CHAPTER SESSION: Don’t Be a Martyr: Steps to Avoid Single-Handed Successes

As a volunteer board member for a professional organization, it can be easy to overextend yourself and get burned out. This leads to frustration on the board members end, as well as threatens the leadership succession of the chapter leadership. One way to avoid this is to ensure you are comfortable delegating tasks to other volunteers. This could include one-time tasks, or longer-term delegation tasks for committees or other board members. However, it is hard for many leaders to let go of control of projects that they are particularly interested in or passionate about.

This session will walk through resources, such as "Successful Delegation: Using the Power of Other People's Help" by Elizabeth Myre, to show nonprofit leaders how to effectively delegate tasks to other volunteers, while still upholding their officer role and commitments. Delegation will also allow that board member to have more time to work on additional tasks of great importance for the chapter!

Not only will this delegation help save the board member's time and energy, it will also help to develop the skills of a future leader for the chapter. According to the STTI chapter sustainability pyramid, there are many steps that can be followed to ensure the chapter is sustainable beyond one person's term. The sustainability pyramid walks the attendees through several levels of sustainability:

• Organizational mission and values
• Strategic planning
  
• Member Communications
  
• Community and Member Involvement
  
• Pride and Publicity
  
• Volunteer for Leadership
  
• Recruitment and Retention
  

Attendees will learn how effective delegation fits into this pyramid, to make them better leaders and develop other leaders.

Resources:

•“Successful Delegation: Using the Power of Other People's Help”

•“How to Delegate More Effectively In Your Business”

•“Seven ways to improve your delegating skills”

•How Well Do You Delegate?: Discover Ways to Achieve More

STTI Chapter Sustainability Pyramid - Developed by STTI staff members in the constituent services department