Getting to Know Group Members
Carol Smith-Roach
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, USA
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 35 No. 2, April-May 1999, p. 42
Have you ever, application
form in hand, invited a mother you were sure would make a wonderful
Leader to talk about LLL leadership, only to find out that her breastfeeding
and mothering experience was different from what you'd thought? My co-Leaders
and I have learned to get to know Group members before asking them to
become Leader Applicants. We accomplish this in several ways.
We listen attentively
to what the mother says at Series Meetings, especially when she shares
her own experiences. Does what she describes reflect LLLI philosophy?
Does she suggest that there are areas of philosophy with which she disagrees?
Does she refer to LLL materials and encourage others to attend meetings?
We offer the mother a
Group job and invite her to attend Planning/Evaluation Meetings.
Taking a more active role in these meetings and Group management helps
both the Leaders and the mother see how LLL fits into her life. The
mother can decide if she wants to give the time and energy to help the
Group and LLL function. Both mother and Leaders have opportunities to
talk in-depth about LLLI philosophy, helping other mothers breastfeed
and how Group responsibilities are shared.
We talk with the mother
between meetings. Through phone calls or informal get-togethers,
the Leaders and the mother assess her involvement. Does she enjoy Group
work and perform her job well? Is she attentive at meetings, helping
to keep the discussion on topic and meet the needs of new mothers?
In time, the Leaders and
the mother get to know each other. When all the Leaders of the Group
agree, we ask the mother if she is interested in talking about LLL leadership.
We invite her to a meeting to talk about the responsibilities of an
LLL Leader, the requirements of an application for LLL leadership, and
LLLI philosophy. (See Leader's
Guide: In Preparation for an Application, No, 912, revised November
1998, in the LLLI Application Packet or on the LAD Web page). We encourage
her to think about questions and topics she would like to talk about
and bring them to the meeting.
We prepare for the meeting
by reviewing the LEADER'S HANDBOOK, THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEFDING,
the contents of the LLLI Application Packet, the LLLI Prerequisites
to Applying for Leadership - Guidelines for Leaders and the LLLI Criteria
for Leader Accreditation.
When we talk about LLLI philosophy,
we use some of the suggestions in the guidelines to the prerequisites.
For example, we talk with the mother about her understanding of each
concept statement and ask if any are not clear to her. Does she have
reservations about any of them? We ask her to tell us about how her
experience relates to each concept. We talk about how LLLI philosophy
is related to the work of a Leader:
- a Leader's experience
is part of the information she provides;
- LLLI philosophy is practical
and doable;
- each Leader's experience
demonstrates the role LLLI philosophy plays in her life.
If the mother's experience
includes regular separation from a young baby, we look at how her experience
demonstrates that she understands her baby's intense need for her presence
and how she responds to meet this need. We might consider the arrangements
the mother has made to lessen separation and minimize disruption of
breastfeeding as well as the impact of the separation on mothering through
breastfeeding.
If the mother has not experienced
regular separation from a young baby and expresses strong reservations
about women who do, we talk about her own experience and a variety of
other experiences to see how they demonstrate this understanding and
response. We also talk about how a Leader uses her personal experience
in her work, including when and how to share it when helping women in
situations similar to her own.
This often leads into a discussion
of the attitudes and information a Leader needs as well as the application
itself. (See LLLI Criteria for Leader
Accreditation and Overview
of Training Curriculum for Leader Accreditation in the Application
Packet).
By following these simple
steps we get a good idea of whether or not we want to proceed with an
application. Whatever the decision is, the honest discussion about experience
and what is required for LLL leadership paves the way for good working
relationships.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:31:26 UTC 2007.
