Becoming a Change Agent - Week 10

            I think that when reflecting on this session, I really learned ways in which I can continue to utilize this experience to benefit my chapter in the upcoming semesters. As we mentioned in discussion, I feel it is instrumental to empower my members. They need to feel like they are making a change just as much, if not more, than they feel like I am dictating to them the change that needs to be made. By empowering the women of my chapter, I think they will benefit from becoming a change agent and want to continue to improve our chapter in various ways. Also, I plan to continue to utilize this experience by holding my members accountable. We have each committed to this organization and vowed to make it better for the future, so I want my women to hold themselves to those standards.

            Another important factor in utilizing this experience is setting a good example. How can my members become change agents when they don’t feel like the leadership of the chapter is putting all efforts forth to become change agents? I think that as an officer and especially as the present, members look up to you whether you believe it or not, and oftentimes mirror your actions to a tee. Becoming a change agent is really advantageous to growing as a person and allowing others to grow too. I think through the seven C’s I have learned the dos, don’ts and everything in between when it comes to leading my chapter.

            I am incredibly proud of the women of my chapter and the things they accomplish on a daily basis, and by continuing to utilize this experience, my chapter can continue to foster better relationships and improve on all grounds. Lastly, it is vital to be a good follower as a part of being a leader. Allowing your members to make decisions and know when the decisions you made may have failed, but leading them to find a way to become successful, is really what becoming a change agent is to me. 

Commitment - Week 9

           Being a chapter president has really showed me a lot about my passions. I am extremely passionate about my chapter, which has become even more evident after taking my position as president. I am also really passionate about increasing chapter morale and building camaraderie amongst my women, which I think falls under the congruence and common purpose C. I think it is really important to ignite the passion for all of my members and, by reminding them why they are show passionate for Alpha Gamma Delta, keeping them involved in chapter activities. I also find myself to be passionate for change, which directly relates to the C’s. As weird as that might sound, I think it is constantly important to move forward and be sure that you are doing what is in the best interest of the group at that given period. Oftentimes, even when things aren’t working anymore, it is not easy to instill change, especially when things have been the same for a long period of time.
            As a leader, sometimes it is not always easy to stay committed to your individual values in the group atmosphere. I have been challenged in the sense that, in certain situations, in order to carry out the mission of the group, it might not be exactly what I would have hoped for or valued in the situation. Also, when you have to be the authority figure to someone who you are very good friends with, it becomes an increasingly difficult situation, and sometimes challenges your values. Lastly, taking a step back and remembering that just because I value something does not mean that the whole chapter values it and there is often more than one way to achieve successes. Seeing the bigger picture and remembering that this is far more than just yourself, is extremely important when being committed to this chapter. 

Congruence - Week 8

            The personal values of individual group members can often contribute to or be transformed into shared group values in numerous forms. If one member of the group has a personal value that they exemplify and the other member see the benefits of it and why it would be a positive attribute for their group, it can easily become a shared group value. Also, the many members of a group can all bring their personal values together to create one large shared value that best fits the needs of the entire group as a whole. It often just takes one person’s vision to instill change in others or show the importance of something that may have easily been overlooked. Therefore, it is extremely common for the shared group values to come from certain members in the group, who then guide the group to become better in various ways.

            On a similar note, many people strive to be a person of congruence, but is that something that is always possible, no. I think it is optimistic to work to be a person of congruence always, but it is just a part of life that you deal with tough situations and may have to do something wrong to find the right way. Find the right ways to act on your values is important, and ultimately being a person of congruence is absolutely possible, but there will ultimately be speed bumps along the way. I think it is also important to remember that when being a person of congruence, it is sometimes the way you deal with not being a person of congruence that really shows your values and how you exemplify them in your day-to-day activities. Congruence is the key to taking personal values and allowing them to become group values.

Consciousness of Self - Week 7

            I think everyone comes to value things in their life differently. To me, I come to value things by what is important in my life and how I want to not only treat others, but be treated as well. I think having values is important because it guides how you represent yourself and carry yourself in day-to-day activities. Another way we come to value things is by watching the actions of others, which oftentimes shows you what is significant in your life, or how you don’t want to act or be perceived. Values are important and usually signify how a person will respond to a situation or where their priorities may lie.

            The only people that can ensure we are spending our time on the things we value are ourselves. Everyone has different values, so it is ultimately up to you to decide where and how to spend your time and if mirrors your values. I think from situation to situation it is important to take a step back and figure out if where you’re spending your time aligns with your values and how it does so. That is not always an easy thing, and it is often more common that people realize when they are spending time on things they don’t value rather than when they are focusing on things that they do value.

