In this issue:
Important Leadership Dates
A Message from the Executive Director
Bylaws Amendment to Be Considered in September
Resources for Leaders
Mark Your Calendar for the January Leadership Summit
Will Your Unit Meet at Leadership Summit? - Reserve Space
Now
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October 20-21, 2005 |
SLA Board of Directors Meetings |
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October 31, 2005 |
Scholarship Application Deadline |
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January 18-21, 2006 |
Leadership Summit, Houston, TX USA |
A Message from the Executive Director
Governance, strategy, and leadership
SLA is made up of multiple units which comprise a whole. Each of you, as leaders, play a role in effective governance which is integral to the success of SLA. Governance is essentially a decision process grounded in the assumption that an organization can cause desired results to occur by choosing appropriate courses of action. Basically, governance and strategic leadership are about making informed organizational choices: choices about why we're here, what we want to accomplish, the best ways to achieve those results, the resources we'll need to do these things and how we will secure them, and how we will know whether we are making a difference. Strategy is the process of selecting among competing courses of action, using the chosen goals and outcomes as the basis for the selection, and implementing these strategies to achieve these results and outcomes. The process involves gathering information and using it to inform the decision process, with the expectation that effective strategy choices will result in success. Unlike the for-profit world, where these choices are largely grounded in options for making money for someone, we, as a nonprofit association, essentially always begin with a focus on doing what is good for our members and the profession - and making choices about how best to have an impact.
Effective governance and strategy are integral to the sustainability and long-term effectiveness of your association as we are operating in today's complex and competitive world. To succeed, we must continuously renew the link between what we do and the needs and interests of the community we serve. We must ensure we are providing the services needed and valued by our members and constituents, and in ways that are consistent with our mission and core values. I encourage you to work with your boards and committees this year to make judgments about how well or poorly your chapter, division, caucus, or committee is doing and then make choices about how it can be more effective.
--Janice R. Lachance, Executive Director
Bylaws
Amendment to Be Considered in September
The discussions we've had over the past two years about restructuring our membership dues are coming to fruition. The Board has approved the Finance Committee's plan. While the Board sets the dues for membership, in order for the plan to be implemented which will create a lower dues for those with salaries less than $35,000, it will increase other categories of membership dues above the bylaws-capped 12%. We will be presenting this amendment to the voting members through our new eballoting system in September.
How can you help? First, learn the details from the online Bylaws Information Center ; second, review the leadership toolkit facts; third, remind everyone to update their membership record with correct e-mail addresses; and, finally, participate in our first eballoting initiative.
I would like to thank the Cabinets who participated in this two-year dialogue, the Finance Committee who researched and presented a plan which accomplishes the desires of the membership and keeps us on a sound financial track, the Bylaws Committee who crafted the proposed amendment and my colleagues on the Board for weighing all scenarios and approving all the plans which will move us forward to provide the services and programs valued by our members.
Watch for details and your voting document in mid-September.
--Pam Rollo,SLA President
Resources for Leaders
The SLA website is a wealth of information for the new officer. Take a moment now to bookmark the Leadership section of the SLA Web Site.The path to the
Unit Leadership Section from the homepage (www.sla.org)is: Resources; Leadership Center; Leadership Resources. What are the key planning and action dates? Take a look at the Chapter and Division Recommended Practices. The Leadership Training Center is a web-based orientation for the other key officers in your unit. You can also order mailing labels, rosters, emails via the web by visiting the SLA website.
Mark Your Calendar for the January Leadership Summit
When SLA?s leaders gather in January, it?s more than a meeting; it's a Leadership Summit. Chapter and Division Cabinets, Committees, the Board of Directors and many Division Boards will come together in Houston, Texas, USA, for the SLA Leadership Summit. The keynote speaker will be Doug Lipp, author and international expert on leadership. Watch for more details to be released very soon. Whether just beginning in a leadership role, mid-career, or experienced. You will learn in this enhanced environment. Encourage other leaders or aspiring leader to attend; it will be a truly valuable experience. So mark your calendar for January 18-21, 2006, and plan to be there.
Will Your Unit Meet at Leadership Summit? - Reserve Space Now
If your chapter, division, committee or caucus is planning to meet at the 2006 Leadership Summit in Houston, TX, USA, please contact Leadership staff for program development and function room reservations. Contact Linda Broussard, Associate Executive Director, Leadership and Membership, at:lbroussard@sla.org, tel. +1.703.647.4938, or fax +1.703.647.4901. Please reserve your space as soon as possible so that we can assure adequate space and time for your meeting.
If you have any questions or comments about Leadership Connections, we would like your feedback. Please share your comments with leadership@sla.org and visit the Leadership Resource Center on the SLA website for information on Leadership.
©2005 Special Libraries Association. All Rights Reserved.
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