JCI Dublin - Junior Chamber International Dublin

On the 3rd of August 2007 I went to Gothenburg in Sweden to attend the 11th European Leadership Academy. This academy started with a lunch after which each of us met their roommate and completed their registration. 70 Jaycees from all over Europe (France, Germany, Serbia, Turkey, Syria …) were attending this programme.

Objectives of this academy were:
•    To enhance the qualitative development of management and increase the understanding and co-operation of future leaders in various countries.
•    To stimulate the creation of new networks.
•    To support an exchange between Western and Eastern Europe and to set up mutual projects.
•    To create long-term growth and development of the JCI spirit in Europe, starting at the LOM-level.
•    To offer a high level training with the purpose to increase the professionalism in the JCI organisation, which also could be used in the individual's professional life.
•    Awareness of JCI Corporate Identity and programs

To achieve these objectives, the training comprised 6 modules:

Module 1 : Getting to know you
Module 2 : Outdoor Programme
Module 3 : Leadership and Teams
Module 4 : Marketing your LOM
Module 5 : Coaching
Module 6 : Planning your future

During these activities, it was important to think not only about what we did but how we did it.

The first point they taught us was the importance of having a vision, a mission, and knowing values. Then, when you are in a group, it is important to take the time to learn about those we are working with. The more we know about a person, the easier it is to work with them.

If you want to learn about others, it is easier to know about yourself first. For that we used “Insight discovery”. Each attendee had to fill out a form before coming to the training. The result was a document of 18 pages where you learn about yourself (personal, style, strengths, weaknesses, value to a team, communication …)

Insight Discovery classifies people in 4 categories. This was the base to learn about ourselves but especially about each of our team members and how to work with her/him.

During the weekend each attendee was part of 2 teams (Indoor and Outdoor). This made it easier to get to know each other and learn how to work with different people but the 2 teams were working in different contexts. The outdoor team did a team-building exercise with one coach per team, it helped us to understand how to create a team; the indoor team had more pressure by realising a project together in a very short timeframe without team-coach.

I was lucky, I was in the 2 best teams and we completed all jobs with a lot of fun and supporting each other. Some key points were learnt from these 2 teams:
•    Know who you are and what can you bring to the team
•    Learn about your team worker and their expectations
•    Use different kinds of leadership style in function of the situation
•    Planning for success
•    Having a clear communication between the team
•    Listening to each team member
•    Learning from mistakes

When you want to achieve something, you need goals. Goals need to meet the criteria of the SMART+ formula. They have to be :
•    S pecific                   i.e. Clearly defined
•    M easurable             i.e. must have clearly measurable outcomes
•    A ttractive               i.e. must be attractive and appealing
•    R elevant                 i.e. must be taking you towards your overwall outcome
•    T imed                     i.e. be time bounded and have a deadline
•    + Positively stated   i.e. “What you want rather than you don’t want.”

Use the three “P”s Formula:
    Personal    - Use “I” – it must apply to you
    Positive    - focus on what you will do rather than what you want to stop doing.
    Present Tense    - “I am” rather than “I will”
 

 
Before you can sell or market something you need to know and understand what your product is. You also need to understand what your potential customers need. When you are ready you have to use AIDA model:
•    A ttention    i.e. must be original, different …
•    I  nterest    i.e. must keep the customer interested
•    D esire        i.e. must create the feeling of wanting more
•    A ction!    i.e. it is time to sell

During general assemblies we learnt about parliamentarian procedures. Deal with motions, votes, postpone a motion; slit a motion … For more details we can refer to Robert’s Rules book.

Finally, as I mentioned at the beginning, Jaycees from all over Europe were at this 11th European Academy and it was very interesting to see the difference between NOM and LOM from other countries. For example, the selection process for a new member, the price for membership fees, project management, internal trainings …