Failure to Launch – All that is needed though is a “Spark”

I love the expression “Failure to Launch”.  My perception of it is that it represents all this potential that gets built up and then is never used.  It reminds me of many of our members in Fraternities and Sororities.  They are great members but never quite live up to their potential.  The question is why?

Just like a rocket on a launch pad our students are built and fueled up to launch.  The one needed thing to make it work though is a spark.  A spark lights the fuel in a rocket just like a simple spark of energy or encouragement can light the fuel inside our members to reach their potential.

What I love about what we do is that there are so many ways for that spark to happen which means there are no excuses for not igniting that rocket.  For me personally it was attending the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute almost 20 years ago.  The program opened my eyes to all that I could do, in some cases needed to do, but had never tried.

It doesn’t take a big program though to ignite the spark in others.  Simply providing them an opportunity to lead.  Encouraging them to try or even complimenting them when they have tried can be enough.  Many times all an individual needs is someone they look up to or trust to tell them they can be much more than who they are.

No matter what your current role is in your organization remember you could be that spark for another person.  Also keep an eye out for that person that tries to be your spark.  Take advantage of it.  It would be a shame if you were one of those that had a Failure to Launch.

Being Intentional

I had a great conversation with Andy Huston of the North American Interfraternity Conference this morning and one of the tidbits we discusses was having intentions with what you do in social media.  Basically not doing something just to do it.

The conversation leads me to ask the question what things do we as Fraternity/Sorority members do on a regular basis without intentions?  Sometimes we find ourselves doing something because that is the way it has always been done or simply because that is what everyone else is doing.  While this might work I think we are missing a very important part of the the development process and possibly some very big opportunities.

What if we were able to hit the reset button and do everything differently?  What would things look like?  Why would we do them? 

When I work with struggling chapters and/or members the first thing I ask when they tell me what they do is “Why”?  Why do you recruit that way?  Why do you have a seniority system? Why do you have to have the same social calendar as the group next door?  Why do you do the XYZ service project?  Why did you join AKL?

I am amazed how many times the answers have no substance behind them because in many cases there were no real intentions.  To be specific in the area of recruitment I find more times than not that it happens because it is a process that is “supposed” to occur.  If it was intentional for the the true purpose of finding new members it wouldn’t stop until the target/intention had been met. 

When struggling chapters truly hit that reset button and start acting intentionally it is amazing what they accomplish, what the members learn and what they get out of it as an experience.  It is actually a process that I think strong chapters may want to consider.  It might help them avoid being one of those struggling chapters in the future.

What do you “get” from being in a Fraternity or Sorority? You define that.

So many of us already know of the elevator speech.  You know how you describe your Fraternity experience in 15 seconds.  You could use it to sell a recruit on the idea of Fraternity or you could use it to explain why you are the best candidate for a job.  The reality is that speech really means nothing if you can’t back it up.  Many times we really don’t know what we “get” from Fraternity or if we do we don’t know how to get it.  Here is some food for thought.

First the old adage you only get out what you put in is absolutely true.  Fraternity/Sorority doesn’t simply give.  You need to invest in it first.  This happens in a number of ways.  You pay your dues so the group has money to hold events and operate.  You participate in activities.  You take responsibility.  Doing these things starts the process of providing you return.

Next you identify an end or outcome that you want for your investment.  If you are paying dues what exactly do you want them to pay for?  That leads into your activity participation.  If you are taking responsibility like running an event or taking a leadership role what do you want to accomplish?  These are important.  If you don’t have these answers it will be hard to truly understand what you got out of it.

Finally know what will benefit you the most.  The easy stuff many times does not lead to a meaningful or memorable experience.  Most of the alumni I speak to tend to remember the challenges and big successes (because they were challenges) rather than the standard simple stuff.  So simply being chapter treasurer does not necessarily translate into a definable experience.  Fixing a financial problem, improving the operations or other significant events are what do.  Being recruitment chair and doing statuesque is not an experience.  Blowing through your targets and recruiting members that are high caliber can be.

So how about that elevator speech?  Does it need to be adjusted or does your experience need to be adjusted?

Attention Students – Do you pay dues? If so use us!

A common thing I tell people is that if everything was perfect in the Fraternal world people like me would be out of a job.  They look at me a little crazy at first and then the light bulb will go on.  If all of our chapters were living our values, pursuing constant improvement and being the best citizens they could be there would be no need for staffed HQs.  You may need some administrative types to process records and finances but that would be about it.

The list of the things an HQ Staff provide can be huge.  Primarily we are looking out for the good of our organization which means expansion, risk management, and alumni relations.  We have to be a jack-of-all-trades though.  We need to be able to sit down and teach a chapter treasurer how to budget for a small business.  We have to teach another how to run a chapter meeting.  We teach yet another how to recruit.  We teach them how to be safe.  We need to know the politics of college campuses.  We need to have relationships with University administrators…you get the point.  The reality is we do a little bit of everything.

