The Club President is the coordinator of all the different club officers, the architect of the overall club strategy, and the club's representative at external events.
Leadership roles in clubs
In Agora, we view officer positions as leadership positions rather than purely managerial or execution ones. There are many differences in
- Roles that are merely executing roles just execute someone else's strategy. For example, the Headquarters of an organization could decide everything that needs to be done and merely delegate the execution to an officer, who provides reports as to how execution is going back to the central.
- Roles that are merely managerial have a bit more freedom, but their leadership is purely operational. They may design rules, regulations, operating procedures, etc. They may create measurable goals, track progress, etc.
- Finally, Leadership roles are focused on the larger picture, provide a vision and inspire their team to execute that vision. While good leaders definitely benefit if they're also good managers, it's not really a requirement if they delegate that task.
Servant Leadership
There are multiple leadership styles in existence today - from Authoritarian (the leader makes all the decisions) to Transactional (leadership focused on performance and outcomes) to Lassez-Faire (letting people figure things out on their own). We will cover them more in detail in the Leadership Path, where we will also see that they are not equally effective.
For Agora Clubs, our view of leadership is that the best leadership is done through service to others - what modern leadership theory calls "Servant Leadership" (although Robert K. Greenleaf really coined the term in the 1970s):
Servant leadership is demonstrated by empowering and developing people, by expressing humility, authenticity, interpersonal acceptance, and stewardship; and by providing direction. A high-quality dyadic relationship, trust, and fairness are expected to be the most important mediating processes to encourage self-actualization, positive job attitudes, performance, and a stronger organizational focus on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Dirk van Dierendonck, Erasmus University - Journal of Management Vol. 37 No. 4, July 2011 1228-1261
Servant Leadership is not only a good moral idea: there's a lot of research correlating this increased team effectiveness and development. See, for example, here and here.
What do good leaders do under this viewpoint? In 2008, Robert Linden and his collaborators identified a set of 9 dimensions that expresses in detail the core of this leadership style:
| Leadership Dimension |
Content |
| Emotional healing |
The act of showing sensitivity to others' personal concerns. |
| Creating value for the community |
A conscious, genuine concern for helping the community |
| Conceptual skills |
Possessing the knowledge of the organization and tasks at hand to be in a position to effectively support and assist others, especially immediate followers |
| Empowering |
Encouraging and facilitating others, especially immediate followers, in identifying and solving
problems, as well as determining when and how to complete work tasks |
| Growth |
Helping subordinates grow and succeed—demonstrating genuine concern for others' career growth and
development by providing support and mentoring |
| Putting subordinates first |
Using actions and words to make it clear to others (especially immediate followers) that satisfying their work needs is a priority (Supervisors who practice this principle will often break from their own work to assist subordinates with problems they are facing with their assigned duties.) |
| Behaving ethically |
Interacting openly, fairly, and honestly with others |
| Relationships |
The act of making a genuine effort to know, understand and support others in the organization, with
an emphasis on building long-term relationships with immediate followers |
| Servanthood |
A way of being marked by one's self-categorization and desire to be characterized by others as
someone who serves others first, even when self-sacrifice is required |
(From "Servant leadership: Development of a multidimensional measure and multi-level assessment", Linden et al., The Leadership Quarterly Volume 19, Issue 2, April 2008)
Club Vision and Club Strategy
As the club President, you should have a vision of where you want to take the club and its members, how you see them at the end of your 1-year term, and what strategy you will use to achieve that. In this regard, Servant Leadership is especially relevant because the strategy should be all about your club and your members: how to help them grow and become stronger. You communicate that vision in a vision statement that summarizes where the club is now and what you want to achieve.
The vision statement should be:
- Succinct
- Clear
- Inspiring
- Challenging
- Meaningful to all members
It could be something as simple as:
We're the friendliest and warmest learning environment in our city.
When you create your vision statement, don't think only about your club in the context of other Agora clubs (as in "we want to be the club with the highest number of advanced public speakers" or "we want to win the most awards in Agora competitions"), but also think of your club within the community it is in.
Remember that a good leader inspires - the club should "buy" your vision statement.
The vision statement and club strategy must be aligned with Agora's goals and bylaws. Also, they cannot contradict any of the Core Principles.
There's no "one size fits all" strategy universally applicable to all clubs. Each club is different, and the needs of its members are different.
Officer Team Coordinator
As the Coordinator of the Club Officers, you need to mediate to resolve any conflicts that may arise and appoint temporary replacements if an officer will not be able to perform his or her duties during a prolonged period of time.
If an officer is going to be unavailable for less than 2 months throughout his term, it's ok to appoint a replacement or to share his responsibilities among the rest of the officers. However, if the total unavailability time is more than that, elections should be held for a replacement.
Club liaison
As the President, it's your responsibility to act as a bridge between the Agora Speakers International Foundation and the club.
In particular, you need to keep up to date with updates on rules, announcements, program enhancements, changes, etc. Usually, these are communicated via the official group and EMailed to all registered club officers. The Foundation is very dynamic, and we're constantly adding new activities, roles and expanding the online management system. If you don't get any EMails from us for more than a month, please check your spam folder and verify that the EMail you submitted to the Agora Headquarters is correct.
You should also act as a bridge between the club and other Agora management bodies within the country, especially the Ambassadors.
Club Representative
The Club President also performs a representative role, speaking on behalf of the club at events, in front of third-party organizations, and for the media.
Please note that when you represent a collective, you have to defend the ideas and positions of the collective, regardless of whether you agree with them or not. When you speak as a club representative, you're assuming a different role than when you speak on your own behalf.
Club Budget
If the club manages funds of any kind (regardless of whether they come from fees or other sources), members need to be presented with a club budget at the beginning of the term and with a final balance at the end.
The club budget indicates how club funds will be spent and what sources of income the club will have. The President is responsible for configuring the budget, which should reflect his vision and strategy for the club, and must consider the needs of the rest of the officer team and their input. The budget must be approved in voting by the club members, as explained in the Internal Club Democracy section.
Other Responsibilities
Last but not least, Club Presidents have some additional attributions:
- Calling Elections for renewing the Club Officers' team
- Calling voting sessions for issues that matter to the club.
- Authorizing (together with the club Treasurer) the usage of club funds.
- Managing the Club's data in the Online Club Management System