Service Learning - Chi Alpha Kappa Sunday Meeting Discussion Style

     Every Sunday Chi Alpha Kappa holds our weekly formal meetings. All semester we've been trying to convey the importance of these meetings: all communication cannot be done over the internet; meetings are supposed to be a time when we can straighten out any confusion, address problems, talk about improvements, share ideas, and set dates. We have asked the girls, for our own sake, to let us know 24 hours in advance if they can't make it to meeting and every week we get at least three girls ditch out an hour or two before. We've tried explaining that this is inconsiderate - let alone against our conduct code. It's been frustrating us all year - and we have a President who leads by words, instead of by example. In some cases, this has led to a necessary relegating, allowing the next two highest officer positions to lead subtly.
     With all of these problems in hand, last Sunday my co-president and I decided to conduct meeting as an open-floor discussion. We began by passing around a box with pens and paper for girls to anonymously submit concerns and complaints. Through planning, we also were able to bring up the constant problem of officers leading by words, not actions. Predictably, the first discussion meeting was not as successful as we had hoped. We (my co-pres. and I) addressed a lot of issues that had been nagging at us without having to lecture and we were able to hear a lot of the concerns from the girls. The problem came when we asked these girls how they wanted to see these concerns addressed. In most cases they either didn't want to share or didn't know how to go about finding solutions. I think - especially with the amount of first year college women in our club - that a lot of these girls don't understand that leadership comes from every single individual: that every woman is a leader. They are under the impression that leadership comes with a title. I think a lot of the blame for this idea comes from our officers and the way meetings have been conducted in the past.
     In Kouzes and Posner's The Leadership Challenge, they state, "Questioning the status quo is not only for leaders. Effective leaders create a climate in which others feel comfortable doing the same. If your organization is going to be the best it can be, everyone has to feel comfortable in speaking up and taking initiative" (186). This mantra is one that I think Chi Alpha Kappa has been dramatically lacking in so far. We have - because of the leaders and the titles we have doled out - created a climate where girls don't feel comfortable to share ideas. One of the concerns we had come up last meeting started with a complaint about not having enough sisters attending events and meetings and ended with our Event Coordinators receiving dozens of ideas for events that the majority of our sisters would enjoy. We would have had no idea that the girls weren't crazy about our past events because they never shared with us what they wanted. That is not their fault though, the fault lies with the leaders.
     Our job, as a social club, is to improve our community and to improve the lives of our sisters. My goal, from here on out, with Chi Alpha Kappa is to use my title to teach these girls - especially our Freshmen - that leadership comes from every single corner of an organization. My goal, with Chi Alpha Kappa is to build confident women into confident leaders (by 2016).