Raising Leaders

The second Wednesday of every month has been designated as our class presidency meeting/Personal Progress night.  We have so few girls in our YW that it makes more sense to gather as a group than as classes.  In conjunction with our meetings, we have a leadership training mini-lesson.

The leadership training was presented by one of my counselors, Joanna.   It was extemporaneous, and yet so organized and definitely led by the Spirit.  The following comes from my notes:

Definition of leadership--someone who takes responsibility for the whole, whether you have a title/calling or not.  Do you take responsibility for the group and its success?

There are three basic rules for good leadership:

1)  Listen/be discerning--when you walk into a room, you should think, "What are the needs of the people in this room?"

                The girls' recognition of the needs of our group were:
                          There are lots of girls who should be here who aren't.
                          Some need help remembering why they came to the Gospel in the first place.
                          Everyone needs a place of refuge and acceptance.
                          The reason why we need to attend our meetings is to get in tune with the Spirit.
                          The girls are in different places in their lives--how can we reach them?

2)  How do I connect these people with the resources they need to answer their needs?

                           For the active girls, are we doing enough to help them?
                           For inactives, there are as many reasons as girls as to why they don't come.
                           Several of the girls on our roster are not even baptized.  They are on our rolls because
                             they have a parent who is a member.

3)  How can I do that in a way that honors people's agency?

                            This can be difficult to remember, as there is such a push in quorums, Relief Societies,
                             ward councils and other groups to go out there and bring back the "lost sheep", often
                             with less concern as to what that sheep's needs are.  We can't know what those needs                                  are until we get to know the people.

                            Unless we ourselves know why we are coming to church and are converted, we can't                                   really expect other people to want to join us, and we can't really love others unless we                                   are following Christ.