THE EXPONENT: Volume 98, Number 2

News and Commentary for Triangle Leaders "Our Goal is Simple: You Achieving Yours"

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds awake to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, that they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible. - T.E. Lawrence

Which are you; the Wisher or the Doer? Do you get results or do you rationalize that it was okay that you didn't achieve your goals - saying instead, "I'll get there next time"?

Your Brothers in Triangle are teachers - even if you are an alumnus - who will help you learn to be a Doer and to get results. First, you have to want to learn.

The EXPONENT volunteer staff encourages you to seize every opportunity, whether it be through this publication, through getting something done in your chapter or alumni association, or by networking with other Brothers! No one of us is as strong as all of us -- the harder we work, the luckier we get!

Contents

• Leadership Strategy I: Attention Through Vision
• The USPS Delivers for the Louisville Chapter
• It's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore -- Communicating the Vision
• Reminders
• Spotlight on the National Chapter

Leadership Strategy I: Attention Through Vision

Summary of book by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus (Copyright 1985)

Management of attention through vision is the creating of focus. Leaders are the most results-oriented individuals in the world, and results get attention. Their visions or intentions are compelling and pull people toward them. Intensity coupled with commitment is magnetic. And these intense personalities do not have to coerce people to pay attention; they are so intent on what they are doing that they draw others in. Vision grabs.

In all these cases, the leader may have been the one who chose the image from those available at the moment, articulated it, gave it form and legitimacy, and focused attention on it, but the leader only rarely was the one who conceived of vision in the first place. Therefore, the leader must be a superb listener, particularly to those advocating new or different images of the emerging reality. Many leaders establish both formal and informal channels of communication to gain access to these ideas. Most leaders also spend a substantial portion of their time interacting with advisors, consultants, other leaders, scholars, planners, and a wide variety of other people both inside and outside their own organizations in this search. Successful leaders, we have found, are great askers, and they do pay attention.

Vision and Organizations
To choose a direction, a leader must first have developed a mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization. This image, which we call a vision, may be as vague as a dream or as precise as a goal or mission statement. The critical point is that a vision articulates a view of a realistic, credible, attractive future for the organization, a condition that is better in some important ways than what now exists.

A vision is a target that beckons. When John Kennedy set a goal of putting a man on the moon by 1970, or Sanford Weill aimed to make American Express the world's leading investment banking company in five years, they were focusing attention on worthwhile and attainable achievements. Note that a vision always refers to a future state, a condition that does not presently exist.

To understand why vision is so central to leadership success, we only need reflect on why organizations are formed in the first place. An organization is a group of people engaged in a common enterprise. Individuals join the enterprise in the hope of receiving rewards for their participation. Depending upon the organization and the individuals involved, the rewards might be largely economic, or they might be dominated by psychosocial considerations - status, self-esteem, a sense of accomplishment, a meaningful existence. Just as the individual derives rewards from his or her role in the organization, so too does the organization derive its rewards from finding an appropriate niche in the larger society.

So, on the one hand, an organization seeks to maximize its rewards from its position in the external environment and, on the other hand, individuals in the organization seek to maximize their reward from their participation in the organization. When the organization has a clear sense of its purpose, direction, and desired future state and when this image is widely shared, individuals are able to find their own roles both in the organization and in the larger society.

The USPS Delivers for the Louisville Chapter

Bret Feger lou86

The rest of our mailings also use the University's Not-for-Profit stamp. We are allowed to do this by working with Student Life Office (specifically the Greek Advisor). One condition for using the permit is that the Return Address must be our ON-CAMPUS ADDRESS (our mailbox in the Student Center) since the chapter house is in the 40208 zip code and UofL is the 40292 zip code. Whatever we choose to send must also comply with other regulations that the Campus Postal Services and the US Post Office have agreed to.

Several years ago the University suspended the Greek's access to the Univ's Not-for-Profit permit. The University told each fraternity/sorority that the fraternity/sorority would need to be approved for its own Not-for-Profit permit in order to continue using their permit. I got the appropriate documents from the National Office and submitted them to the US Postmaster. After several weeks, our application was approved. I showed the approval to the University Postal Services Department, and we've had no trouble since then. This arrangement is fabulous for us. We avoid paying the annual fee to maintain the permit while being able to send out information at the cheaper rate. I would encourage other chapters to investigate the options with their Greek Advisor or maybe directly with their campus postal service. Maybe they can work out an arrangement like ours. You can view a previous Exponent article on this topic or contact the National HQ Staff or another National Volunteer for advice or information.

It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore - Communicating the Vision

Tim Eiler
National President

"TRIANGLE FRATERNITY exists to provide an environment of excellence in which each individual member will achieve his highest potential - intellectually, socially, and professionally - while building lifelong, enriching friendships upon common bonds and shared experiences."

For those of you who don't already know, the above is the foundation of the strategic plan for Triangle. It is a synthesis of the points you'll find on the very first sheet of the National Constitution. It is our basic reason for being.

Some will say that it reads like a typical, dry corporate mission statement and that it is, therefore, meaningless. That would be true if we, and you, let it be. I believe that their doubts won't ring true. Council, for instance, uses the statement above when considering nearly every decision we face: "does accepting the proposal make sense and will it help our members become better?' is the question we ask.

The statement above is not intended to be used solely by the National Council. It can be, should be, and must be (if we really all intend to make our Fraternity the best experience possible) used by everyone - chapters, associations, individuals. Take a moment to think about how you can make it happen. Then make it happen. That statement will remain close at hand to guide you in your decisions.

Reminders

The Robert Rosenberg Scholarships to the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute (UIFI) are available from the Education Foundation. UIFI is an opportunity to get together with other Greeks to learn about yourself and your Fraternity experience. It is held at several locations throughout the country and at several times, generally during the summer months. More information about UIFI is available at the Triangle Website or by contacting the staff at the National Headquarters. Referrals from past participants are also available. We strongly encourage members to attend!

The Herbert F. Scobie Leadership School will be taking place this year from August 1 through 4 at the Illinois Institute of Technology, home of the Armour Chapter. If you haven't received your registration forms yet, please contact the National Headquarters staff or see the Leadership School page on the Triangle website. When you receive your forms, register soon to avoid the rush. This year's HSLS promises to be even better than the terrific one in 1997. Track programming, like last year, will be the mode of delivery, but this year, based on your inputs, we've also arranged to have repeats of the individual sessions so that you can attend sessions that previously would have conflicted (proof that the National Leadership does listen to you! :-). We encourage each chapter to send representatives. The opportunity to develop yourself and your chapter, along with the camaraderie you'll find with your fellow Brothers, is definitely worth it!

Summer Recruitment is coming (we assume you're already in the throes of Winter/Spring Recruitment). Are you starting it now? What help can the National Chapter leaders provide you (we don't give magic bullets, but we can help you help yourselves!)?

TRIANGLE FRATERNITY

Is Serious about Scholarship

Sets and Demonstrates High Standards

Celebrates Achievement