I had the chance to serve as a facilitator for Phi Gamma Delta's first session of their annual Leadership Institute this June. "The Leadership Institute is a premier leadership experience empowering brothers to work on real chapter issues. Institute attendees will leave with a plan to tackle tough chapter issues that are incongruent with Phi Gamma Delta's Ritual and values and an understanding of their own personal values and leadership style. (The Leadership Institute). There were over 70 undergraduate members of Phi Gamma Delta in attendance with 14 facilitators and 2 lead facilitators. Over 5 days, the Institute focused on how to build Courageous Leaders in order for these members to go back to their chapters with confidence and an action plan to achieve goals set during the institute. 

This was my third time serving as a facilitator for this program. I fully believe in the outcomes and goals of programs like these. The Leadership Institute allows attendees to delve into personal experiences and grow in multiple areas. The short term outcomes help these members create positive change within their chapters, but the long term outcomes are crucial in helping these students achieve their personal and career goals. The Leadership Institute develops skills that will be used beyond the participants collegiate careers. Skills such as leadership development, teamwork, critical thinking, and communication are built into the cirriculum. These are skills that fall under NACE Career Readiness competencies (What is Career Readiness). These competencies are core skills that employers are looking for in their employees. The mahic of the Leadership Institute is that these members of Phi Gamma Delta are learning and growing these comptencies in actionable sessions that they can then take back and make positive lasting impacts on their chapters. When they graduate, these members can use these experiences to show how they are able to achieve these competencies when applying for jobs or graduate programs.

Developing these skills isn't just for the undergraduate participants. As a facilitator I learn just as much as the participants. These competencies are not a on-off achievement, but can continuously be developed by everyone. Each facilitator is paired with another facilitator. We spend the first day in a facilitator training, learning facilitation techniques and reviewing the curriculum. I am thankful to be able to have opportunities like this to grow and develop so many skills while expanding my network of professional connections, to be able to give back and to build connections with current students and see the impact we have as professionals. 

If you are an undergraduate student, getting involved in areas like Greek Life can help you grow as personally and professionally while building deep connections with your organization members. If you are a higher education professional, I urge you to look for opportunties like these to give back and to grow as a professional in new, exciting ways.

Sources:

The Leadership Institute. Phi Gamma Delta. (n.d.).  https://connect.phigam.org/2016/undergraduates/the-leadership-institute 

What is Career Readiness?. Default. (n.d.-a). https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/career-readiness-defined