Future President

[SigKapChatter]

Hey ya'll! I'm going to run for president of my chapter in a month. As far as I know, no one else is running for that position. (Is that typical in everyone else's chapters that you have to pull teeth to get someone to be president?)

So since I am probably going to get the job, I wanna be the best darn president this chapter has ever seen. I'm looking for a little advice. What are things that your presidents did that you thought were really good?...were really bad? From the stand point of a president, what thing stressed you out the most and how did you deal with it? From the stand point of a member, what do you wish your exec council had done differently or better?

I'm looking for anything and everything you have to give me. Thanks in advance for the help!

[AGDee]

My advice would be to:
1. Stay level headed
2. Realize that you may have to separate yourself from the chapter emotionally
3. Don't play favorites
4. Don't get dragged into drama.. nip it in the bud
5. Stay organized and run your meetings efficiently
6. To keep yourself sane, limit your availability to office hours. Do NOT accept 2 am phone calls from Suzy Sorority who is complaining because Loose Lisa kissed her boyfriend. That is a personal issue, not a sorority issue. Be able to identify the difference and define EMERGENCY situations for your members.

[AOII Angel]

Don't be afraid to make decisions. That's what leaders do...at least good leaders do. There is a time and place for gathering opinions, and then there is a time for some one to step up and lead. That's the president's job. This will really prepare you for making decisions later in life. Good luck!

[AnatraAmore]

My advice would be to remember that in a chapter of any size there are going to be different opinions and no matter how hard you try, you will never make every sister happy. Accept this and be prepared to stand behind your decision - like a good leader should. That said, good luck running for president! My chapter usually only had one or two girls running for a president in any given year - in the 4 elections I saw, only one had more than one sister running.

[skylark]

I agree that you can't be afraid to make decisions (inaction is worse than action sometimes) but unless there is a timeliness issue, involve the chapter with whatever "decision" you are making. If you force the chapter into something you think is a good idea, chances are that the chapter will just change right back after your mere year is over. So what do you do? Use your influence to truly persuade people individually that change is necessary (if that is your situation). That is a mistake I made as a chapter president. If I was to do it all over again, these would be my goals:

1. Keep an outwardly positive attitude.

2. Have more frequent meetings with the recruitment chair and be her right-hand sister. Practice what I preach as far as recruitment goes and not let myself think that my role as president superceded my role as a chapter member and to get out and recruit quality girls.

3. Be honest and up front with anyone who is causing a problem and don't be afraid to talk about things that are awkward. Never delegate this, either.

4. Realize that sometimes as chapter president you feel like the person with the least faith in sisterhood. Your "friends" in the chapter might start to see you differently and you may lose those friends in the end, but don't let that affect your belief in sisterhood and the group as a whole. When you lose faith, so does everyone else.

5. A sorority chapter is not a business and you are not there to teach more irresponsible members how to follow through, not procrastinate, etc. Some people will be like that their entire lives and it is not up to you to teach them that if they can't get X turned in on time that X will not happen. Be flexible and always ask yourself what is best for the chapter in the end.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by skylark

5. A sorority chapter is not a business and you are not there to teach more irresponsible members how to follow through, not procrastinate, etc. Some people will be like that their entire lives and it is not up to you to teach them that if they can't get X turned in on time that X will not happen. Be flexible and always ask yourself what is best for the chapter in the end.

I very much disagree with this one. A sorority chapter IS a business, and it is a VERY good time to learn the lessons that will help them when they get out in the "real" world. The sorority experience starts exactly like a job, with an interview, which in sorority terms is rush. You hold business meetings that everyone is expected to attend. You set budgets and goals and have deadlines and turn in reports. The only difference is that the sorority's "product" is a social organization, as opposed to marketable services or goods. I do agree, however, that there will be people that procrastinate their entire lives, and someone will have to pick up the slack, but again...no different that the "real world".