            My values that I identify with are being optimistic and pointing out the good in people. I also value commitment and determination to succeed. Lastly, I value friendship and each of the relationships I have built with the women of my chapter. I try to equalize my time between just relaxing and hanging out with girls but also getting work done on time and completing it to the best of my ability. I think there are times when I need to revise my schedule to not work as much, but also have some fun, which is a strong value I possess. Making the most of life is super important, and oftentimes that means blowing off some steam and just having a good time. 

Vision Statement - Week 6

           My personal vision statement would be, “Strive to achieve success to the best of my ability while empowering others to make change as well.” I think this would be my personal vision because it is important to be a good leader individually, but to empower your members to be great leaders also. Reflecting on past experiences has really allowed me to improve my vision statement and determine what is necessary to include in it. Having both positive and negative leadership experiences has shown me where I possess strong characteristics and what aspects I may need further improvement.

            As a leader, I have a lot of ambition and want to use it to articulate my vision and how it can better not only myself but those around me as well. I think that my weakness is delegation, therefore, as a part of my vision statement I want to be sure that I am giving tasks to my members and being sure that they are as involved as they want to be. However, a strength that I have is to complete all tasks in a timely manner and do it to the best of my ability. Therefore, the first part of my vision statement, striving to achieve success to the best of my ability, is something that I strongly excel in.

            As far as my background goes, I have had a lot of leadership experiences throughout my time, both as a leader and as a general member, both, which have helped me to be the leader that I am today. Having a personal vision statement and living by it is not always easy, but extremely advantageous and beneficial in working to become a stronger and more effective leader for your chapter. 

Visions, Aims, and Values - Week 5

           Visions, aims, and values are demonstrated in my chapter through various forms. Starting with visions, we all hope to keep improving our chapter for the future and to continue to grow in numbers but also personally as a chapter. We want to keep the positivity so that our chapter can continue to be successful in the future. As far as aims go, we have a lot of aims based around our purpose that each touch on different aspects of goals. We want to aim to raise more money than last year for the Alpha Gamma Delta foundation but also to make sure that we have high attendance at sisterhoods and are continuing to build morale amongst the group. It is also important that we aim to have good communication and feedback about chapter events and happenings. Lastly, our values are a vast mix of both our visions and aims. Not only does each woman in the chapter carry their own values, but also we as a unit have chapter values. We hold our women to high standards both academically and socially. The values the women of our chapter exemplify are usually very telling of why we all chose to be a part of this organization.

            It is often times difficult to reconcile different priorities within the chapter while staying true to it. Our chapter works to do this by offering many different events and opportunities for women to attend or be a part of. We hope that by doing this we can touch on everyone’s priorities, who although may vary by person, all relate to the common goal of the chapter. It is important that through the events and programs we put on we remain consistent with our values and visions. The women of our group have joined AGD for all different reasons, but each are on board with the visions, aims, and values that we believe fit our organization best. Sometimes reaching a common goal can happen for different people in different forms. 

Collaboration - Week 4

            Collaboration is something that many see as a positive thing, but also many do not enjoy collaborating with others. Individuals find it difficult to collaborate with one another for various reasons. The first, and most obvious, is that a lot of leaders like to do things on their own and not instill trust in others to do their task. Therefore, they do not enjoy collaborating because they want to just do the task and make sure that it is finished and correct. Also, collaboration is not always a leaders first choice because it means that you have to go through extra steps and more work to be able to explain to the others what to do and how it is going to work.

            Some elements of collaboration that are most difficult to engage in are ensuring that all parties have an equal amount of work to participate in and that everyone is on the same page. It is difficult to bring everyone up to speed and make sure that large groups of people all understand the concept fully. This coincides with the elements that are most difficult to engage in, which in my opinion, is the reasoning behind working as a group. Oftentimes, people will feel that the task can be completed individually, so collaborating, as a group is unnecessary. An obstacle to successful collaboration is delegation. Making sure the task is being completed but multiple people are participating is key to successful collaboration.

            When you have members of your group who do not want to work collaboratively, it usually poses a problem. Many don’t realize the benefits of collaborating, which can be difficult to see on the surface. Collaboration should not be forced on someone because that is not ultimately going to create camaraderie, but the positive aspects of it should be conveyed to the group. Also, diversity is important in a group because it allows for all different types of ideas and concepts to be brought to the table. Similarly, competition is often the motivator amongst collaborators because members often want to show up the other members of the team.

