A
Chapter
Presidents
Guide To The
Universe
of
Leadership
And other stories…
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Table of Contents
PART I: SEVERAL STEPS AND STORIES .....................................................................................2
STEP 1: PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................... 2
STEP 2: INVESTING IN PEOPLE ........................................................................................................... 4
STEP 3: ESSENTIALS OF A FUNCTIONING CHAPTER ................................................................................ 9
STEP 4: THE NON-PLAN YEAR PLAN ................................................................................................... 8
STEP 5: FOLLOW THE ENERGY, GROWTH IS GOOD BUT SO IS FOCUS ........................................................ 6
PART II: OTHER STORIES ....................................................................................................... 11
WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO SEEK THE ROLE OF CHAPTER PRESIDENT? (HEATHER) ...................................... 11
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT THE ROLE? (EVAN) ................................................................................... 12
WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT THE ROLE? (EVAN) ............................................................................... 13
HOW CAN A PRESIDENT MOST EFFECTIVELY CONTRIBUTE TO CHAPTER SUCCESS? (HEATHER) ...................... 14
Acknowledgements
I would like to send a big than you to Evan Walsh, Anna
Hopkins, Clare Hutchinson, Shahir Mishriki, Ian Wright, and
Marie-Chantal Carette for providing input and advice.
PART I: Several Steps and Stories
I would like to introduce you to the wonderful world of the role of
Chapter President at Engineers Without Borders Canada. My name is
Heather Murdock and I was a Co-President with the Queen’s Chapter from
February 2010 to April 2012.
Towards the end of this period I found myself struggling with how to
best transition this role. What resulted was this document, which includes
contributions from many individuals across the organization. We hope to
capture some helpful descriptions and stories from this role. While this
document has a strong student chapter focus I hope it is also relevant to
City Network Chapter Presidents. It is by no means a comprehensive guide
to everything that is relevant to the chapter president role but rather some
ideas, frameworks, resources and stories. If you (the reader) ever want to
contact me I’m easy to find ([email protected]). Enjoy!
STEP 1: Personal Development
Idea
If nothing else the Chapter President is an opportunity for personal
development. It is important to put energy and time into your own learning
and identify your own learning goals. In this role you have the privilege of
being supported directly by the National Office in this process through
retreats and chapter buddy coaching, so take advantage of this support!
This is done in an effort to support you as an individual and thereby support
the chapter.
I put a particular focus on developing my facilitation skills and I
found, for example, that as a result I was able to run more effective exec
meetings.
I have found that it is important that part of the reason you take this
role and commit to learning should be that you genuinely want to work
towards having a positive impact for the people in your chapter, your
university, the organization, and Dorothy.
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This isn’t a resume padding role, it is exciting but also challenging and
time consuming. One national office staff once said to me that being a
chapter president was a comparable commitment to running a small
company. I remembered those words on several occasions and found that
it was fairly accurate.
Framework
From personal experience I found that there are three focus areas,
which are the most important for personal development. These are:
 Getting key Feedback
 Taking time for Reflection
 Drawing Inspiration from other sources
Feedback
In an ideal scenario you should encourage a culture of feedback
within the chapter. In a personal development context I found that I
learned some important things about myself from getting feedback from
my team. One time when this was especially true was in August 2011. I sent
my exec from 2010-2011 an anonymous online survey that I had created to
provide feedback on my leadership of the chapter. This was a great way to
get some really key feedback as the anonymous format allows exec
members to be very honest while sending it to my team after we had
worked together for a year meant that they had a lot of experience with me
to comment on.
Reflection
This survey helped me identify several strengths and weaknesses
related to my leadership style. For example I learned that some of types of
coaching were particularly helpful to the team but also that I needed to
start to see things from others point of view more and not always take so
much control of meetings or event planning. These comments helped me
refocus my leadership style in some was and I tried to put more effort into
listening, delegating tasks and also create a framework for group coaching
as this was found to be valuable.
Inspiration
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I found it helped a lot to get a daily dose of inspiration. Thankfully as
part of the EWB network there is inspiration flowing freely. Having regular
coffee chats (or sushi lunches) with chapter members, mutually coaching
sessions, skype calls with chapter buddies, skype calls with other presidents
or chapter members, APS blogs and so many others.
Resources
Feel free to contact me ([email protected]) to see the survey that I
used for feedback. Or use the questions in your foundation learning in the
section on feedback.
For a daily dose of inspiration see some of the links below:
Harvard Business Review
EWB Blogs
Sign up for a regular newsletter of personal development
STEP 2: Investing in People
Idea
Leaders don’t need to be well rounded—teams do. So it is just as
important to invest your time in personal development as it is to invest
your time in the development of your team and the people in it.
