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When did we become so lazy as Greek leaders? It boggles my mind how many events the average chapter makes mandatory each semester. When I ask most sorority women, they say that there are almost 100 mandatory events each semester in their chapters, between regular meetings, recruitment, Panhellenic requirements, service events, and more. Frankly, it's gotten a bit out of hand. Many chapters now dependably budget for all the fines they levy against their members for missing mandatory events.
Hear me clearly: "Making dozens of events mandatory is an incredibly lazy thing to do." We do it because the alternative -- making our events things that our members would WANT to attend -- is much harder. Great leaders of amazing chapters don't need to make everything mandatory because their members actually WANT to come to things.
I realize the irony of me saying this. Often, as a speaker, attendance at my programs is mandatory. But, that doesn't mean I love it. More on that another time...
What if each executive officer were allowed to make only one event per semester mandatory -- for a total of 7-10, depending on how many exec's you have? Which 7-10 events would we prioritize? Which ones are really critical? (And, by the way, four nights of recruitment equals four, not one.)
Lead yourself through the process of the "what if?" Do it with your execs at the start of this school year. What would you have to do to make members attend the other 93 events? Or, might you scale back the number of events that you do in a semester?
You'd have to start making non-mandatory events fun, worthwhile, and relevant to your members. Kind of scary, huh?
