Society of Leadership and Success becomes RSO
The Society of Leadership and Success is a new RSO on campus aiming to teach students about the importance of leadership. Director of Student Life & Campus Activities Tom Miles brought the national organization on campus and is the chapter adviser for The Society.
Miles said that although there is a modest leadership program on campus, it is mainly centered on resources for RSOs. While resources are important, he said he wanted to advance the leadership program in other ways.
“One of the things I set out to do was to broaden the program. The best way, in my mind, has always been to do it in conjunction with students so that they have ownership, buy in, and they see leadership ultimately as a process that they should adopt and accept and promote for themselves,” Miles said. “Leadership is a way of life. It’s a process.”
Miles began looking at different leadership programs and said he found The Society to be the best fit for what GCSU student need. After bringing it on campus, The Society had 153 members in two weeks, making it the fourth largest organization on campus. Miles said that he couldn’t believe the turnout they had. As the chapter on campus grows, Miles said he’d rather see continued quality instead of quantity.
“My focus has always been quality versus quantity,” he said.
Members of The Society have seven requirements to meet, but there are no immediate deadlines. They must attend three videos which feature leaders from a variety of professions. They must also attend three Success Networking Team meetings and one leadership training day. Requirements can be met over the course of four or five years.
Miles wanted an organization that is very flexible and is able to work well with students’ busy schedules. John Ballard, the President of The Society has found the organization to be one that demands little time.
“It’s a great organization for college students because it’s not very time consuming at all,” Ballard said. “The time that is involved is very flexible.”
Some students have joined The Society to have something impressive on their resume, while others truly want to learn about leadership.
Psychology major Karen Farmer said she joined because she wanted to be more involved on campus and wanted to do something to increase her knowledge of leadership. Farmer, the vice president of The Society said she has learned to focus on the important things in life and to have more faith in herself, accomplishing goals with the help of friends.
“Through the video conferences you can really see how people lived their lives and it really helps you put your life into perspective,” Farmer said. “With the Success Networking Teams, it’s good for students to focus on their current goals… not just figuring out what those are, but to actually go accomplish them with the help of their group members.”
Miles said he sees leadership as a relational process. He said that not only will The Society prepare students to be effective in their workplace, but it will show potential employers that they have learned essential leadership skills.
“We’re teaching people to work in groups and build relationships so that we can forge positive change. If we teach our students the skills that are necessary to do that, Corporate America and any other employer in the United States will see that as something incredibly valuable,” Miles said.
Now that The Society is an RSO, Ballard said he wants to get more involved in community service and doing more for the college.
“This semester it will be a more active organization that will be doing much more,” Ballard said. “It will provide students a great way to hear business professionals speaking about the experiences they’ve had, the tips that they would give and also provide students with a way for them to get involved and show their own leadership.”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 1 2006. Filed under News.
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