There are several components of investing in people in the chapter
context. Coaching and listening are valuable roles that the president can
play. If you are working with a large team and chapter you will find that it is
difficult to do one-on-one coaching with everybody. However it works for
you and your chapter, try to make coaching and leadership development an
important part of what you do beyond programs and events.
Framework
There are many frameworks and skills that can be applied to coaching,
leadership development and overall investing in people. This section,
however, with focus on the macro level investing in and managing people.
This can be outlined as:
Attract
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Engage and
Retain awesome people!
As we know a chapter needs AER to breath! Some good things to
remember is that recruitment and attracting new members should happen
all of the time, not just in September or at club fairs. I’ve found that some
of our most committed and enthusiastic members got involved after
attending member learning sessions or an event we ran. They had a
positive experience and wanted to come back. Encourage chapter members
to invite new people to events and meetings and do this yourself.
Engaging new members through telling them more about the organization
or what the focus areas for the chapter are this year helps take their
understanding of the organization and their potential role in it a step
further. Personally I found that encouraging new members to take on a
director position was the best way to engage and retain great people. Also
helping them to find a program such as Fair Trade or Youth Engagement
they are passionate about will keep them coming back and contributing.
Really leadership development and AER should be part of everything that
you do. For example asking a new exec member to run a meeting can help
them learn by doing with support. Similarly encouraging new members to
run an event or a member learning workshop will help them develop
logistics or facilitation skills. I have found that people learn the most when
they are empowered to try things for themselves.
Resources
Here are some relevant resources about getting the right people on the bus
(or rocket ship), and Investing in People who will lea systemic change. Also
included is a link about investing in people and learning from failure.
- The Engagement Pyramid – to think about the different stages of a
members’ engagement
- Jim Collins - First Who, then What/Getting the right people on the
bus
- EWB Values
- EWB Vision and Change Leaders
- Failure Report - read about the director program in the Failure
Report
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STEP 3: Follow the energy, Growth is Good but so is focus
Idea
Your chapter will be most effective, happy and healthy if people are in the
roles that they love. Also it’s important to set your year strategy with a
focus on what those people love to do together. When you try to squeeze a
circle into a triangle it just doesn’t fit. If somebody on your team is a circle
and you’re trying to fit them into a triangle’s role, it’s a waste of your time
and theirs.
Circle 
Triangle 
Same goes for how you shape your role! Sometimes the fit isn’t perfect but
it’s possible to adapt the role and meet somewhere in the middle, maybe at
a square.
Framework
As president you can help everybody be a happy hedgehog in their role and
in turn create a happy hedgehog chapter. There is a workshop that you can
do with your team to start the conversation about defining your role to fit
your strengths.
1) Draw your role from a blank slate. If you could do anything you want
without consequences then what would that look like.
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2) Introduce the concept of the Happy Hedgehog venn diagram. What
you should be doing in your role is at the intersection of what you are
“Best in the World at”, what there is need for, and what you have the
passion for/ resources to do.
Best In the World At
Need
Resources/Passion
3) Get everyone to brainstorm tasks for the coming week/month and
right them on pieces of post-it notes. Take an A4 piece of paper and
draw the above venn diagram. Place all of these tasks in the venn
diagram and see how many intersect with all three or at least two
criteria.
4) Have a conversation about adjusting roles. Talk about strategies to
do more of what is a good fit a less of what isn’t while maintaining
some basics of the role such as answering emails that not everybody
loves. Some tools for this are:
a. Keeping your finger on the pulse and directing energy towards
the priorities for the chapter, program or event.
b. Delegation, many people may be working with directors and so
there may be aspects of their role that are better suited to
their directors strengths.
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This workshop works well as a way for exec members or other teams to
revisit their roles at least a month in. Role definition should happen earlier
as well but sometimes it takes some time for the role to take shape.
While the first step gets everybody thinking about what they would
ideally do the next two allow each person to take a very realistic look at
what they are doing on a weekly basis and creates to space to have a
conversation about restructuring roles. I did this with my exec team in
November and our team made some adjustments afterwards.
Resources
Jim Collins – Finding your happy hedgehog
STEP 4: The non-plan Year Plan
Idea
It is impossible to create a year “plan” for an EWB chapter. What you can
and should do is create a set of goals, expectations and strategies with your
team.
Framework
To come in Chapter Goal and Culture Session
Resources
Outline of systemic change workshop
It should be more of a year Strategy. Following the framework of the EWB
Canada vision and mission think about what systems you want to influence
and try to create a strategy to do so rather than a step by step year plan.
