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.