My adventure leading Region VI of NSBE, highlights, and takeaways.
Overview
National NSBE has six regions, with us – UW- in the sixth region, alias, Region VI.
Each region has a Regional Executive Board (REB.) Like chapter execs, regional execs lead the region, in which case Region VI has ten states. The REB oversees all activities governing the region and the chapters within while also planning for major conferences; the Regional Leadership Conference (RLC,) the Fall Regional Conference (FRC,) and for this year, the National Convention.
I am the Secretary and also Telecommunications Director of Region VI. As the secretary, I send correspondence and email updates to all regional members, and as the telecoms director, I create the informative websites used during regional conferences. Usually, REB members have one role, but we had two each due to extenuating circumstances this year.
The personal importance of the task
I joined the Regional Executive Board (REB) to challenge my leadership IQ, and so far, it’s paying dividends. However, an excruciating challenge arose with less-than-usual board members to cooperate.
Typically, the REB has 25 officers with varying objectives. However, this year, we only had five – a fraction of the number. It thus fell on us- the Fantastic Five, as we called ourselves- to perform the roles of a much larger team.
The importance of my REB involvement was to help keep Region VI running. This was a dire circumstance that no one expected, thanks to the pandemic, so we had to put everything in order and raise our stakes to keep Region VI alive.
Tasks accomplished
We hosted the Summer Regional Leadership Conference (RLC.) RLC is a regional leadership retreat held every Summer, and it unites chapter leaders from the entire region for annual training before the new academic year. We pulled off a string of events ranging from keynotes to workshops to professional development sessions. Because it was virtual and during the Summer – when most students deviate from schoolwork – we had 23 conference attendees, excluding panelists and dignitaries. (An average year has at least 75.)
We successfully hosted the Fall Regional Conference (FRC.) FRC is much larger than RLC as it connects all collegiate members from the region. Our small team’s results were outstanding; in over 48 hours of the conference, we witnessed 403 attendees from across the region, excluding panelists and recruiters. Under normal circumstances (i.e., in-person,) the number of FRC attendees ranges from 1,500 to 2,000, so 403 online was quite impressive. Region VI RLC was the second-most attended conference after Region V raked in 568 participants this year. Region IV was a distant third with 256.
In my capacities as secretary and telecoms, I sent out around 12,000 emails to the Region VI membership in three months and created two websites that catered to the two regional conferences.
What we’re on track to achieve
We are three weeks away from hosting the NSBE National Convention. The National Convention is the biggest NSBE event in that NSBE members nationwide congregate at a venue across the US. Historically, these conferences have united over 10,000 black engineers and created long-lasting connections and friendships. With the forum being at Region VI this annum, we’re on track to deliver our first in-person conference in over two years, bringing immense joy to NSBE members nationwide and worldwide.
Leadership Competencies gained
Serving on the REB brought out my leadership competencies of:
1. Systems Thinking
2. Decision Making
3. Personal Contributions
4. Collaboration
5. Organizational Behavior
6. Follow-through
7. Responsibility for Personal Behavior
1. Systems Thinking
Making connections between individual parts in a system to anticipate how their relationships affect each other and the system as a whole.
When I engaged in systems thinking, I compared regional and chapter operations. Then, for the most part, I evaluated how I could utilize my regional influence to benefit UW, which, at the time, was flailing.
NSBE policy doesn’t dispute this act, and I wasn’t operating in bias, but rather, for my love for NSBE-UW. If anything, NSBE policies encourage regional leadership which concurrently motivates constituent chapters to step up and contribute to the loop of things. Thus- and historically proven- the more regional executives a chapter produced, the more engaged the chapter became, and UW proudly lived up to that this year.
From the regional level, I learn how different chapters coordinate themselves. I also knew of recruiters wishing to sponsor Region VI at the conferences and applied similar methodologies to UW NSBE. From the Chapter of the Year, I understood what propelled them to that status - their creativity and activeness- and then reciprocated those tactics into managing UW NSBE in our events and meetings. Since then, our overall participation has improved.
2. Decision Making
Making each decision appropriate to the context situated.
Decision-making is an important quality to possess, and with the REB, it was no different.
The most painful decision to make was transitioning FRC from hybrid to entirely virtual, and we did that less than two months to the date. In mid-September 2021, the Delta variant surged, causing much uncertainty in the process. Furthermore, most speakers, recruiters, and sponsors opted to remain virtual, demeaning the possibility of in-person attendance. Lastly, as much as we wanted, our small team was incapable of planning a physical event in that short timeframe. Had we had the required number of board members, the odds would have largely tilted to our favor, except that they didn’t.
In the end, a virtual conference was what we ended up with, contrary to our initial hopes. Of course, we didn’t want a repeat of RLC, but we barely had a choice given the circumstances.
3. Personal Contributions
Contributing one’s ideas, strengths, knowledge, and abilities to meet a specific group need enhances productivity and effectiveness. Each group’s needs and tasks differ and call for unique individual assets to best address these needs. Leaders give of themselves to make their organizations better.
