Resource talk:How to create a strong succession plan for your student initiative

Hello! I found this discussion note very informative, since this is something that I have struggled with in the past (where after creating a club, I couldn't keep it running and this was in high school). I think this is very important to remember, as when we create whatever project under UIF, we have to be mindful of how such creation of the project will continue onward for others to keep up. Because when I was in high school, a classmate and I created an initiative that would reform the school with the help of student representatives from different "groups" of the school. While me and the fellow co-founder were motivated to keep the initiative going, we found that it was difficult for the other members we invited to join to continue the initiative after we graduated (to which they did not). Something I like to think about with regards to other people succeeding the initiative, is how we can "light the torches" of other students in the way of how we (the UIF cohorts) were inspired to start the initiative in the first place. This may come as a challenge for some of us, but I hope that this will become successful in the future for all!

Succession Interviews

Thank you for the good ideas for a succession plan! I think every new organization hits that point where it's difficult to choose who to continue an initiative. In my honest opinion, the interview method works wonders for ensuring the survival of an initiative. While it may be less popular as a democratic vote, it does ensure that successors are prepared for the challengers that may face them. A little bit of discontent is worth it to ensure the survival of an important initiative on your campus.

I agree that on a small scale, the interview process is best. It ensures that the club will go to someone who wants it to thrive. I wonder how well this would work if the club is very divided on the direction to go.

Leadership

Leadership is quite essential for a team to move forward and keep the members on the same plane. We need to remember that when someone starts anything new it is difficult to keep it up when you are first one doing it and that too when you are a student. In this resource I found that traditional approach of choosing a leader or a successor is still followed. In the non-democratic approach the most eligible can be selected as committee has qualified members. A leader should be able to find a way to a problem and help others to do it. Not everyone can handle it. Leadership doesn't only require skills to solve a problem with Intelligence Quotient(IQ) but also requires Emotional Quotient (EQ). In this resource they mentioned about the approaches to select a leader , role played by external guidance , with the planning flexibility to change it. I found this useful when it explained how the external guidance is required and not only one but a group with team lead and unity is important. So leader should have a good circle of people. In my view I insist to select a member from interview method and later have the voting system to decide whether he can be leader or not.