USY Handbook: Tips for a Chapter President

So after two years of being chapter president I sat down to write a letter to my successor, a bitter sweet moment. It got me thinking of my terms as chapter president. Even though I think I did a fairly good job considering I started with nothing. Knowing what I know now there are about a billion-gazillion things I wish I had done or would of done differently though. So I came up with a list of things I wish someone had told me two years ago.

1.       It’s ok to be harsh on your board members, you can’t always tell them it will be alright, so don’t baby them it will only hurt the chapter.

2.       It’s ok to give board members jobs that may not be exactly under their job description, delegation is key, as long as you don’t delegate things because you don’t want to do them.

3.       Don’t try to do everything, you are not superman and no one expects you to be, again delegate, you are only one person.

4.       Make sure you know all details of an event at least two weeks prior to the date that way you have enough time to patch up a hole in the plan if there is any.

5.       If you have a problem with someone not doing their work on time move deadlines up for that person by two weeks, that way you have time to do it without rushing.

6.       Schedule in at least two hours a week just for USY, I find it most useful to be at the synagogue on Sundays during Hebrew school and just work on USY.

7.       Checklists are amazing things, that way you can keep track of everything you need to do and what has already been done.

8.       ORGANIZATION is vital, have a system and stick to it.

There are many more but I think these are the top eight. If you have any to add please feel free to comment. Also comment if there is something you would like me to cover in a post. I hope everyone has a nice Shavuot.