Here is the kick in the pants though…despite the fact our members pay our salaries to do all of this (via dues) many times a chapter and/or its members does not take advantage of our support.  In almost a dozen years working at AKL I can’t tell you how many times a chapter has tried to decline a visit from staff.  Very rarely are our leadership colleges and Conclaves 100% attended by chapters.  When trouble happens on campus more times then not we find out second hand.

The lesson to take from this is that Fraternity and Sorority Chapters many times are not taking advantage of the resources they have invested in.  Give us a call when you need help, when you need a program done for the chapter, or when you just need advice.  ATTEND every national and regional event you possibly can.  The programming at these events are top quality.  I have never heard a chapter tell me that what they learned from a leadership academy ruined their chapter when they tried to implement it.

Letting our emotions get the best of us

I think we have all been there.  A point in time where our emotions control our reaction or behavior…and many times it is not a pretty site.  I had such an experience last week.  I was mad about something and I let my anger drive my conversation a wrong direction.  It was a severe screw up, one that I have spent almost a week thinking about.

The great thing about it is that you can learn from a mistake.  I hope I have.  The reality is that I might not be able to completely make it go away but I can own it and try to make amends.

Many times in the Fraternity world mistakes are made.  They are made by undergraduates, alumni, HQ staff and University staff.  Many times emotions are attached to those mistakes.  I think it is very important to realize when this has happened.  As we address those mistakes if we don’t truly understand the emotions involved we may misunderstand the “why” a mistake was made.  Not knowing the “why” can mean searching for and finding the wrong solution hence never solving the problem.

My challenge to my friends would be understand this happens and learn from it.  Using this knowledge may help us as we move Fraternity forward.  Especially since this can be an extremely emotional profession.

Pick Your Battles

Sitting in an insurance meeting the other day I was reminded of the concept “Pick Your Battles”.  The presenter referenced that sometimes while principles might dictate one direction common sense and business dictate a different direction.  In values based organizations that carry a lot of pride sometimes that can be very difficult to do.

This week was also the Interfraternity Institute and if you were like me you were seeing a lot of tweets with the hash tag #IFI2012.  One concept that crossed over our virtual world is that we find ourselves constantly operating in the grey despite our best wishes of it all being black or white.  I think this emphasizes even more why picking our battles can be important.

Imagine if a police officer pulled over every person that sped even 1 mile over the speed limit.  Imagine if a country went to war over every insult it hears from another country.  Getting more specific to us imagine if we sent every undergraduate member to collections that owed just $1.  Imagine if we closed a chapter over one small bad decision.  I think there would be a lot of anger out there and we would find ourselves overloaded with work.

So when we pick our battles what we need to do is identify the “game changer” situations.  Will it cause positive change?  Was it severe?  Is it required to be addressed?  Will we be successful?

Obviously there is grey area even with this concept but imagine if as chapter leaders, as organizational leaders, as campus leaders or in whatever other role you find yourself in you didn’t sweat the small stuff.  How many more large projects might you accomplish?  How much more good could you do?  Would you be more proactive versus the common role of reactive?  Would being proactive then reduce the small issues possibly?

So consider the concept “Pick Your Battles”…it might be a game changer for you.

The Key to Fixing a Chapter – Stop Looking Down

Why can’t a 20 year old chapter with 16 current undergraduates survive?  Yet a colony of 5 men on their campus ends up thriving?  Why are they struggling?  Why do they feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel?  Why are they the campuses weakest link?

The simple answer is because they are looking down, not up.

If you review the history of many Fraternities and Sororities you will see they started with just a handful of students.  Founders that led the way in which millions have followed.  Even today when groups start new chapters many times the “colony” is smaller than the chapters on a given campus.  Yet they succeed. Alpha Kappa Lambda can start a colony with 4 men and have one of the strongest chapters on campus within a couple of years.  Why did our Founders succeed and why do expansions work but larger failing chapters cannot?

The simple answer is because new groups look up, not down.

There is potential in every member to do something better and succeed.  How we embrace and encourage that potential can determine the direction of that individual and the greater group.  If a chapter is struggling and all they do is reflect on their failure they will not get better.  They need to look at the opportunity that exists to improve.  Sometimes they simply need to hit the reset button on everything they do.

Change can be hard sometimes because of “Tradition” or fear of failure.  What a chapter many times simply needs to realize is that failure is already occurring.  It is better to have a chapter with new “traditions” than to not have a chapter at all.  It is better to say you tried and failed than to simply quit.  (A reality check for many though…more times than not trying will result in success rather than failing).

Expansion can work well with a small group of men/women because they have nothing to look down at.  All they can see is their potential and opportunity.  They keep open minds and are willing to try new and different ways of doing things.  What struggling chapters need to do is try the colony perspective.  Start looking up at what potential exists.  Start questioning the old way of doing things.  Redefine who your group is.

Summer is great time to hit that reset button.  I wonder how many groups that are struggling right now will.