Becoming Catalysts for Community Change

This morning I spoke at the  Northwest Exchange 2011 Conference for women hosted by the Junior League of Seattle at the Washington Athletic Club.  Current and future leaders of the Junior Leagues from Boise, Calgary, Eugene, Great Falls, Olympia, Portland, Salt Lake City, Spokane, Tacoma, Yakima, Wenatchee and Seattle gathered for the weekend to exchange ideas and gain skills and training to position themselves to help each of their Leagues become "catalysts for change" in their communities.

AJLI At-Large Director, Evelyn Zabo
and Junior League members
particpating in "The Helium Stick"
exercise.

My topic was Team Building and I shared with the 65 women in attendance some of the "a-ha" moments that had occurred during my active Junior League years, particularly when I was Junior League of Seattle President in 1991-92.  We talked about problems we have experienced with teams, reasons for team building, attributes of successful teams, valuing each member of a team and using their diverse backgrounds to make the team more successful, dealing with obstacles to effective teams, and the importance of collaboration.

As part of the experiential learning, I asked the group to participate in two exercises.  The first was for each table team to figure out what is the most outrageous thing that they had in common with one another in a very limited amount of time.  Their answers were entertaining and sometimes hilarious, particularly the small team of three that reported out that they had all been picked up for shoplifting.  The room exploded with gasps first and then laughter when they admitted that what they really had in common is that they were good liars.

The second exercise was one called "The Helium Stick" where the object was for a team to balance a stick with a loose metal washer on each end horizontally on their index fingers and carefully lower the stick to the ground without losing the washers or actually grabbing or holding the stick.  The learning was all about the need as a team to understand the goal, overcome obstacles, communicate together effectively to achieve the desired results.  One of the telling comments afterwards that one of the participants shared was that it would have been easier if there had been a leader of each team.
I was once again impressed with the strength and power of the women in the room and how committed they are to making the world a better place by living the mission of Junior League to promote voluntarism, and develop the potential of women to improve the community through the effective action and leadership of trainined volunteers.  I would want any of them on my "team" anyday!