Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Transition to Power

Setting Your Chapter Up for Success!

Over the last few weeks we have all been witness to what the media has dubbed "the Transition to Power" of President-elect Barrack Obama. Whether you agree with his politics or not, you can surely appreciate the great care that both the incoming and outgoing administrations are taking in order to have a seamless change of power. This is very important for a country with so many complicated issues at hand, as well as for your fraternity chapter.

Why is the Transitional Period so Important to a Chapter?

The transitional period between one Executive Board/Cabinet to another is vital to the continuing success of a chapter. Greek organizations are unique in the fact that their entire undergraduate membership is completely recycled every four years. If this was a company, it would most likely go under with such a horrible turnover rate!
That is why it is so important to have an organized period of transition between the leaders. A well thought-out and organized transition will help to stop the "re-inventing the wheel" effect that happens from generation to generation.

A good transition will:

* Highlight the successes and most importantly - the failures - of the past year
* Shore up the bonds of brotherhood by keeping alive and well the rituals and traditions of the chapter
* Create a solid and safe foundation, upon which a chapter may look onward and upward to yet higher goals and aspirations

When should a Transition take place?

A great transition starts a long time before the new leaders take office or are even elected. It starts at the beginning of any leader's term. To have a truly successful transition that goes beyond explaining the duties of the office, you have to put some work in throughout your term. As an officer of your chapter, you should be creating a historical road map upon which the future leaders may look to and follow. Keep a record throughout the term of:

* What you have accomplished or completed
* Issues you have faced, and how you faced them
* Goals reached
* Goals yet to attain

This will give new and future leaders a breadth of wisdom beyond their limited years and perspectives. Many Chapters that I have seen use this type of record, do so by keeping a binder for each of their positions.

The transition itself, should take place shortly after the election of the new leaders. I would recommend doing this as soon as possible, due to the fact that much of the leadership in Chapters tend to be upper classmen that may be graduating at the end of the semester. I would also recommend if possible (depending on school schedule and individual bylaws of the organization) having a couple of weeks to a month for the incoming leadership to shadow the outgoing leadership, so they can fully understand their duties and the way the Chapter operates behind the scenes.

What Makes Up a Good Transition?

Lots of people have lots of ideas on what to do during your transition, and I included some thoughts below. Let me boil it down to the main takeaway: Don't just pass on a binder full of crap to the next guy - Meet face to face and have a real discussion about the position. If you put together a good binder, it's value and significance will be greatly diminished if you don't take the time and personal care to make sure that the next guy understands what is in it. Here are a couple good ways to facilitate a transition:

1. Officer/Cabinet retreat: Outgoing and incoming officers need to talk as a group. The event should be led by the outgoing officers. It can be anywhere from 1 hour to 1 day depending on how much you want to cover, and how detailed you want to get. Go away from the chapter house, spend some money, and make sure you have some fun with this! This shouldn't be a "boring day at the office" kind of thing. This is where you get the new guys excited about getting into their new roles. You may, as noted below, want to bring along graduate advisers or campus Greek life advisers. Be creative with what you do with this, but make sure to talk about a few key items:

* Outgoing officers should talk about the goals they had, the challenges they faced, how they overcame them, things that they learned along the way, advice for incoming officers, etc
* The outgoing president should go over the goals and vision that the outgoing leadership had over their term, and what kinds of things they would like to see happen with the new leadership
* The incoming officers should have a chance to ask any questions they may have

Keep in mind: You don't have to have individual officer transitions at this retreat, those can be done outside this meeting. So, don't bore everyone by going through job responsibilities.

2. Individual officer transitions: This is where you as the outgoing officer can sit down with you successor and talk about the specifics of your position. Everyone has a handle on what the basics of each position are, so don't waste time going through lists of duties (this should be in your binder anyways!). This time is for talking about things such as goals, how and when you did what your position required, and little bits of wisdom you picked up along the way. Walk through the steps that you took to get you where you are today. Hand over your binder and discuss it's contents. Make sure your successor understands what is inside and how they are to add to it over the coming term.

Share information between the leadership- become fully aware of duties, obligations, and expectations of the office at hand. Become knowledgeable of the past ideas, and voice new ones.

Who Can Help?

There are many people that can help you plan and organize a change of leadership. The first person you should seek out is your Graduate Advisor. The Graduate Advisors themselves are the continuity of the Chapter. They are by far, the most knowledgeable persons on the subject of your individual Chapter, as most of them have been involved with the Chapters for many years.

Another person you can seek out for help is your campus' Greek Life Advisor or Administrator. In my experience, they are always willing to sit down and discuss any topic and give excellent advice. I have even seen some cases where the Greek Administrator served as the facilitator in Transitional Meetings and Retreats for individual Chapters. They are definitely a great tool and source of information for Chapters, and should be utilized to their full capacities.

Last, but definitely not least, a Chapter should utilize their National/International Fraternities website and their regional graduate advisors or traveling field men for advice and information. The websites themselves often host some "best practices" that have been displayed by Chapters around the country. Some of the websites even have example calendars to keep the new Executive Officers on track with their requirements. Talking with your headquarters, and using the tools they have available for you will help to broaden your own perspective, and give you great ideas for your term.

The Most Important Advice of All

No Chapter is perfect. Even chapters with the most decorated of pasts find themselves on hard times. Some chapters are fairly new, without much or any past to compare themselves. Whatever the case, the most important and helpful advice that I have ever received is simply:

LEAVE IT BETTER THAN WHEN YOU FOUND IT


You Can Help!

If you have any great ideas that have worked for your Chapter in the past, please feel free to post it in our comments module below. Any comments or questions are also welcome! You can also contact us at dustyjoecf@yahoo.com.

Next post: Lets get it started! How to get off on the right foot as new officers/cabinet members.

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