PREPARING FOR LEADERSHIP
To Push or Not to Push
Jaina Best
University City, Missouri, USA
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 34 No. 2, April-May 1998, p. 31
For many of us, a trip to
the playground is sure to include time on the swing. Sometimes the person
on the swing needs a push, sometimes she doesn't, but we are there standing
close by and ready. If we watch and listen carefully, it's easy to see
when a little push is not intrusive but something that can help the
one on the swing to swing high!
The LEADER'S HANDBOOK describes
a Leader's active role in the application process, yet many Leaders
worry about “pushing" Applicants too hard. They may fear that
Applicants will be overwhelmed by too many get-togethers to discuss
leadership, too many invitations to extra activities like Chapter Meetings
and District Workshops, too many discussions about aspects of Group
management. For fear of offering too much too soon, so me Leaders wait
for Applicants to initiate discussion on Leader activities.
However, it's difficult for
an Applicant to set any kind of pace for her
application when she isn't
aware of the opportunities available to her.
An Applicant needs to find
a balance between family and LLL work just as
Leaders do. A Leader can
help an Applicant find this balance in several ways:
- Discuss balancing family
and LLL early in the application. Look over this section in the LEADER'S
HANDBOOK together.
- Talk about how each Leader
balances family and LLL in her own way. Give examples from your own
situation: LLL activities that had to be missed and arrangements that
were made with the family to be able to attend others.
- Encourage an Applicant
to let a Leader know if she feels overwhelmed. Reassure her that meetings
can be rescheduled or other creative ways can be found to make sure
she gets the information she needs.
Regular contact with the
sponsoring Leader can help keep an Applicant enthusiastic about leadership.
When a Leader offers an Applicant opportunities to attend meetings,
practice skills and talk about leadership, she shows support for her
decision to pursue leadership and lets her know that her interest in
LLL is important.
When a Leader is confident
that an Applicant understands “ family first,” she knows the
Applicant will say no if she needs to. This approach allows her
to make the decision about how much activity is too much. She can let
the Leader know if she's “pushing too high.”
For an Applicant,
a push can help keep up the momentum. Just like a person on
a swing, a push is nice now and then!
Encourage an
Applicant by:
- Calling her on
the phone just to chat as well as to discuss leadership;
- Sharing your resources:
books, newsletters, names and addresses of Area, Affiliate/Division
and LLLI support staff;
- Offering to carpool
to meetings, workshops and conferences:
- Introducing her
to Leaders from other Groups and encouraging her to attend
other meetings;
- Asking how her
application is proceeding and if she would like to discuss
anything of concern.
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Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:31:57 UTC 2007.