            In our chapter, visions, aims and values are demonstrated by coming up with a plan, presenting it to the chapter and why it coincides with our values, and then presenting the outcome to the group. When looking at many different priorities in the chapter, we try to have different groups work together to complete both tasks or take on different ideas so that we stay true to ourselves and allow all members to participate in what is important to them. Collaboration is incredibly important, and one of the main reasons why our chapter has been so successful at following through and completing tedious tasks. 

Citizenship - Week 3

            I think the type of citizen you are really plays a role in the dynamics of a group, especially the type of citizen who is leading the group or chapter. Recently, I have become a more effective citizen in my chapter. I am constantly looking out for the common needs of the group rather than those of small dilemmas or myself that don’t really matter in the end. I feel as chapter president I am constantly picking up the pieces or ensuring that things don’t go wrong, which is my civic duty to my sisters. Having awareness of my surroundings, the ability to build coalitions, and an understanding of community development has each been advantageous in becoming a more effective citizen.

            I don’t know that there was ever really a time I thought about Citizenship differently than I do now, but more that I didn’t exactly understand its meaning. I see now that whether the leader or a team player, Citizenship is equally important. I also believe my recent insights into the topic has altered my approach as well. Focusing on community development has been a recent focus that I never used to think about previously. Forming a sense of community for our chapter individually and then determining how that community fits into the larger Greek community of the University, I feel, is very important. One huge characteristic I enforce amongst my chapter is empowerment.

            As a chapter, I think my members each think about Citizenship in their own sense. For example, a lot of women in my chapter have empathy for one another and truly care about the well being of the chapter as a whole. On the other hand, other women of my chapter focus on how to better our chapter as a part of the larger Greek community. I don’t think either approach is incorrect by any means; it is now just a matter of bringing both approaches together to create an even better approach. Citizenship is a large building block to fostering a positive environment for my chapter and I think it is an important concept to understand. 

Change - Week 2

            To enact change, it is important to believe change is possible and encourage others to be a part of the change. Although time may be a factor in change, time is not going to result in change alone. It is vital that you work to make the change yourself and not rely on time or any other factors. Oftentimes, it just takes one person’s vision to push the group to change or contribute to a community wide change.

            Being a leader and instilling change in your organization is often a single order change. For example, in my chapter, we are working to make chapter a more welcoming and a more positive environment. To me, this would be single order change because we are using our same values from previously as well as our current knowledge in order to carry out a change. Many women of the chapter think that as our pledge classes grow and leaders prevail that change will just happen, but that is unfortunately not the case. It is imperative that you, as a leader of the women in your chapter, push the group to want change.

            In many situations, it only takes one person to show the group that change is necessary in order for the organization to excel in the future. By using single order change, you are able to use past situations to motivate your members to work for a common goal. Another example of using single order change is deciding to host chapter dinner in shifts, since we now have a significantly larger group of women. This will ultimately be better for the morale of the chapter, and it is building off of our current skill set and principles. Change is an important factor for organizations to grow and build up their member base, however, it usually takes one persons motivation to help the entire chapter see the benefits and positive attributes of the change. 

Social Change - Week 1

           To achieve social change, it must be a collaborative effort amongst many people. Often times it is not something that can be changed by just one single person. I believe that social change can be made possible by one person’s vision, but it is vital to have support and help by those around you. As I begin my term as chapter president, I have seen myself become more aware of my motivations to work for social change.

            As I reflect on my past couple years in the chapter and create goals for my term, I look back on the things that didn’t work in the past as well as those that were successful. I want to make the next year a positive experience for the members of my chapter while also altering the way things have been done in the past to better our organization. My desire to bring success to Alpha Gamma Delta has truly shaped me as a leader as well. I have learned that being a leader may sometimes mean actually giving instructions and leading, but it is truly being a motivator and encouraging the chapter to excel in each of our daily activities. I want my chapter to be successful and I have seen my leadership style differ in order to connect with the women and best carry out the mission of the group.

            Lastly, until I became President I think I though about social change differently. I never felt like it was my job to make change, but just follow or be instructed. My current approach is drastically different, as I believe it is everyone’s job to make change and I am capable of fighting for that change, but to achieve it, it must be a team effort. No one can sit in the back and hope others will do for them, but rather I think it is important to approach it as a whole chapter responsibility.  Social change is significant, and it is vital that each member of the chapter is educated on its importance and impact.