Notes for Leaders
Article 4
The Notebook
If you just quickly look back at the three previous articles you will see the plan of where we have come so far.
In the first article we looked at the people that the Y.C.W. is working with – the situation that we face and try to do something about. Our members are people who have left school, who are facing a new period of life, who are looking for friends, who will accept them in a real way who are striving for values, who want to hear how others are answering the questions of life and work.
The second article looked at the Y.C.W. through the eyes of people who have come through the local group. We saw that the seen values of the group were precisely in the area of Y.C.W. fell down (in the opinion of the people interviewed) was in the area of method. There was too much talk and too little action – so much started and so little fulfilled.
The third article challenged the President or Leader to look at his own group – to recall what has happened there in the past 6 months and to question what value there is in what has happened. The article challenged the Leader to face the fact that the Y.C.W. is a movement of Young Workers by Young Workers for Young Workers. It challenges the leader with the questions:
(1) Do you really believe in the worth of each of your members?
(2) Do you really know them – the questions they are facing in life – at home, at work and at leisure?
(3) Have you a method in your work? Do you see your role as Leader to be much more than just a member who gets things going at the meeting?
At this stage we would like to introduce the leader to a method that has been so important in the formation of leaders over the years as to be almost essential. The method is the use of a note book. After every meeting or every visit to one of his members the leader should write down what was done and what was said that was significant. He should write down also why this is important or why it was done and he should write down what he thinks should be done as follow up.
e.g. the position of treasurer becomes vacant and Mary Jones is elected to be the new Treasurer. (This is written down in the note book as something that happened at the meeting.)
Why was this done and what was important about it?
Well Mary is fairly new in the group. She doesn’t have much to say and is pretty shy. It will be good for her to have a responsibility in the group. We must remember to ask her to give a financial report regularly. Perhaps she doesn’t know how to do this. She will have to get the subs each week. Perhaps she will find this embarrassing at first. Perhaps she doesn’t know where the money is spent or why we take subs.
FOLLOW UP:
Call round, to Mary’s house – or ring her at work to congratulate her on the job and talk about it. Tell her about regular financial reports. Offer her assistance with getting the books done. Perhaps some other member will be able to help her (part Treasurer?)
Put a memo in your notes to give her time to collect subs at the next meeting.
Organise a meeting between Mary and the Diocesan Treasurer or fulltimer or someone from whom she can learn where subs go.
The National Y.C.W. has a handbook for Treasurers. Get Mary to call at the Diocesan office and get a copy. She will meet the people there – get her name down as the Treasurer and get the book.
Draw a line around each part of the follow up and tick it off as it is done.
As can be seen a lot of action can come out of one little happening. You will find the use of a note book most helpful if you can be disciplined enough to use it regularly. You will also find it an important help for when you review your work as President or Leader. This should be done regularly with the fulltimer, Regional Organiser or team or your Chaplain. Very soon you will find that your work load becomes so great that you will need a leaders team to help you.