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by AlphaFrog

I very much disagree with this one. A sorority chapter IS a business, and it is a VERY good time to learn the lessons that will help them when they get out in the "real" world. The sorority experience starts exactly like a job, with an interview, which in sorority terms is rush. You hold business meetings that everyone is expected to attend. You set budgets and goals and have deadlines and turn in reports. The only difference is that the sorority's "product" is a social organization, as opposed to marketable services or goods. I do agree, however, that there will be people that procrastinate their entire lives, and someone will have to pick up the slack, but again...no different that the "real world".

I VERY MUCH agree -- SigKap, listen to AlphaFrog! She is dead on on this.

[AOII Angel]

I agree as well. At some of the larger greek schools, the yearly chapter budget tops a million dollars. The president gets a real world look into what it takes to run a company!

[KSUViolet06]

* Don't get dragged into the drama/gossip of the chapter. As president, you are expected to be above that and not perpetuate any rumors/gossip/etc you might hear from other sisters.

*Set a good example. You can't ask sisters to follow policies and suggestions that you don't follow yourself.

*Understand that you're going to make some decisions that won't be popular with everyone. For example, you might have to cancel a social event that everyone was looking foward to, because of problems with Risk Management paperwork (that could potentially cause problems ffor the chapter). Just remember that what everyone might "want", might not be best for the chapter.

*Be knowledgeable about the other chapter offices and the responsibilities of each position.

[PhiMuAlum]

I was President of my Collegiate Chapter as well as President of several other organizations, in college and also in profesional organizations.
Being President is A LOT OF WORK!!! You DO have to run it like a business!!! You also need to forget about wanting to win any popularity contest-you are not going to please everyone!!!
My advice:

1) Make sure you have read your Chapter's By-Laws and pretty much convert to memory;

2) Make sure you memorize your Chapter's Rules & Regs and Disciplinary actions;

3) READ, several times, your National's By-Laws, Rules & Regs, etc.

4) PAY ATTENTION during your officer training and TAKE NOTES!!!

5) READ your Officer Manual

6) Having a GOOD working relationship with your exec Board;

7) Have handy (AT ALL TIMES) all of your National's contact info and cell phone numbers in the event you need to contact them at 3 AM;

8) Learn how to delegate, learn how to manage your time and follow up with your members;

9) Set times when members can call you and/or come to your room (And STICK to these times)

10) Listen to ALL sides before taking action.

11) Purchase your own copy of Robert's Rules of Order

12) Stay Neutral

13) When in doubt, contact your HQ and ASK!!! They are there to help you. (Don't forget to thank them when you have asked for assistance.)

I can go on and on. You will hear EVERYTHING and your members will confide in you regarding things you would rather not know. Be Prepared!!!

It is a very exhausting and time consuming office, but it is also very rewarding.


Phi Mu Alum

[PhiMuAlum]

I would also like to add, one thing that I started the year I was President of my collegiate chapter was "Pass the Gavel". We sat in a huge circle and passed the gavel to each sister. EVERYONE had a chance to speak if they wanted to and they could say ANYTHING they wanted. Anything that was said in the room STAYED in the room. If anything was found otherwise, there was severe disciplinary action taken.

As I mentioned above, as President, you will hear EVERYTHING. A lot of times, what you hear are several sides to the same story. You learn how to mediate pretty quickly. Passing the Gavel was one way to get these things out in the open and resoleved before there were any further hurt feelings.

I am happy to know that this tradition of Passing the Gavel is STILL being done in my chapter (I won't even tell you how many years that it has been). After our Pass the Gavel Meeting (sometimes it could last a couple of hours), our chapter was always a lot closer and we were all able to see the other person's side of the story.

Phi Mu Alum

[SigKapChatter]

Originally Posted by skylark

2. Have more frequent meetings with the recruitment chair and be her right-hand sister. Practice what I preach as far as recruitment goes and not let myself think that my role as president superceded my role as a chapter member and to get out and recruit quality girls.

