Notes #16 Situational Team Leadership

Teams are a big part of what we will deal with as leaders.  Much of what we will do will be as part of a team or leading a team, and we need to understand how teams work, how to be part of a team (sometimes called ‘followership’) and how to lead a team.  One of the main ways of dealing with teams is the application of Situational Leadership (covered in Notes #7) to teams, sometimes called Situational Team Leadership.  Of course, this entails several concepts.

First off, we need a better understanding of teams.  We are many times part of groups, large and small.  We may be part of various groups and orgs, such as local clubs or professional associations or the like.  Many of these groups may have subgroups, such as committees or subcommittees (these we covered in Notes #12).

Notes #15 Rights & Responsibilities of Members

[originally by Lydia Croft, PRP with minor editing by Michael Brown]

 

(part of the parliamentary procedure subseries)

[[NOTE: please keep in mind that we are speaking of "rights" in terms of "parliamentary rights of members", which by and large means the “right of voice” (make motions, speak in debate of said motions) and “right of vote” (to vote on motions), sometimes referred to as the “right of voice and vote”.  We are mainly speaking here of the rights of members within membership organizations.]]

RIGHTS

1. To attend meetings
2. To be notified of meetings
3. To make and second motions
4. To debate the questions (discuss the motion/business at hand)
5. To vote on all motions
6. To appear before the club/organization or committee to state your case
7. To serve on committees
8. To serve as an officer
9. To object to the consideration of disagreeable motions
10. To help elect officers
11. To help decide how the money is to be spent
12. To promote all the projects of the organization
13. To appeal the decision of the chair
14. To invite qualified people to join
15. To defend the purpose of the organization

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. To attend and remain to the end of the meetings
2. To pay all dues & fees without complaining
3. To obey all rules & customs of the organization
4. To read and understand all the bylaws and rules of the organization
5. To take your turn in serving on committees
6. To support with money and service and time the activities of your organization
7. To know how to use the rights given to you by the bylaws and adopted parliamentary authority
8. To learn the correct way to make motion to carry on business
9. To express opinions on questions while IN the meetings and while the motions are on the floor
10. To amend motions if they don't express the need of the majority
11. To know and observe the rules of DEBATE and COURTESY of debate
12. To know when some motions should be sent to a committee for further information
13. To call a "point of order" when you see a rule has been broken. Must be called to attention immediately.
14. To appeal the decision of the chair on a point of order if you disagree with a decision
15. To know the difference between the use of "To Lay on the Table" and "Postpone to the Next Meeting"
16. To realize when discussion has gone on too long and CALL FOR THE PREVIOUS QUESTION (ie, end debate/discussion)
17. To know that motions that limit or take away a privilege require a 2/3 vote.

REMEMBER

• Members have more rights than the president!
• Express your opinions while in the meeting, and do NOT criticize to others AFTER the meeting.
• If you want better officers, be more careful whom you elect.
• If you can do better, offer your services; don't criticize unless you are willing to do the job yourself. (RUN for office! Get on a committee! Make a difference!)

 

BE LOYAL TO YOUR ORGANIZATION *OR* LEAVE. DON'T TEAR IT UP.

Postscript- if some of the terms aren't clear to you, then you need to learn more about parliamentary procedure. Please read up on it, or see past and future entries in this series.

Notes #14 Outdoor/Adventure Education & Leadership

For many of us who are involved in the program, Scouting provides a unique educational program and experience for our youth (and adults), but it’s actually part of larger educational “world”.  Some of us may have heard the terms “outdoor education”, “adventure education”, “experiential education” and variants of these.  Scouting is part of this. 

Let’s look at Outdoor education first.  It usually applies to education done in the out of doors.  Nature hikes, field trips to museums and nature centers, outdoor activities and the like are part of this.  Adventure education is a subset of this, focusing on more strenuous activities such as high adventure camping and activities such as white water rafting, rock climbing and the like, which can challenge the participants physically, mentally, and spiritually.  Experiential learning/education is all about learning by doing, which encompasses all of these.  Instead of talking about baking a cake, let’s actually bake that cake.  Or build that bridge or the like.  But it’s meant to be more than just doing science experiments in class, but a larger view of learning that gets away from memorization and rote learning.  Experience is the best teacher, hence the importance of experiential learning.

Notes #13 Leading at a Higher Level

Ken Blanchard, who is a well know author of various leadership development works, including the One Minute Manager, Situational Leadership II, High Performing Teams (his term for the Team Development & Team Leadership Models), Situational Self Leadership and more, has a relatively new book out.

Leading at a High Level is billed as the definitive work by Blanchard on leadership, based on his 25 years of work in the area.  It has several chapters on leadership topics, co-written by members of his organization.  Several of these topics are, of course, covered in more detail in one of the several works from Blanchard & co, but this book brings all these topics together into one work, and does give additional information, sources, etc.   It doesn’t lose the style of writing used in these other books, or the great examples, but unlike them, you get footnotes and further sources.  Recently, a revised and expanded edition came out, with some new chapters and rearrangement of the others.  (the first version came out in 2006, the new one in 2010).

Notes #12 The Committee Structure: Getting Everyone Involved

(part of the parliamentary procedure subseries)

One problem facing many organizations is that most people think there are two types of within their group: the officers and everyone else. The officers are usually expected to do all the work of the organization (planning and organizing stuff), and everyone else just participates.

Usually this results in burnout and frustration on the part of the officers, as they have to shoulder all the work of keeping the organization running; and everyone else slowly drifting away because they don’t feel fully involved in the group.

How do you solve this problem?

Simple. Use the “Committee Structure”, as I call it.

But what is that and how does it work? (and does it work?)

Notes #11 Servant Leadership Works of Larry Spears

For many years, Larry Spears was the executive director of the Robert Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership.  Upon his retirement from that position, he soon went and started up his own group, the Spears Center forServant-Leadership.  While at the Greenleaf Center, he oversaw several publications, most notably, new collections of Greenleaf’s works and a series of 4 anthologies on servant leadership that drew from articles and speeches on the topic from a wide range of writers and experts in leadership.  The Center expanded under his leadership, doing annual conferences and the like.  I think in many ways, Larry Spears was responsible for the spreading of the ideas of Greenleaf.

The new Greenleaf collections were already covered in the Leaders Notes on him.

Notes #10 Meeting Minutes

(part of the parliamentary procedure subseries)  

Meeting minutes are too often an overlooked part of group meetings. Few understand their importance; fewer still know how to handle them. This is a mistake, because minutes are an important part of your organization’s records. They are the information on the decisions your group makes. In fact, with many organizations, the minutes of their national boards are important enough that they are put on-line or provided in their national magazines so that all members are aware of them.