[Home-on-the-range] building effectivem empowered teams (chapters)

[Dianne Hemphill]

Hello federationists - as you may have come to note, I am a lifelong learner and try to share information that I find interesting and potentially helpful to "the cause"... thus, the following article  found in May's Braille Forum, Effective Team Building (#11), is one of those worth sharing. This article is not filled with spins on perspectives from the ACB but rather, research based. information  As we focus on chapter building, the impact of both an effective or ineffective leadership team and fostering effective  team building, is critical to our future. People can decide to join with us or not and perhaps we should spend a bit more time figuring out how to help share the positive message the federation  has in order to build our chapters. The article outlines the role and  impact of leadership, how the message is presented, the strategies for building a more cohesive team relationship, etc. Stating that people are "empowered" does not mean that they understand what this means without ground work and continuous communications. As you may or may not be aware, the local Wichita chapter of the ACB, dissolved some years ago. This is despite some of their strongest "so-called" leaders around the state reside right here in Wichita. This breakdown follows rather dictatorial leadership resulting in  their members pulling back and out of any participation with that formerly rather large chapter.  The research also notes that there has been a downward spiral of membership growth in many organizations where one might think a "no brainer" for someone to join...how do we ensure we're growing? What are chapters doing to build teams that are effective and directing us towards positive goals and membership development?  Dianne