JCI United Kingdom Local President tips and tricks
Becoming Local President in JCI is probably one of the most exciting things you will ever do.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
- You’ll have so many great experiences and there will be loads of new challenges and opportunities to develop your skills. Here are 27 tips for you how to become a successful leader in JCI. 1. Preparation, preparation and preparation. This will make a big difference for you in your year as president. It’s called luck when preparation meets new opportunities. 2. Love the people you are working with. If they feel that you really care, your team will do whatever it takes to get the chamber to work in a focused way and in the same direction. If people feel that you are not keen to work with them they will see it immediately and your results will be poor. 3. Be humble, no one wants to work with an arrogant leader. 4. Make the most of your character. People in general are more likely to follow and join a person who has an interesting personality. Have integrity and use your own personal traits for the best of your chamber. 5. Be ambitious! You’ll get what you ask for. Set high expectations for your own activities. Ask your directors and committee members to set their own goals. Put together a simple plan with everyone’s objectives and use this for direction during the year. You can always change it when the unexpected happens, and it usually does!
Sofie Sandell is the marketing director for JCI UK and has served two years on national board. Originally from Sweden, where she was involved in JCI’s European Academy, a training for new leaders. Curiosity led her to London where she was the president 2008. Awarded: “Most outstanding leader” by JCI UK 2008. Email: sofie.sandell@jciuk.org.uk
6. Be receptive! As the president you need to be open to advice and ideas. Let the people around you coach you. If you seem to be closed to ideas, people will not help you in the way they help an open leader. 7. Build on what works well in your chamber and improve your work all the time. You are inheriting a lot of history and some things will work well others not so well. Older members may say “we tried that before, it didn’t work”. Don’t listen too much to them, just because it did not work for them, it doesn’t mean your team can’t do it and no two situations and solutions are ever the same. 8. Assumptions = Misunderstandings! Take time to fully understand situations and ideas and make sure that you give clarity to your communications. Avoid making assumptions and make sure you leave no room for alternative interpretations of your words, thoughts or actions'.
Version 1.1 August 2010
Debbie Tills is the admin director on JCI UK’s national board. She has been involved in JCI since 2005. Her home chamber is JCI Barnsley where she was the president 2009. Awarded: “Most outstanding leader” by JCI UK 2009. Email: debbie.tills@jciuk.org.uk
JCI United Kingdom Developing tomorrow’s leaders . . . today
www.jciuk.org.uk
JCI United Kingdom Local President tips and tricks
9. Plan good council meetings. Send out the agenda beforehand, expect everybody to be prepared. Keep the meetings under 2 hours. If necessary have a person acting as time-keeper (there’s another great name for this!) so you won’t spend too much time discussing a specific topic on the agenda. Take notes yourself on all meetings, then you can keep track on what was said. Follow up all items and see how they are progressing. 10. You are the light and the passion for your chamber for one year. You can do amazing things during the year by just being enthusiastic and keeping the faith that things will work out well. 11. Your positive words are the inspiration for your team. Remember to praise every success, no matter how small. 12. Always keep a good attitude and stay cool under pressure: How do you expect people to respond if you look like you are stressed and out of control? 13. Be present at meetings and events. Try to be around your local members as often as you can. This will spread your enthusiasm to your team and members. 14. The title “President” has a lot of impact. When you are going to meetings with other organisations, potential partners, sponsors etc. people will be very impressed. Use it! You can influence more then you think. 15. Read a lot of inspiring leadership books. You will pick up many good thoughts when doing this and you can apply them directly in your work in the chamber. 16. Think about the traits of leaders you respect and try to work them into your own leadership style. 17. Love to communicate! Human beings love to be communicated with. You have hundreds of choices how to keep in touch with your members and stakeholders. Email, phone calls, text-messages, blogs, facebook, twitter, videos. Do what suits you, your members love to hear from you. 18. You are the information hub in your local chamber. Always forward JCI information to your council team and members. The more your team and members know what is going on, the more empowered they will feel and this makes people act the same way. One way of doing this is to collect all information in a weekly council email. If you are bombarding people with emails they might not read them all the time.
Version 1.1 August 2010
JCI United Kingdom Developing tomorrow’s leaders . . . today
www.jciuk.org.uk
JCI United Kingdom Local President tips and tricks
19. Focus on the positive impact you can have in your community. Don’t compare yourself to much with other chambers around the world. They have a different environment, history and challenges, you have to become an experts on your area. Who are your competitors? Where do you find young people who want to get involved? What is making people in your area tick? 20. Keep conflicts away, nothing kills enthusiasm as efficiently as a conflict... resolve any issues as early as possible. The best approach is not to give any space for conflict by making it clear what is acceptable. You can do this by setting the agenda, discussing everything openly with your team and not ignoring matters and hoping that they will go away. 21. Treat your member’s new ideas with respect. If you and your JCI board are too critical in the start of an idea it might just fell down flat because of that. Encourage everybody to support each-other. When you have an idea look after it, protect it from critical sharks and let it grow, it will be stronger when people get involved and understand the concept. 22. You are not a true leader until you’ve developed more leaders around you. Let the other people grow and challenge themselves. It is a true energy kick to see the people around you grow in their confidence! 23. Delegate! Sometimes it is hard to delegate to others, but it’s necessary. You already have a lot to do and it will help the chamber to develop a wider range of skills. 24. Keep things in perspective. Look after yourself, your family and relationships. You can never be a great leader if your life, relationships or health are totally out-of-balance. 25. If something doesn’t seem to work out, there tends to be an other door that opens for you and your JCI team as a result. 26. Plan for your handover to next year’s president early, start in September/October (if you know who the next president will be). Get things planned for the first event next year so the next year’s president can focus on other things the first month. 27. Most of all, remember to have fun and take pleasure in seeing your chamber and its members grow in experience, skills and passion. This is what makes all the hard work worthwhile and gives you pride in what you have achieved.
~ Best of luck ~ You’ll have an amazing time!!! Sofie & Debbie
Version 1.1 August 2010
JCI United Kingdom Developing tomorrow’s leaders . . . today
www.jciuk.org.uk