Ways To Teach Leadership Skills
- Apr 8
- 3 min read
As Chair of a Sisters in the Brotherhood committee, you have an opportunity to showcase the kind of leadership skills that will benefit Sisters. Take advantage of those opportunities by showing meeting attendees and committee members how to be an effective leader.
Below are a few critical leadership skills with examples of how you can demonstrate those skills:
A. Communication Skills
When making Presentations or giving Reports, follow these tips:
Structure – Have a logical order: introduction, middle with your main points and
conclusion.
Notes & Handouts – Have brief notes on postcard sized cards. Have a handout the
audience can take away afterwards (e.g., next event, time and place, contact
information).
PowerPoint – Keep slides clean & simple with limited text on each slide. If you are
participating in a community event, a short power point is effective in sharing
information.
Interaction – Build a rapport with your Sisters, Brothers, and Guests. Get them involved
by asking and encouraging questions during your meeting. Maintain a sense of humor at
all times.
Help Sisters become more comfortable with Communication by:
Do role-plays at committee meetings on how to give reports and make presentations.
Give mini-workshops on how to communicate effectively.
Rotate speaking assignments by having different Sisters do some type of presenting at
each meeting.
Invite the President of your Local to a committee meeting to provide training on how to
give a report at a Local Union Meeting.
B. Goal-Setting Skills
Your committee will constantly set goals. One type of goal involves helping solve a problem within your community. In this instance, you would identify a problem that needs to be addressed; then help Sisters use some structured process to identify solutions.
An example of a problem could be the need to assist the homeless in your area.
The process to solve the problem could involve the following:
1. Use Brainstorming to identify possible solutions. For additional guidance, see Goal
Create a goal chart and develop a step-by-step plan to reach that goal. For example,
maybe your committee would like to collect winter jackets for the homeless. This one
goal might involve many steps, with different Sisters taking responsibility for completing
each step.
Establish a deadline to reach your overall goal and complete each step. Also identify
responsibilities.
C. Team Building Skills
Identify different skill sets of Sisters and give them a chance to use those skills as well as to teach others.
For example, if one Sister is skilled at using Facebook encourage her to teach someone who does not have this skill. Do the same in situations involving other committee activities like creating flyers, sending out emails, or giving reports.
D. Motivational Skills
Leaders need to inspire others to cooperate and contribute. As a committee Chair you can do that by having a positive attitude and by praising Sisters. You can also motivate others by making sure that your meetings remain positive and upbeat. Below are a few examples of ways to motivate Sisters:
Give a verbal “thank you” when Sisters do any task.
Offer Appreciation Certificates when Sisters do an exceptional job.
Recognize Sisters at meetings for contributions.
Always smile and be pleasant when greeting others.
Do not let your meetings become a place where Sisters come to only gripe and complain.
Focus on what is positive, rather than what is negative.
Focus on what can be done, rather than what cannot be done.
Always end your meetings on a “high” note, expressing your belief that things will improve.
Adapted from Sisters in the Brotherhood: www.carpenters.org
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