Quote:
Originally Posted by Techbuilder
So I have a President who doesn't seem to have the time to do anything that outside of his job. For instance, I have not been able to sit down with him (I'm VP) to talk about what's going on with the chapter.
It's also frustrating because he delegates every single task onto me, many times I tell him "No, I can't do it" and in the end, I end up doing the task last minute because he refuses to delegate it to anyone else. Sometimes I am successful on delegating it to someone else, but that is rare.
It's gotten to the point where at a recent meeting, someone raised thier hand and said "Ok, so you're been philanthropy chair for the past 7 months and you haven't done a damn thing. Why don't you have someone else do it?" and his response was "I'll think about it." Also, there's a lot of contracdicting between me and him at the meetings which the chapter notices.
I try many times to get him to talk to me about things, but he always using the excuse "I have homework to do or study". Last week I attempted to talk to him while he was playing video game, but he then complained about not having time to relax and blah blah blah, which ended up with me saying "forget it, if you don't have williness to talk about things, it won't be a productive meeting."
So with that backstory, I'm here on the boards looking for suggestions/tips on the following things:
a) Getting him to sit down and have a proper conversation with me.
b) Having him realize that he can't be delegating every task to me.
c) Also have him realize that as an officer of the fraternity, he needs to sacrafice time to do his job.
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I don't know if this would be different in fraternties, but to me, the President should be controlling the main operations of the entire chapter... heading business meetings, dealing with National Staff and planning their visits, solving major chapter problems, conversing with Advisors and alumni/alumnae when necessary, etc.
You say he doesn't have the time to talk to you about the chapter. What exactly do you have to discuss? Just this situation? Or are there specific problems that need to be worked out?
What tasks is he passing on to you? Examples? If these things do actually fall under someone else's position, then explain that to them, not him. Because if he won't pass it on to anyone else, at least when you get it dumped in your lap, you can then pass it on to the appropriate person without question. Or explain to everyone collectively that you're having difficulty doing these things on your own and ask for some help. I know that some guys don't like doing that, but suck it up and ask.. otherwise, don't complain when everything comes back onto you. These people are your brothers.. I would hope they'd understand if you needed their help.
Also, over the years, if I've learned anything, I've learned this... the people who truly don't care can't be motivated. People get all kinds of things out of Greek life. Some people want a resume boost, some people want the full Greek experience, and a whole lot of people fall somewhere in between. I've seen members who show up to every meeting, are all about philanthropy, participate in all of the extra new member activities, but trying to get them to do any kind of fundraising is like pulling teeth. Some people recruit really well but they hate going to meetings. Some people do a little extra to help everyone else, they sit on every committee, but they only spend a half hour at a mixer before wanting to go home. Sometimes, in certain areas, you just have to cut your losses and realize that if you care enough, and have a few others that do too, that's all that matters. And I tend to think that you do, otherwise, you'd just let all of this stuff go without doing anything about it. Again, if you truly need help, ask for it. I'm sure there are at least a couple of guys who would be willing to step up.
I know that when I was active, I had 2 or 3 sisters that I would go to for help if I needed it. It didn't matter what needed to be done, I knew they'd say yes. And I'd do the same for them. I'm sure there are probably brothers who would be willing to do the same for you.
At the same time, if the chapter is noticing a major problem, it might be time to have a serious talk with the President. And not a "I need to talk to you" kind of thing, but, "The chapter feels this way, and it's bothering me, and if you're not willing to do something about it, I will." It might not be fun, but sometimes ultimatums are the only way to get people to pay attention. And if he is doing a VERY bad job, to the point where he's affecting overall chapter operations, or relationships within the Greek community on campus and/or with National Staff, then it definitely needs to be addressed. But I'm not sure that you're saying you're at that extreme...