When I initially joined the REB as the Telecommunications Director, I had little knowledge of executing my role despite knowing its expectations. However, learning that it entailed building and maintaining websites, I knew I possessed the skillset to perform the task.
In a team where everyone functioned independently, we trusted each other’s instincts that we were trying our best. This allowed us to be creative in our approaches and analyze what worked best from our judgments.
In my case, I was proud of how I created two websites from scratch despite not knowing initially how to utilize the resources at my disposal. Intriguing enough, I learned it all on the job. I discovered Google Sites by trial-and-error, exploring its features, and thereafter creatively creating something that the REB would be proud of- not the fanciest thing, but a thing worth fancying.
4. Collaboration
Working with others toward a common objective through the sharing of ideas and distribution of responsibilities across team members to reach the goal most effectively.
Collaboration was an essential part of the REB, and we played it smoothly and synchronously in our operations.
We had weekly meetings in planning for RLC and biweekly for FRC. We updated each other on our progress, achievements, setbacks, and improvement points in these meetings, setting the collaborative basis for the next meeting.
A typical routine would look like this: The President would ask her Vice for help in contacting local recruiters for a forthcoming event. Once confirmed, they pass the recruiters’ info to the Programs Chair to add them to the program. The Programs Chair would then give me the itinerary to email the membership while posting on the website before submitting it to our TORCH chair to post on Instagram.
5. Organizational Behavior
Making meaning of individual and group behaviors and their impact within an organization and then using this understanding to navigate the organization effectively.
Our size helped us understand each other’s motivations and inner workings and how they all contributed to accomplishing our tasks at hand.
Most board members were new to regional affairs, so it took us a while to acquaint ourselves with the higher stakes. However, we all had leadership capacities at either our individual chapters. Adding the diversity factor to the mix, we implemented our regional roles to reflect our schools. This attribute helped us specialize in our tasks depending on our strengths and capabilities.
I learned more about regional affairs this way. I also learned how my fellow board members think and operate, and they learned from me likewise. That way, we developed a more profound and intimate understanding of each other and were readily available if one felt short of their tasks. I also learned about their institutions because they again ensemble the spirit they represent.
6. Follow-through
Seeing things through to the end, even in the face of adversity, to carry out a commitment to complete a task and demonstrate trustworthiness and dependability.
Planning the FRC was pretty hectic, but everyone on the board capitalized on their ability to follow through with their parts till the end.
We had a lot of tasks to complete, and for many of them, we weren’t even qualified for, mainly because we didn’t sign up for them initially. So thus, we first had to take a dual role alongside our initial positions; our President became our FRC Chairperson, the Vice President Treasurer, the Programs Chair the Apex Chair, and myself the impromptu Secretary – that was how I landed both roles simultaneously.
After taking two roles, we had no choice but to try our best in them and follow through with all our tasks no matter what. This part, especially, was not easy. We missed a couple of deadlines, overlooked some decisions, and lacked enough personnel for support. Furthermore, we occasionally missed some planning meetings to our detriment. However, that did not stop us from accomplishing our tasks, whether perfect or imperfect- we obligated ourselves to get them done.
What motivated us to accomplish our tasks regardless was that it technically couldn’t get any worse for us, so we had nothing more to lose. But, again, we also saw it best to die trying than never trying at all. So, whether it was counting our finances, registering attendees, or PR to recruiters encouraging them to attend an event, we ensured that we covered it all from beginning to the end.
7. Responsibility for Personal Behavior
Taking responsibility for one’s behavior by admitting mistakes, apologizing, rectifying the situation, and accepting the consequences of one’s actions to correct the problem and learn from the experience so as not to repeat it in the future.
Inasmuch as we tried our best to host our successful conferences, we also came short of ourselves at times, some of which were at the small team's expense. Still, it was easy to own up, admit, reflect, and move on even better.
The process was overwhelming, which, again, was out of our control. However, we could change our approach to it and learn from it. Thus, we didn’t mind owning up to our shortcomings because the whole board was imperfect. Not only did this help us understand each other, but it also fostered a meaningful connection among ourselves. As a result, we could tolerate each other even better, know our capabilities, and help out when needed.
Our performances mostly improved once we imposed accountability on ourselves, which still thrives today.
Lessons learned and future-oriented statement
More than ever, working on the REB re-emphasized the importance of working on a team, which gives its all and does its best under the circumstances.
As such, no man is an island, and I learned that from the REB. So many things could have gone right, whether having a larger team or in-person conferences. However, we were insanely proud of our achievements and even prouder of the leaders we emerged into. The circumstances weren’t what we asked for, but the ending was more than we desired.
I am confident it will lead me to a team wherever my career leads. I’m optimistic that it’s a team whose ideals I share – a team with people whose minds I correlate. In the workplace, collaboration is vital, and teamwork is essential in accomplishing a group task. With people around for support, I am confident that I’ll have all the resources and the tenets to succeed at the workplace, meet other fantastic people, make some friends, and thrive in the future, God willing.
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