pre gaming.
I do not believe that it is possible to always be a person of congruence everyone always makes mistakes. You can be incongruent with your values once in a great while but it cannot be a recurring problem. Someone who is incongruent with their values on a regular basis will not be good leader because no one will take them seriously. Being a leader one needs to realize they are held to a higher standard and because of this people watch and remember everything you say and do. As a leader you need to evaluate whether or not something you do is really worth being incongruent. I truly believe it is easier to be congruent if one person knows what they value in life. If you do not know what your values are it is hard to be congruent with them.
To me commitment is giving something your all even when you are not required to. For example on a high school basketball team there are many players that all say they are committed. To me they are not all committed, the ones that play because they love it and give it their all no matter what are the ones who are truly committed. Ones that their parents force them to play and slack off in practice are not truly committed. This can be seen in our chapters. There is always that one girl not matter what you ask her you know she will do it for you because she is committed to the chapter, it means something to her. When I think of committed I also think of dedicated. When you are committed to something you are also dedicated to its cause. I am committed to my family, academics, Delta Zeta, and my health.
When you are a part of a sorority you know that your values are not going to align with all of your sisters. Because of this you have to find a way to transform them into group values. Being the president of an organization does not mean that your values or ideas are always right it is stepping back and listening to other people's ideas and seeing their values as if they were your own. Using everyone's values a group can come together and set specific values and goal for the organization. When my exec board was first starting their term we had a retreat and everyone found out what type of leader they were and we developed goals of what we wanted to accomplish and what we valued as an exec board. One of the things we wanted to focus on was not pre gaming before events as an exec board. So because of this the exec board and I do not pre game for events and by leading by example we hope the rest of the chapter will eventually follow. Although the rest of the chapter may not value this as an exec board we have developed a group value of being responsible before social events by not pre gaming.
I do not believe that it is possible to always be a person of congruence everyone always makes mistakes. You can be incongruent with your values once in a great while but it cannot be a recurring problem. Someone who is incongruent with their values on a regular basis will not be good leader because no one will take them seriously. Being a leader one needs to realize they are held to a higher standard and because of this people watch and remember everything you say and do. As a leader you need to evaluate whether or not something you do is really worth being incongruent. I truly believe it is easier to be congruent if one person knows what they value in life. If you do not know what your values are it is hard to be congruent with them.
To me commitment is giving something your all even when you are not required to. For example on a high school basketball team there are many players that all say they are committed. To me they are not all committed, the ones that play because they love it and give it their all no matter what are the ones who are truly committed. Ones that their parents force them to play and slack off in practice are not truly committed. This can be seen in our chapters. There is always that one girl not matter what you ask her you know she will do it for you because she is committed to the chapter, it means something to her. When I think of committed I also think of dedicated. When you are committed to something you are also dedicated to its cause. I am committed to my family, academics, Delta Zeta, and my health.
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