Leading Your Organization

1. Leading YourOrganization

2. DEFINE YOUR MISSION • Mission (noun): A short, concise and succinct statement defining an organization’s purpose. • A mission is a “what” statement. It addresses what the organization is about – its reason for existing. Should incorporate the 5 W’s, Who, What, When, Where and Why.

3. COURAGE Are you courageous enough to abandon the past? Brave leaders dare to be different: they just don’t talk about taking risks they actually take them. The most impactful development comes when you have built the emotional stamina to withstand others who tell you that your new ideas are naïve or stupid. Courageous leaps are joined and supported often by people who think differently than you. When challenging the status quo, it’s easy to say “we can’t change that because it’s tradition!” or “why change when we’ve always done it this way?”, but in order to succeed and to grow we must not only be willing to change we must embrace it. Think of 3 practices within your organization that have made you successful in the past.

4. FUNCTIONALITY Now, re-examine these practices by asking the following questions of all three. Does this practice still work? (Does it still serve its original function?) Does this practice impede my efforts? (Is it holding me back or preventing me from trying something new?) Is this practice marginalizing and excluding those who I’m trying to reach? (Am I unable to work with certain groups simply out of tradition- am I limiting my network and sphere of influence because of the past?)

5. FUNCTIONALITY

6. GOAL SETTING There should one goal every year for every Post and District in the Department. That is All American! You may not achieve it every year, but if you are trying you will accomplish all of the requirements that make you a successful Post, District or Department. “who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Teddy Roosevelt

7. GOAL ACHIEVEMENT The difference between Commanders, Presidents, and Leaders is intent: leaders understand they are part of a team and make it their mission to lead their team through inspiration and education in order to help them accomplish a shared goal. Once the goal is accomplished, leaders recognize their team – they say “thank you”. Thank you for serving our country and thank you for continuing to serve your brothers and sisters through the VFW.

8. VFW CONGRESSIONAL CHARTER • To preserve and strengthen comradeship among its members; • To assist worthy comrades; • To perpetuate the memory and history of our dead, and to assist their surviving spouses and orphans; • To maintain true allegiance to the Government of the United States, and fidelity to its Constitution and laws; • To foster true patriotism; • To maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom; and • To preserve and defend the United States from all enemies.

9. VFW MISSION • To foster camaraderie among United States veterans of overseas conflicts. To serve our veterans, the military and our communities. To advocate on behalf of all veterans.

10. VFW MISSION • The VFW believes America is defined by how it treats those who sacrificed to protect it; we believe in protecting and fighting for those who were brave enough to fight for us. Whether on Capitol Hill or in our communities, the VFW fights and defends the rights of America’s veterans by lobbying for Veteran’s rights, helping Veterans get the benefits they deserve, and assisting them and their families. To do less, would be an unconscionable betrayal of responsibilities as Americans and Veterans. From “Leadership & Development” VFW Educational & Training Series, available in Members Only area of VFW website.

11. EVALUATE YOUR CURRENT ORGANIZATION AND YOUR ENVIRONMENT • SWOT Analysis • Strength • Weaknesses • Opportunities • Threats • Consider both internal & external factors "SWOT en" by Xhienne - SWOT pt.svg. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SWOT_en.svg#/media/File:SWOT_en.svg

12. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR? • What does your organization do? • For whom? • What value does it bring? • What makes you different? • What are you currently known for? What is your image in the community? • Do you sponsor any “signature events” that you are known for?

13. EXERCISE #1 • Complete Exercise #1 – Analysis • Clearly define the mission. • Identify strengths. • Identify challenges. • What do you want to be known for?

14. GOAL SETTING • “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” - Napoleon Hill • “People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.” - Brian Tracy • “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” - Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

15. EXERCISE #2 • Complete Exercise #2 – Goal Setting • What are the top 3 things you want to accomplish in your organization? • Why is each important?

16. CREATING AN ACTION PLAN • Identify Objectives – Practical steps needed to achieve short-term and long-term goals. • Make them SMART: • Specific • Measurable • Achievable • Relevant • Time-bound

17. EXERCISE #3 • Complete Exercise #3 – Action Plan • How will you & your team achieve your goals? • Who will take the lead on each action?

18. NEXT STEP • Meet with your leadership team to refine the plan. • Share it with your members. • Meetings, newsletters, master calendar. • Get active support for specific projects. • Be flexible. Adjust as needed.

19. LEADERSHIP • What leadership principles will guide you as you execute the plan? • Get the right people on your team. Appoint people who are dependable, knowledgeable, and motivated. • Be a good mentor. Teach when needed, but give them room to do it their way. Give good feedback. • Have tools for reporting and measuring results. • Be a role model for others in attitude, action, and integrity. • Focus on what’s important. • Communicate clearly and frequently.

20. LEADERSHIP • What leadership principles will guide you as you execute the plan? • "The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." -- Ronald Reagan • "Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others." -- Jack Welch • "Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand." -- Colin Powell

21. LEADERSHIP • 5 factors in Leadership Development • Coaching – these moments happen everyday, and a leader with strong coaching skills can seize these moments and turn them into valuable learning experiences. • Accountability – The most successful leaders know that their success hinges more on their team’s performance than their own. They are held accountable for others’ actions and results, as well as their own, and must take accountability for the teams outcomes, good or bad. • Change Management – An organization is not a static entity that can be frozen in time. Changes in the community, technology, and in our Veterans contribute to ongoing change. Whether the changes feel like a ripple or a tidal wave to your members, leader must be prepared to shepherd them through the changes, which requires training leaders to manage change before it ever even happens.

22. LEADERSHIP • 5 factors in Leadership Development • Influence and Negotiation – Effective leaders don’t command with authority; they inspire, persuade and encourage others to make their vision a reality. By learning how to be strong influencers and fair negotiators, leaders will return to their roles knowing that it is not about who has the most power, but about who has the best influence on Members achieving results. • Communication - Communication training is often a cornerstone of leadership development, but how effective and up-to-date is it? What format does it take? Communication is not a skill that leaders can learn by just reading, watching a video or listening to a presentation about it. In a leadership role, communication happens at all hours of the day through large presentations, one-on-one conversations, phone calls, text messages, videoconferencing and, of course, emails. 

23. Conclusion • “Leadership is the art of influencing others in such a matter as to accomplish the mission.” • What is the Mission? How do we accomplish it? What goals will help us achieve our mission? • These are the questions you have to ask yourself, your team and Auxiliary. • If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.

24. QUESTIONS