Area Meeting 6
April 26, 2008
Nola Theiss
Area Director
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Pre-leadership: Involving, mentoring,
grooming, apprenticing
Leadership: Finding the right position –
committee chairs, board, offices - moving
up the ladder
Post-Leadership: Letting go, supporting
new leaders, mentoring new members
Moving Outside of the Box: Area ViceDirector, Director, District Committees,
Governor and beyond.
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Commitment to the mission
Commitment to members’ needs
Keeping all the balls in the air
Staying focused
Leading Good Meetings
Managing Your Own Time
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Members have choices of how to use their
volunteer time. They join because of the ZI
mission; they leave if they feel like were sold a
bill of goods.
The mission provides cover when the club is
approached for off-mission funding or
partnerships.
Our mission has both international and local
implications – both need to addressed because
each is important to members to different
degrees.
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Different members’ have different needs,
different histories, and different styles – they
all are looking to give and to get from Zonta
Unhappy members breed misery.
Happy members breed good outcomes.
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Leaders need to lead, not take over.
Worry when one person takes full
responsibility for a multi-faceted task,
especially if it is yourself.
Follow the Baskin Robbins model:
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It takes many flavors to satisfy everyone;
We don’t all have the same tastes or preferences;
If no one wants the job, repackage it to make it
palatable or drop it.
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Remember the mission – advancing the status
of women. This applies to your own members
as well as the women we serve.
As a leader, you must be focused or no one else
will be.
Balance the “big picture” with the “close-up” in
order to get to the end of the movie.
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As President or Chair, you are the crossing
guard. You direct traffic and sometimes stop it.
Your goal is to get everybody to the other side
of the road.
Time is valuable and there is a time for
ruminations, but it’s not at meetings.
The beginning and end time of meetings is a
bargain you must keep.
Use parliamentary procedure as a tool, not a
stick.
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Don’t take on more than you can do.
Remember your other commitments when
making Zonta commitments.
Don’t keep others waiting while you make up
your mind about taking on a job.
You’ll never make everybody happy; but you
can make yourself satisfied if you meet your
own goals.
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Men’s and Women’s brains are built differently
and function differently. This affects how they
think and how they communicate.
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The language area of the female brain is 11-14%
denser than the male.
When a female thinks, her entire brain lights up. A
male brain pinpoints one area.
Women tend to use both sides of the brain to solve
a problem; men use one side.
There is more blood flow between the hemispheres
of a female brain and the physical connection is
bigger.
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What is the main difference between the way
men and women talk?
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Men’s conversation is linear: women’s is
elliptical or spiral.
Men use conversation to convince and
negotiate, to give advice, directions and
information. They speak in short sentences and
are direct – “Point, shoot, score”.
Women use conversation as a collaborative
exchange to build rapport and connection,
convey feelings as well as information.
They don’t worry much about what other’s will
think.
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When working on Zonta tasks, try being more
direct. Give directions in a concise way.
Leaders must try to close the loop and serve as
a manager. People need clear and concise
directions to do their work.
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I’m sorry to ask this, but what’s the problem
with “qualifiers”?
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Women rely on nuances and body language to
communicate and understand.
If you start by acting unsure, people will think
you are unsure.
Qualifiers, like “I think”, “I might be wrong,
but..”, play down your status and authority –
not good if you expect people to follow your
directions.
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Leaders must be perceived as strong and selfconfident, not self-deprecating. If no one is in
charge, everyone feels guilty when something
doesn’t work. And it leads to finger pointing
and negative comments.
Try to concentrate on what a member or leader
has accomplished, rather than on how she does
it or what her “secret motive” is.
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Cooperation rather than competition…
No one knows if this is innate or a consequence of
experience and education, but every mother finds
out that boys are different than girls no matter how
they are raised AND no two girls are alike either.
Historically, men’s tasks required intense focus
(hunting, territory protecting, finding a mate)
Women needed to see the big picture to protect, feed
and care for her young and keep the home fires
burning
The way we were raised, our life and work
experiences mean we all have different styles.
A good leader doesn’t expect everyone to react or
behave the same way and doesn’t value one
style over another, but finds a
place for each in the overall plan.
Zontians, by definition, are strong,
successful women, but underneath they are little
girls looking for approval. If they don’t get it
from Zonta, they’ll find it somewhere else.
Put on your big girl panties
and lead!