- Not realistic to create a full year plan
- Year strategy makes a lot more sense
- Look to the vision and mapping the system and how you are going to
influence that system is helpful
- I found that setting a one page minimum, 3 page maximum in advance of
our September exec retreat was helpful
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- Create this framework with the exec but play the role of keeping people
accountable.
https://docs.google.com/a/ewb.ca/document/d/1WQZdNNXSmQJdmiW2a
BMPV4YwvtJDNc1ZOtJDNS8-Cyw/edit
STEP 5: Essentials of a Functioning Chapter
Idea
You need to get the right people on the right bus. Once you’re on the bus
you need to know how to drive it. Okay well most people know how to
drive but probably not lead a chapter successfully. Let’s say you need to get
the right people on the rocket ship. Now you have to learn how to
command a rocket ship. Sound good?
Framework
While it may not be everyone’s #1 passion, it’s important for chapter
presidents to think about the core of chapter operations. My framework for
this is L-O-R. A successful chapter needs:
 Leadership
 Opportunity
 Resources
Leadership: Developing the leadership skills of others and investing in them
is key to maintaining a healthy and sustainable chapter. It is also important
to recognize that you too have room for growth as a leader and develop
your skills with your exec team.
Opportunity: A chapter should look to create opportunities for programs
such as starting a new Global Engineering conference on campus as well as
seize opportunities like partnering with Oxfam for a Fair Trade event.
Resources: A chapter needs to effectively manage its resources. In the case
of EWB chapters your main two resources are money and people’s time.
The president should be involved with overseeing the budget to ensure
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that money is allocated appropriately and payments to National Office go
through on time. Also it is very important to respect people’s time as they
are volunteers. This means setting an agenda for exec meetings and helping
them run efficiently. For events it means setting up a schedule for
volunteers and helping things start and end on time. And in general it
means respecting how many hours a week your team members have to
contribute to EWB and
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Part II: Other Stories
The role of President is exciting most of the time, scary some of the time,
and challenging all of the time. To capture the experiences of chapter
presidents across Canada I asked these three questions. Here is a summary
of their thoughts.
What motivated you to seek the role of chapter president?
For Claire Hutchinson, University of Ottawa Chapter President 2011-12 it
was a long process. She remembers wanting to do the role “wayyyyy back
when” because she was inspired by the chapter presidents that she worked
with. After getting more exposure to leadership development in EWB, it
seems like a role that would challenge her and lead to a lot of personal
growth. Underlying all of this is a dedication to Engineers Without Borders
and a desire to see the group achieve success with respect to their
University goals. Becoming chapter president allowed her to work with an
incredible group of people and support them to achieve their goals.
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Others have commented that they felt they had particular skills that they
felt would add value to the chapter and be a good fit for the role. Also
attending retreats and conference helped to build their enthusiasm by
talking to others who had alredy taken on the role of chapter president.
What do you like about the role?
Clare and Ian Wright (University of Alberta President 2011-2012) both
agree that what they love most about the role of chapter president is
seeing people flourish in their own positions.
This focus on leadership development in the chapter was something most
presidents identified really enjoying. Another common thread was the
feeling of pride in the successes of your chapter’s members.
Marie Chantal particularly enjoyed how the role placed you at the centre of
things. As well, she liked the opportunity it provided to get to know people
from across Canada, and throughout her university.
“I love hearing a newer member gush about global engineering and
meeting the eyes of an older chapter member across the office to grin at
each other because, yep, that’s why we’re all here.” - Clare Hutchinson
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What do you dislike about the role?
Shahir Mishriki (University of Calgary Co-President 2011-2012) and Marie
Chantal both agree that they most dislike burnout. Because the role is
challenging and involved being accountable to so many people (chapter
members, national organization, Dorothy etc…) it is a role where the risk
for burnout is high.
This is closely tied to the tendency to push oneself too far. Ian identified the
trouble of spreading himself thin, which kept him from tackling his bigger
plans or investing as much time into coaching as he had hoped. When we
start feeling overwhelmed the little tasks can seem to pile up, which is
something Clare really felt happening.
Shahir noted that it isn’t the most enjoyable thing in the world to have to
pick up the slack when a team isn’t pulling its weight. Above it was pointed
out how we can feel a lot of pride for chapter success because our central
role in the chapter. Similarly, we carry the responsibility for chapter
failures, which can be difficult.
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“Mais les points positifs d'être président valent cent fois les aspects
négatifs!” - Marie Chantal
How can a President most effectively contribute to chapter
success?
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According to Marie Chantal Carette, University of Laval Chapter President
2011-12, the key to success is being as present and available for your
chapter as possible. Ian agrees and emphasizes being approachable,
especially when one of your team members needs support.
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