Helping an Applicant Learn about Leading a Meeting
Karin Gausman
Billings MT USA
From: LEAVEN, Vol. 39 No. 4, August-September 2003, p. 93.
Before applying
for LLL leadership, a member attends at least a Series of Meetings (where
available), which begins her introduction to the way Leaders facilitate
a meeting. Before applying for leadership, she may have attended meetings
mostly for her own support and may have been thinking primarily about
what she, as a mother, would say or ask. Once she is an Applicant, she
will begin shifting her attention to the way a Leader supports other
mothers in the meeting setting. How can a Leader help an Applicant make
this transition? The following are some ideas to choose from.
A Leader might
ask the Associate/Coor- dinator of Leader Accreditation (A/CLA) she
is working with to send her and the Applicant copies of the Listening
Exercise. This helps an Applicant learn leading skills by asking her
to discuss her specific observations from a meeting with a Leader (if
possible, a Leader other than the one who led the meeting). The Applicant
notes what mothers say at the meeting, how others react, what the Leader
says. She talks with the Leader about what was helpful to mothers and
what might have been modified to be more helpful. She can use this exercise
several times or keep the ideas in mind whenever she attends a meeting.
An Applicant
might plan a Series Meeting that you (or another Leader) lead. You’ll
find information about this on page 144-145 in the Leader’s Handbook
(2003 edition). The Applicant could talk with you about the pros and
cons of various options. Watching how the meeting plan unfolds, noting
what worked and what needed to be changed, will give the Applicant valuable
insight. She might want to use the Listening Exercise at a meeting she
planned.
An Applicant
will be better able to respond respectfully (especially to comments
that conflict with her own strong feelings) if she thinks ahead of time
about the kinds of remarks that might challenge her. She might talk
with you about common issues in your location, ones that have been difficult
for you and/or other Leaders to respond to. The A/CLA can give you suggestions
and ideas for discussing this topic with an Applicant.You might want
to refer the Applicant to a Leaven article such as, "Helping Mothers
When You Have Strong Feelings About Their Choices," December 1998-January
1999 or "Counseling Challenges: Helping Mothers Handle Conflicting
Information," April-May 1998.
Working on the
"Group Dynamics/ Management" section of the Preview can help
the Applicant think in advance how she might respond to sensitive situations.
You might set up a "mock meeting" with Leaders and Applicants
only, to role-play a Series Meeting. Applicants could play the part
of "Leaders," responding to comments (from the Preview) that
"mothers" (played by Leaders) would make at the meeting.
Although an
Applicant cannot lead a Series Meeting until she is accredited, she
can gain experience guiding a group discussion by leading Evaluation
or Enrichment Meetings. This can also give her opportunity to plan a
meeting and think about any visual aids or resources she might use.
She can see what works well to elicit participation from the mothers
(who probably also attend the Group’s Series Meetings). She might
be called upon to respond to situations such as a mother who monopolizes
the conversation, toddlers at meetings, or a mother giving incorrect
information. She may want to talk with you first about some of the Group
Dynamics/Management situations from the Preview, to be prepared for
those kinds of challenges.
Some Applicants
worry about public speaking. Explain that Series Meetings are more effective
when mothers do most of the talking. You might share the Leaven article,
"The Introspective Leader: Letting Your Voice Be Heard at Meetings,"
April-May 1998.
Talking about
an upcoming fundraiser, or giving a book report about a recent Library
addition are ways nervous Applicants can practice public speaking at
Series Meetings.
How about discussing
ahead of time how she could practice speaking "like a Leader"
at upcoming Series Meetings? You could explain collective phrasing ("Many
mothers have found ‘The Womanly Art suggests…’"),
giving empathetic responses and clarifying questions, and suggest she
try adding those kinds of comments to meetings.
You might ask
the Applicant if there is any particular aspect of leading meetings
that concerns her. Then, the two of you (and the A/CLA) can find ways
for her to practice until she feels confident about this aspect of leadership.
Karin Gausman
has been a Leader for 28 years. She has three children and three grandchildren,
and is serving as Associate Director of Regional Administrators of Leader
Accreditation (ADRALA) for the US Western Division (USWD). This article
originally appeared in the Area Leaders Letter, Northern LLLights, Spring
2003. Monique Kitts is the Contributing Editor for "Preparing for
Leadership." She has been a Leader for eight years and lives in
Ringgold, Georgia, USA, with her husband, Aaron, and three children,
Molly (11), and fraternal twins Andrew and Logan (7). She is also Regional
Administrator of Leader Accreditation for the Southern Region, EUS.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:32:11 UTC 2007.
