Today was our last day of NGLA and jammed pack with stuff we learned and experienced. The day started with a keynote from the Phired Up team, Taylor and Tina. The keynote was very interactive and we got to partner up with a brand new friend we hadn't met before. From there we learned how to have better conversations with others in order to make genuine connections with good conversations. The keynote really put into context how humans are social people and we aren't programmed to always be on our phones. It was nice having an actual conversation with someone I just met that didn't include just the basic introduction questions.
My first workshop was 8 secrets to changing the culture of a chapter. All 8 steps were found through researching what makes a strong chapter. The most important secret I learned is number 6, failure is going to happen. A lot of speakers talked about risk this weekend. Risking things is tough because usually the one thing on your mind is what if you fail. Thinking about it in a perspective of failure will happen no matter what, though, really helps. You never know if something will work until you try it, trying and failing is better than not trying at all ,as scary as that is. Also, in terms of delegation, allowing others to try and fail is important. It's easy to try and do it yourself because you might know you can get it done the way you want. It's important to empower others, sometimes they won't follow through, but a lot of the time they will. It's important to allow other members to try and fail, because in turn they will learn and fixing those mistakes will help to improve your chapter.
My second workshop was called How to Create Your Own Luck. We were given three steps for this; turn up the volume, find the edge, and be associated with greatness. Turning up the volume is giving 100% even when nobody is looking. When people view you when you think they aren't looking will you want to listen in more, or put them on mute? If you're always giving 100%, you will be ready for your opportunity when it comes. The second step, finding the edge, means choosing excitement over fear. If you don't feel butterflies on a daily basis, you aren't living on the edge. By picking the butterflies and excitement you are choosing yourself instead of letting fear control you. The last tip, being associated with greatness, means surrounding yourself with those that will build you up and make you better, your allies. Allies push you to be the best you can be. Stop surrounding yourself with thieves. Thieves drain your potential and only take from you. It doesn't mean they are necessarily bad people, it just means they aren't going to be the people that help you become successful in life.
My third workshop was The Apathy Myth. I really loved this workshop. I thought it brought a lot of points that will be great to bring back to the chapter. We discussed the law of thirds which really hit me. The top third are usually the leaders, the ones who balance the sorority on top while juggling everything else. The middle third are the ones who are totally willing to help you, but are also juggling a lot of other things equally. The bottom third don't show up to things, they just are not into the organization any more. We focus so much on the bottom third in a chapter that the middle third, the ones who have real potential, are neglected. You can't change people, you can help them but they will still be the same person at the end of the day, so stop focusing on the bottom who will most likely never be on board.
My fourth workshop was Accessible Leadership Without a Title. In this workshop, like the last, we talked a lot about apathetic members. We did a lot of case studies on how to handle the most difficult, target members. The main three member types are the Billy Madisons (Don't do what they are supposed to but go to the social aspects), the Tony Montanas (aggressive) and the Scooby and Shaggy pair that was just lazy. This session was one of the most interactive I had been in. The case studies allowed us to discuss what's going on in our chapters and figure out innovative ways to deal with these difficult people.
The last key note was, understandably called, At The End of the Day. It pretty much recapped everything we learned at NGLA and how we should implement it into our chapters as a slow process.
NGLA was such a great experience. I learned so much from all the workshops I went to. I can't wait to bring my new ideas to chapter and start implementing some positive change!
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