You can move through each module sequentially, following the learning plan for each module so that the material transforms into a training opportunity.
Or you can use the material as a handbook, clicking on whichever module you need to reference.
Take this moment to consider your passion and purpose.
The Orient-Understand module will provide a high level overview of the Group Leader role, expectations, accountability and the support available to you.
(Also, if you’d like to attend a new advocate orientation to brush up on your knowledge and talk with a staff member, go to our online sign-up.)
The Acclimate-Basic Training module will deepen your understanding of your accountabilities as a Group Leader and the processes that support your success and get you started in your Group Leader role.
Write down your vision and goals for your work as a group leader and save, to maintain focus on the big picture while taking specific actions.
(RESULTS staff will work to connect you with your Regional Coordinator.)
Get acquainted with the monthly action sheets, action alerts, and other resources your group can use on a regular basis to learn about the issues and take action.
The Lead-Practice module guides you through running and reviewing your first meeting. You will also plan ahead so that you are prepared and can focus on producing results with your group.
Please ask your Regional Coordinator for the most current planning guide.
We recommend planning your meetings in as regular a rhythm as possible and as far in advance as possible.
The Facilitator’s Guide to Equitable Spaces will help you create welcoming meetings that uphold our values.
Advocacy actions can be reported online.
Contact a staff member if you aren’t certain when your region meets. Can’t make a meeting now and again? Having a proxy attend helps build depth and breadth of leadership.
Want to keep learning? We have a Training Resources page to help you keep building skills.
The Delegate-Plan module introduces the foundational elements of planning group activities, making and delegating assignments, and communicating for action. Using these tools helps clarify and encourage accountability.
Remember that when you add or lose a member of your group, you have a new group. Embrace the new talents and insights that have come into your group and foster a welcoming space in which all can feel equally heard and valued as they make choices about how to contribute and participate.
Set expectations with advocates. Set individual and group goals to plan and achieve great outcomes. Ask your Regional Coordinator about the yearly roadmapping (planning) in which groups engage.
Match assignments to readiness of advocates. Vary advocate assignments over time to develop transferable skills and maintain interest and challenge and to build bench strength.
Intentionally make or change assignments to build depth in group and progress advocate skills.
Fellow group leaders get as much out of your participation and insights as you do theirs. Utilize the group leader meetings to glean information, ask questions, coach each other, and offer support and camaraderie.
The top of the year is often a time of year for fresh calendars, fresh ideas, and fresh resolve. Use this energy to enrich your start-of-the-year plans. Watch for the annual planning guide to be shared.
Groups and teams are comprised of individuals with a range of values, motivations and intents. These individuals as well as the group or team itself as an entity are energized and motivated when they find meaning and purpose to their work and contributions. One challenge Group Leaders face is sustaining that engagement, renewing that engagement, and transforming it into growth and strength that benefits the group as a whole. The hope and intention are that the Group Leader’s work in engaging the team can be fuel for the group’s energy and productivity – that the effort will help the group continually re-imagine the dream that calls the team forward in the first place.
Group Leaders focus on welcoming and developing new advocates and deepening and broadening the roles and skill sets within the team. This allows for group agility and enhances results and also helps extend the groups influence and impact.
Does your group feel like it’s becoming a bit stagnant in its sense of purpose? Reach out to the RESULTS support team and invite them to help you facilitate a conversation with your group. What do you feel you need to be successful? What can you celebrate? And perhaps most importantly, why do you advocate?
Did you know that a book exists which chronicles the birth of RESULTS and helps us get in touch with why we advocate? Check out Reclaiming Our Democracy: Healing the Break Between People and Government by our founder Sam Daley-Harris.
Review your group’s annual plan/roadmap. It may be time for your group to refresh group roles, revisit your group norms, or update your group roster. Our participation in RESULTS is dynamic, and so what and how we wish to contribute will likely change over time. It’s exciting to see group members take on new roles and to revisit how far we’ve come together. Make room for new growth and achievements!
For those newer to RESULTS, we have a helpful New Advocate Training Series that can be shared. It includes an orientation slide deck, a training plan, and an overview of helpful basics.
Is your group wanting to strengthen ties with like-minded organizations in your community? Go to Engaging the Community on our website for tips and resources being developed just for this purpose.
And don’t forget that your group is part of a region and a larger network that even spans internationally. Are you still attending your region’s Group Leader meetings? And do you and your group members have plans to attend an upcoming International Conference?
By now, we hope your group leader meetings feel comfortable and sustaining. You’re a fantastic RESULTS leader – congratulations!
Check out our Current Volunteers page for additional resources for growing and sustaining your RESULTS group.
(Credit to Gail Hughes for her collaboration and expertise lent to this project and to Anne Child for her time and skills in editing.)