For the last two semesters I have been the president of my fraternity. During my term, worked hard to try to create an atmosphere where all my officers have a voice and are free to make their own goals. For my own goals and the goals for the chapter, I did everything I could to make sure that I was not creating the goals for the chapter but rather the chapter was making goals. To do this, I sent out a survey to the chapter before the beginning of every semester to gain an understanding of what they would like to see for the chapter and where they would like the chapter to be. I would also asked about if there were any aspects of the chapter that they would like to see changed for the better. This survey was completely voluntarily completed and was anonymous. Following the survey, I would then meet with each of my officers individually to speak with them about their own officer goals along with their personal goals. I would then ask them what I could do to help them complete their goals. I then held them accountable for those goals throughout the semester. This accountability eliminated the chances of social loafing, which is something that I feared each semester since our chapter has been growing in size.
I learned that by having open communication and willingness to listen, my officers and my chapter were happier with the chapter’s direction. This was very apparent when we took home over 30 awards both locally and nationally during my term. We won both national and local chapter of the year, and I explained to my chapter at the beginning of my term that my goal was to win these awards, but I believe it should be every president’s goal to gain these awards. I then explained to them that yes it was a goal of mine but it could not be completed without the chapter. Those awards should never be placed on one person’s shoulders because they are not individual awards but rather they are chapter awards. Yes, my name is on the chapter of the year gavel, but the work that had to be done to get that gavel was due to the overall chapter.
Since my term as president is coming to an end, it has been fairly difficult to hand over my responsibilities; however, I have been working on slowly transitioning the next president so that it is not as stressful for him as it was for me in the beginning. By doing a slow and smooth transition, it will be beneficial for the president-elect because it gives him more opportunities to work with me and ask me questions as they arise. It is also beneficial for me because I do not have to hand everything over to the new president and hope that he does it well. I have been working on teaching the president-elect the importance of having an open door and communication with everything because if there is ever an issue with the chapter, it is better to communicate that problem with the president so that it can be dealt with before it becomes anything extreme.
Overall during my term I have learned a lot about leadership and myself. I have really developed myself as a better individual and leader by guiding my chapter. I have taken concepts that I learned in my psychology courses, ranging from counseling, social psychology, learning psychology, and even personality psychology, and applied them to my chapter.
I learned that by having open communication and willingness to listen, my officers and my chapter were happier with the chapter’s direction. This was very apparent when we took home over 30 awards both locally and nationally during my term. We won both national and local chapter of the year, and I explained to my chapter at the beginning of my term that my goal was to win these awards, but I believe it should be every president’s goal to gain these awards. I then explained to them that yes it was a goal of mine but it could not be completed without the chapter. Those awards should never be placed on one person’s shoulders because they are not individual awards but rather they are chapter awards. Yes, my name is on the chapter of the year gavel, but the work that had to be done to get that gavel was due to the overall chapter.
Since my term as president is coming to an end, it has been fairly difficult to hand over my responsibilities; however, I have been working on slowly transitioning the next president so that it is not as stressful for him as it was for me in the beginning. By doing a slow and smooth transition, it will be beneficial for the president-elect because it gives him more opportunities to work with me and ask me questions as they arise. It is also beneficial for me because I do not have to hand everything over to the new president and hope that he does it well. I have been working on teaching the president-elect the importance of having an open door and communication with everything because if there is ever an issue with the chapter, it is better to communicate that problem with the president so that it can be dealt with before it becomes anything extreme.
Overall during my term I have learned a lot about leadership and myself. I have really developed myself as a better individual and leader by guiding my chapter. I have taken concepts that I learned in my psychology courses, ranging from counseling, social psychology, learning psychology, and even personality psychology, and applied them to my chapter.