November 18, 2009
To:
Chapter Chairs
From:
The Leadership & Organizing Training
Team
Re: 2010 Chapter Leader
Training
NOTE: APPLICATIONS ARE DUE DECEMBER 18
Dear
Chapter Chairs,
The Sierra Club will be offering Chapter Leader
Training beginning in January, 2010.
In the past, the training
has been a four-day in-person retreat following a standard classroom
format. We are now taking a new approach in order to reach more
chapter leaders in the most cost effective way possible. Many of
you indicated you would be interested in learning more about the Sierra
Club's effort to focus on the single most important fight of our
lifetime - climate recovery. This learning opportunity is targeted
at helping you build the most effective chapter possible to do that
work.
To increase your power, rather than take up your time, the
training will be offered remotely as a conference call and online
training, and we are inviting you to recruit a team of 3-5 additional
Chapter leaders to participate along with you, so they can support you
in your role and help you apply the skills learned in the training to
the real work of your ExCom.
Training Structure
There
are two main components to the training: a series of five conference
call training sessions that will link all participants by phone, and a
coaching call just for your team following each training session.
The training sessions will be 90 minutes in length, starting in January,
and will be spaced three weeks apart. The roster of sessions is as
follows:
Session 1: Connecting your Chapter to Climate Recovery
Campaign Objectives: Understand how your state and local goals can fit
with Climate Recovery Campaign objectives, reflect on the core functions
of Chapter ExComs, learn how to inventory and report your Chapter's
performance in these areas, review and improve your priority setting
process.
Session 2: Creating a High-Performing ExCom Team:
Examine trust building, team norms, operating procedures,
decision-making practices and accountability strategies; learn how to
build a high-performing ExCom team that achieves significant
results.
Session 3: Structuring Effective ExCom Meetings: Explore
new ideas on crafting meeting agendas, running productive meetings and
following up on action items; learn how to transform your agendas and
get important work done.
Session 4: Chapter Communications in the
21st Century: Learn how your Chapter can develop an online
organizing strategy to expand your outreach and effectiveness; explore
the use of Convio, HELEN and other communications
technologies.
Session 5: Expanding your Leadership Structure to
Build a Broader Movement for Climate Recovery: Assess your local
resources; learn how to expand your leadership structure in order to
build a movement around climate recovery work that engages a broad
diversity of people in your communities.
Training
Benefits
Here are some of the benefits you can expect as a result
of this training:
After this training, you will:
--Have
more clarity on the role and expectations of the Chapter
ExCom
--Understand the Club's climate recovery campaigns and how to
be a part of them
--Improve the functioning of your Chapter ExCom to
engage more effectively in climate recovery work
--Transform your
meetings to get more done in less time
--Develop a 21st century
communications strategy
--Expand your leadership infrastructure in
order to build a broader movement around climate recovery
work
Training Dates (Pacific & Mountain Time
Zones)
Session 1 Tuesday, January 12 at 6pm PT,
7pm MT
Session 2 Tuesday, February 2 at 6pm PT, 7pm
MT
Session 3 Tuesday, February 23 at 6pm PT, 7pm
MT
Session 4 Tuesday, March 16 at 6pm PT, 7pm
MT
Session 5 Tuesday, April 6 at 6pm PT, 7pm
MT
Training Dates (Eastern & Central Time
Zones)
Session 1 Thursday, January 14 at 6pm
CT, 7pm ET
Session 2 Thursday, February 4 at 6pm
CT, 7pm ET
Session 3 Thursday, February 25 at 6pm
CT, 7pm ET
Session 4 Thursday, March 18 at 6pm CT,
7pm ET
Session 5 Thursday, April 8 at 6pm CT, 7pm
ET
To Apply for the Training
1. Read the Mutual
Agreement below.
2. Recruit 3-5 other Chapter leaders who will
commit to participate with you through the entire training program (you
must recruit a minimum of three leaders). Some of your best
candidates might be your Vice-Chair, Conservation Chair and most senior
staff person.
3. Complete the Mutual Agreement form and return it
to Greg Casini by December18. Chapters will be chosen based on
their level of commitment, and notified no later than December 21.
There is no fee to participate. Much of this training will
be conducted on the phone and over the internet. You will need to
have access to a computer for the duration of these
sessions.
Questions
If you have questions about this
training, contact
greg.casini@sierraclub.org
or
415-977-5651.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Virtual
Training for Chapter Leadership Teams - Mutual Agreement
RETURN
BY DECEMBER 18, 2009
The Training: This training is intended not
just for the ExCom Chair, but also for a core leadership team of 3-5
additional leaders who can support the Chair in his/her role. The
expectation is that there will be four to six people from each Chapter
working together with the Chair to ensure a highly effective
ExCom. You may be seasoned leaders or new volunteers, but the
common thread should be your commitment to learning and applying new
skills to the real work of your ExCom.
There are two main
components to the training: a series of five conference call-based
training sessions, and individual coaching between sessions.
Training sessions will be 90 minutes each, starting in January and
spaced three weeks apart. Coaching calls will be conducted between
the trainings and through June. Each Chapter leadership team will
have an assigned coach. The coach will serve as a sounding board
and help to facilitate the implementation of training lessons into
chapter practices. The coach will also be on point for the teams
to give feedback to the trainers.
The Trainers'
Commitment:
--We will be prepared to offer quality training for all
participants
--We will offer training that is relevant and useful to
the chapter teams
--We will solicit and accept constructive feedback
on the progress of the training sessions and coaching.
Your
Commitment:
--Come to the sessions prepared, and actively participate
in all five training sessions.
--Complete any pre- or post-session
work assignments
--Listen to the recording of any missed calls and
work with your coach to "make up" a missed session.
--Apply the
skills and practices learned in the sessions to your Chapter ExCom
work
--Build a working relationship with your coach.
--Provide
honest feedback to the coach and trainers to help shape this and future
trainings.
During this process, we will be using some
technologies that are new to the Club and to this group of
trainers. There will be a concerted effort to test new
technologies in order to mitigate the fact that we are not meeting
face-to-face. The trainers will do their best to ensure that the
technology is appropriate and functional, but there is an element of
experimentation here. All parties need to have some patience and
be willing to change plans in the event of technology
glitches.
APPLICATION FOR 2010 CHAPTER LEADERSHIP
TRAINING
WE HAVE REVIEWED THIS MUTUAL AGREEMENT AND WE AGREE
TO ABIDE BY THE EXPECTATIONS OUTLINED.
YES ____
NO ___
DATE:
CHAPTER:
CHAPTER
CHAIR:
EMAIL ADDRESS:
PHONE NUMBER:
OTHER
TRAINING PARTICIPANTS (MINIMUM OF 3):
NAME
POSITION EMAIL
ADDRESS
HAVE ALL PARTICIPANTS AGREED TO
ATTEND ALL SESSIONS?
YES ____ NO
___
Return to
greg.casini@sierraclub.org
by December 1