Hello, Presidents-Elect! Just think, only 5 more months until you become president of your chapter! Now is the time to really hone down on the type of leader you intend to be and start showing your team what they can expect.

A perfect way to do this is to set your intention to follow the truth Great AMA leaders help their teams develop personally and professionally. Think about it … Everyone who volunteers to be on your team does so for a reason. Your job as a leader is to understand why they volunteer and then make sure they are seeing results in those areas.

So, this month, plan to spend time with each person you can. Ask them the following:

• What are the three key things you hope to get out of your volunteer experience as a member of our team?
  
• At the end of the year, how will you know whether you were successful?

Everyone’s reasons may vary. Some may want to hone their presentation skills. Some may want to broaden their network. Some may want the opportunity to lead a team (committee). Regardless of their individual motivations, if you know what they want and how they will evaluate whether they got it, you have all the information you need to help ensure you have a happy and productive board.

Next take this information and see if there are common themes. If so, perhaps you have the opportunity to have a guest speaker give a workshop on this topic at your board retreat or an extended board meeting. For goals that are unique, develop a simple action plan that will help that volunteer achieve their personal/professional goals. If they want to learn presentation skills, have them introduce the speaker at a couple of events. If they want to broaden their network, get them involved with membership acquisition or retention so they can meet lots of people. If they want to lead a team, help them build a committee and make sure you have 1-on-1 time with them to help them learn the best ways to manage that team so they see themselves being successful.

As you go through this process, don’t forget to ask yourself! What do you want out of your volunteer time and effort? How do you need to structure your board and your own workload to make sure you are getting what you need out of your AMA experience?

Good questions to ask yourself over the coming week. Happy February!

Please feel free to post your ideas and comments in response in this forum. If you have a question or chapter issue that you'd like to discuss anonymously or have recommendations for this blog, please contact me directly at
ama-elects@linkageresearch.com.

Michele DeKinder-Smith
President-Elect
Professional Chapters Council