I brought home a lot of ideas from Convention. I have discussed several at our recent Board meetings. I also promised to share that information on the blog for all of the leaders in our club (that includes everyone)! I hope you gain as much from the following as I did. (Please note: this is my interpretation of the “Charge Into the Future” training session from Convention, 2010. For more information please visit the website for Cynthia D’Amour, Leadership Strategist by clicking here.)

Be A Lazy Leader

I know some of you just gasped at reading that. What? A lazy leader? How will our club ever survive? Well it’s quite simple. Imagine having one person give 110% to Quota. They are busy taking care of all the details, overseeing many things at once, dipping their hands into everything that is going on within the club. Now picture one person who is only giving 60%. She is having fun, she is able to bring more people to the club because she has the time. Her friends and fellow club members see that she is getting things done and is delegating tasks. Each one of us has our own special talents. For instance: don’t ask me to take care of Treasurer’s Reports, that is NOT what I’m good at, but I can manage the blog. I digress, our 60% member has now brought in seven other people, each giving anywhere between 20-40%. Remember the Martyr Leader? She’s stressed out, burnt out and is headed toward a melt-down. She didn’t want to let Quota down and knew that if she didn’t do things, nothing would get done. Let’s look at those eight members whose total percent of “giving” equals 200% (estimated on the low side). See how more people are more effective at being lazy, than one person who is being a martyr?

Okay, now you know how to be lazy, the members will start pouring in right? They will if you know how to approach them. We have to paint a vivid picture of who Quota is. If you want someone to join Quota, do you tell them why you joined? That’s a great way to start the conversation, but even before you get to that point, you should start from the beginning. What are they looking for?

Hot Buttons

• Personal/Professional Development
• Contribution to a greater good
• Community

Let me start by explaining the Hot Buttons. When you’re talking to someone about Quota and you’re trying to get them as excited about it as you are, the best way to do that is to find their hot buttons. What are they interested in. What is important to them. If you are talking to them telling them how much you love Quota because it gives you the chance to serve others, but they are really looking for a social group, then you’ve not only missed their hot button, but you’ve lost their attention. If you start off by asking what they are interested in, then you can hit their hot button because Quota really does relate to all three. Let me explain how.

The first one in that list is Personal/Professional Development. Do you know some companies hold training sessions that cost their employees $200-$300/session? We offer the same development through our speaker’s for our one year’s dues. Did you ever think to look at it that way? I certainly had not. It can be one more persuasive tool when speaking to someone about Quota.

Next is Contribution to a greater good. In other words: Service. That’s what we do in Quota. We help those in need. We provide many service opportunities throughout the year.

Last is Community. Before each meeting we hold a social time. We catch up with each others latest news. We have fun, we laugh and we get together outside of Quota too. Perhaps the person you are talking to wants to meet more people or even network with other business women. That’s what we do and who we are!!!

Great! Now you can find out what the potential Quota member is looking for and tell her how Quota meets her needs. We need to remember to focus on what we are and who we are helping.

One good way to bring in outside people is through our service projects. We have a walk coming up. Have you asked everyone you know to join in a walk around the park? You don’t have to ask everyone for money, but if you ask them to walk then you’ve opened to door of Quota to them. By asking someone from the outside to join us for a service project, they’ll see how much fun we have and they’ll get to know Quota better.

I will leave you with this quote from Cynthia,

“If not you then who? If not now then when?

The Communications Team met on 8/5/10 and developed some nifty plans for publicizing our year’s activities.  We have developed a calendar and identified which activities will be highlighted each month.  Team members will interview the project leader to get specifics, and we will publish to the blog, Facebook, websites, and issue press releases to other media.  Click here for our Event Communications 2010-11 tool.

Getting to know… Maureen. She has been a member of Quota for 29 years!! Her favorite snack is chips and cheese and a whole list of others. Maureen’s favorite movie is “The Shawshank Redemption”. She says she just loves the story of the bond that develops between the Tim Robbins character and the Morgan Freeman character.

Maureen was asked is she has ever wondered how scientists measure the size of the universe? When she looks up at the stars, what does she think about? Maureen thinks, “How in the world did they come up with those constellations?” She thinks about the ancient astronomers first drawing those dotted lines………and how for hundreds and thousands of years people have been looking up at that sky……

The kind of person who brings out the best in Maureen is… A balance of talker and listener.  A person who’s got an opinion but isn’t inflexible.  A person with enthusiasm and a positive outlook.

Which would be better? Winning one of those magazine publisher’s sweepstakes on TV or being recognized as a national hero? Maureen would prefer to win the sweepstakes, thank you!  When can she pick up her check?

What if a friend telephoned when Maureen was watching her favorite television program? She’d take the call.

Who’s Maureen’s favorite news anchor? She used to love Peter Jennings.  She was very saddened by his death.  Now she likes Jim Lehrer.

Thanks Maureen for sharing a little bit about yourself!!

click the link for the District 20 March newsletter

DistrictNewsletterMar2010

Thanks to Emily for catching two minor corrections to our by-laws and policy and procedure manual.  The revised documents are posted to the blog; click here to see that page.  For those of you who have already printed these documents, the by-law change is on page 11 and the policy change is on page 17.

The Membership Committee would like to remind you of a couple of things.

• Please remember to invite your guest back to the March Meeting. Talk to your guest about joining Quota. Ask them; are they making a difference in the community?

• Quota Dollars! We are still running this program on its two-year trial basis. You haven’t heard much about it, but here’s a reminder!

Quota Dollars (click to see how you can earn, purchase or redeem them)

• Who do you know that you can invite to Quota? Do you know someone named; Sandy, Penny, Ruth, Irma, Natalie, or Ginger? It only takes one simple question; would you like to come and see what Quota does?

Remember, “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.” -Helen Keller

Click the following link to read the District 20 Newsletter for February 2010.

DistrictNewsletterFeb2010

President—One Year Term

* Emily Uebbing

President Elect—One Year Term

* Pat Cook

Recording Secretary—One Year Term

* Kath Slagal

Treasurer – General Fund—One Year Term

* Phyllis Zimmerman

2 Directors – 2 year term

* Jan Gauthier

* Sarah Glover

Directors –completing 2^nd year of 2-yr term

* Pam Goebel

* Peggy Bishop

* Name ___________________ Position _________________

* Name ___________________  Position _________________

The nominating committee has been busy creating a great slate for the 2010-2011 board of directors. The slate will be distributed via Email and the blog in early March. Be sure to join us at the March meeting to vote and at the April installation banquet to cheer on our new board of directors.

Our committee will be meeting after the February club meeting to review fundraising possibilities for the upcoming year. Our budget will be based on what the club decides for service projects at the February meeting. Your input is vital to the future of the club so please be sure to join us for the February and March meetings. If you have any fundraising ideas, please submit them to Peggy Bishop at pbishop@beenegarter.com by March 1, 2010.