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Alpha Delta Pi Defined Me as a Leader

September 10th, 2018
Filed Under: Collegiate News | Who Runs the World?

Leadership comes in many different shapes and experiences. If you asked 100 women what their definition of leadership is, you probably wouldn’t hear the same definition twice. I can personally thank Alpha Delta Pi for cultivating the leader inside me from the day I was initiated into the sorority in fall of 2015, to now. 

 

I have always been a leader, whether I was captain of my soccer team or the friend who organized every outing, but I had never used leadership towards something that was so much bigger than myself. When I initiated into ADPi, I jumped straight into leadership and joined executive board as Panhellenic Delegate. The following year I became Membership Education Vice President, and now I serve as Guard. With each position I gained a new level of leadership through different experiences in different parts of our organization. After just three short months in this amazing sisterhood, I decided to apply for the Executive Office Internship. This experience, although some may say is smaller than an Executive Board position, was one that changed my life forever. I began to see our organization for something that was so much bigger than our chapter of 150 women. After this internship, I knew ADPi was something I would be involved with for the rest of my life – whether in an Alumnae Association or as a volunteer. I will forever give back to the organization that made me into the person I am today.

 

Without the leadership skills Alpha Delta Pi has provided me, I would not be in the position I am right now as Student Body President of Sonoma State University. I got involved in student government on my campus because of an amazing chapter sister, Rachel McCloskey. If ADPi gave me nothing else, it gave me sisters that saw things in me I didn’t see in myself. Rachel saw a leader in me. She saw my leadership benefiting not just Alpha Delta Pi, but the entire student body. I am now the official voice for 10,000 students, and I can be an advocate in meetings and conferences where beneficial change is taking place. I wouldn’t have this position without the values Alpha Delta Pi has instilled in me. This part of the creed has always stuck with me:

 

“I believe that the privilege of membership in Alpha Delta Pi brings the responsibility to do my best in whatever I undertake, always remembering that leadership requires confidence tempered with humility and courage blended with tolerance”

 

Here’s how to cultivate the leader in you and other sisters:

 

  1. Encourage the new member who may be on the fence about leadership. There are many ways to be a leader and you don’t have to have a “title” to lead a group. Encourage Alphas and new Deltas to lead by example and be kind to sisters around them.
  1. Lead from the back. You will leave more of an impact on sisters if you lead from the back. When you delegate and let others take the lead, it begins to cultivate the leader in them, and they will be more likely to pave their own path later on.
  1. Don’t become a leader for the recognition. One of your jobs as a leader is to motivate others to have confidence in themselves. If you find yourself as a member on Executive Board and you feel you are doing everything yourself or having a hard time getting people to sign up for things, think back to how you have made others feel in your time as a leader. You should be in leadership positions to help others feel appreciated and recognized, not for yourself.
  1. Be kind. As a leader you have a lot of power to make or break a woman’s experience in Alpha Delta Pi. Always be kind because you don’t know what a sister is going through. You don’t have to walk around giving everyone hugs and cupcakes, but a simple encouraging text to a sister you may not have seen in a while goes a long way.

 

Now, let’s go out and be leaders for ADPi, our campuses, our jobs, and our community. We all have a leader inside of us, and it may just take a sister to help bring that out of you.



Comments:

  1. Nicole Opas says:

    Incredibly thoughtful post – and shows the amazing leader you are. Carley, you’re a gift to Alpha Delta Pi and SSU.

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