Is there anything specifically that would make more frequent meetings with the recruitment chair helpful? Is it to ensure that progress has been made so that Work Week and Recruitment are less stressful? Or that we are on the same page for the kind of members we wanna recruit and how we can improve our strategy as a chapter for recruiting those girls? Something else?

[SigKapChatter]

Originally Posted by PhiMuAlum

I would also like to add, one thing that I started the year I was President of my collegiate chapter was "Pass the Gavel". We sat in a huge circle and passed the gavel to each sister. EVERYONE had a chance to speak if they wanted to and they could say ANYTHING they wanted. Anything that was said in the room STAYED in the room. If anything was found otherwise, there was severe disciplinary action taken.

As I mentioned above, as President, you will hear EVERYTHING. A lot of times, what you hear are several sides to the same story. You learn how to mediate pretty quickly. Passing the Gavel was one way to get these things out in the open and resoleved before there were any further hurt feelings.

I am happy to know that this tradition of Passing the Gavel is STILL being done in my chapter (I won't even tell you how many years that it has been). After our Pass the Gavel Meeting (sometimes it could last a couple of hours), our chapter was always a lot closer and we were all able to see the other person's side of the story.

Phi Mu Alum

It's funny that you mention this because I was thinking I would make it a tradition to bi-monthly have a short sisterhood like "Gavel Pass" during chapter where we talk about what in the chapter is driving us nuts and what we are doing well, also "Cross the Line" where you ask the members who have done or experienced something to step forward--some of the experiences are funny and some are really emotional like abuse and rape. This would be a way to show that these are the kinds of things we can talk about as sisters. My theory is that if we take care of our sisters and our sisterhood, everything else will fall into place--grades, reputation, etc. Are there any more activities like this that would really help us build our already wonderful sisterhood?

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by SigKapChatter

It's funny that you mention this because I was thinking I would make it a tradition to bi-monthly have a short sisterhood like "Gavel Pass" during chapter where we talk about what in the chapter is driving us nuts and what we are doing well, also "Cross the Line" where you ask the members who have done or experienced something to step forward--some of the experiences are funny and some are really emotional like abuse and rape. This would be a way to show that these are the kinds of things we can talk about as sisters. My theory is that if we take care of our sisters and our sisterhood, everything else will fall into place--grades, reputation, etc. Are there any more activities like this that would really help us build our already wonderful sisterhood?

We had the "cross the line" type of discussions at our retreats. Chapters don't tend to be a time when everyone's ok with doing that.

We did a gavel pass regularly that was simply a time to say anything you wanted, but it was always good. I do recommend that you use something like a suggestion box because people may not feel like they can speak up honestly about issues they're having. But as president, letting everyone know they can approach you with issues is a good thing. At the same time, be willing to delegate those issues when appropriate. You can't fix everything.

[PhiMuAlum]

Originally Posted by SigKapChatter

It's funny that you mention this because I was thinking I would make it a tradition to bi-monthly have a short sisterhood like "Gavel Pass" during chapter where we talk about what in the chapter is driving us nuts and what we are doing well, also "Cross the Line" where you ask the members who have done or experienced something to step forward--some of the experiences are funny and some are really emotional like abuse and rape. This would be a way to show that these are the kinds of things we can talk about as sisters. My theory is that if we take care of our sisters and our sisterhood, everything else will fall into place--grades, reputation, etc. Are there any more activities like this that would really help us build our already wonderful sisterhood?

Only YOU will know your chapter and what is going on (and they will all bring their "stuff" to you because they will want you to be on their side.

As far as having a Pass the Gavel bi-monthly, I personally think that is a bit much. Trust me, you will instinctively KNOW when the time is right. I think once you get through your first one and sisters feel comfortable sharing, more will speak up the next time.

The suggestion box is good, but who will be responsible for reading all the suggestions? I guess it all depends on the size of your chapter. But for a large chapter with 100+ women, you may not have the time to read all the suggestions.

Another suggestion I would make would be to create a Yahoo Group for your members to join. This way, you only have to send out one e-mail.