by Jesse Ford DTM IPDD
Over the last few years, while serving in District leadership, there have been times when I thought to myself “no way I could never do that.” Then, guess what happened? Yep, I found myself doing said things. Somebody once told me an interesting quote/philosophy on leadership. “The number one job of a great leader is to make more great leaders.” I thought to myself, yea this sounds great. But how do you do it? Is there some sort of secret formula? Maybe a list of experiences I can checkbox? And BOOM! I am now a leader. I know, if I give a certain number of speeches, I will become a leader. Well, spoiler alert, I am still looking, but I believe now it is actually more a combination of things.
No one person in leadership will have the same experience as someone else, so why would we expect the same answer from all our leaders? Yes, of course, there are things that leaders generally agree on like values, but when you get down to it, “leadership” is an action word. It’s constantly changing and evolving just like all of us.
One of our traditions in District 25 is that at our events, like the conference, we always like to do special recognition for people making a difference. Insert this month’s outstanding leader. This leader was an Area Director this last year and visited their clubs far more than the requirement, did officer installations, and helped with TLI. What set them apart? What was the big thing that they did to help others GROW at district conference? Congratulations to Area Director, First Timers Chair, and now, Outstanding Leader Chris Ritz.
If you have never been to a District Conference, I will go ahead and spoil a surprise and tell you that we always celebrate our first timers. This year was no different. Or was it? Chris, being a first-timer himself, led this portion of the event and had an energy that was simply buzzing. Past International President Morag Mathieson, DTM, although a seasoned veteran of the program herself, was in twist as a “First Timer” at a D25 event. PIP Mathieson shared later with the Trio that, “We need more new leaders like Chris in our organization.” WOW. Congratulations to Chris Ritz! You represented yourself, D25, and the entire organization so well, and I am happy to say now you are the Outstanding Leader for June. Way to GROW!
