FACE AIDS Leadership Toolkit

8/8/2019 FACE AIDS Leadership Toolkit

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FACE AIDS

LEADERSHIP

TOOLKIT

2010-2011


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LEADERSHIP TOOLKIT:TABLE OF CONTENTS

Ifyouractionsinspireotherstodreammore,learnmore,domoreandbecome

more,youarealeader.JohnQuincyAdamsWelcome Letter........................................................................................ 110 Leadership Tips .................................................................................... 2Tool 1: HOW TO SET A VISION AND GOALS .................................................... 3

SETAVISION.............................................................................................3SET GOALS ................................................................................................ 4SETANACTIONPLAN................................................................................6SETGROUPNORMS...................................................................................7

Tool 2: HOW TO RUN AN EFFECTIVE MEETING ................................................. 9Tool 3: HOW TO BUILD A STRONG CHAPTER COMMUNITY ................................ 12Tool 4: HOW TO EFFECTIVELY DELEGATE....................................................... 15Tool 5: HOW TO MAKE GROUP DECISIONS ................................................... 17Tool 6: HOW TO FACILITATE A GOOD CONVERSATION .................................... 19Tool 7: HOW TO BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER ...................................................... 20Tool 8: HOW TO HOLD A ONE-ON-ONE CONVERSATION.................................. 22Concluding Thoughts...........................................................................................24


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Dear FACE AIDS Leader,

In 5 years FACE AIDS has accomplished amazing things. We have raised over $2 million,reached 200 campuses across North America and brought a human face to the dehumanizing

statistics of HIV/AIDS. FACE AIDS has been able to do all of this because of incredible,passionate leaders like you.

This resource guide will help you develop strong leadership skills to help guide and shape theFACE AIDS chapter on your campus. FACE AIDS is not only about fighting HIV/AIDS but itis about growing the next generation of leaders in the movement for social justice and globalhealth equity. It is my hope that the skills you learn through this toolkit and through your timeorganizing on your own campus will serve you long after you graduate.

FACE AIDS is a movement of students just like you who see an injustice in the world and makethe commitment to take action. FACE AIDS leaders are not just those who stand up in front oftheir chapter each week. Every member of a FACE AIDS chapter is a leader in this movement,and I hope that these tools serve every member of the movement regardless of their title.

Throughout this guide you will see side bar comments. These fall into three categories:Tips: Helpful hints for you along the way.More information: Websites and directions for finding more information.To-Dos: These are most important for chapter leaders. As a chapter leader there are certain

things that you are responsible for doing for FACE AIDS national.

Thank you for your dedication and commitment to FACE AIDS and the fight againstHIV/AIDS. I am so fortunate to work with such passionate and motivated leaders each andevery day. I want to be another resource for you as you build these skills. I am here to work withyou. Please email or call me with any questions about the tools found in this guide.

In Solidarity,

Maggie SavageChapter Support [email protected]


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10 LEADERSHIP TIPS

These are just a few tips to help you think about leadership when it comes to FACE AIDS. Youwill see many of these tips expanded upon in the different toolbox sections.

1. Build relationships with those whom you are working with. Leadership is all aboutrelationships. Know who people are, what they value and what motivates them.

2. Play to your strengths and know your weaknesses. Know what you are good at and do itoften. Make sure your team has strengths in the areas you are weak. They shine and youshine. That is what team-work is all about.

3. All questions are good questions, even though they dont all have answers. You may notknow all the answers, but its ok to tell someone, I dont know, but Ill find out and getback to you.

4. Never ask anyone to do something you wouldnt personally do.5. FACE AIDS is a safe space. Its your job to create an environment where everyone feels

comfortable voicing their thoughts and opinions.

6. Dont be afraid of being wrong. Every mistake that you make is a learning opportunity.7. People come to FACE AIDS for the cause, but they stay because of you and your team.8. You can never be too considerate.9. You CAN be too serious. You want your members to have fun!10.You can never compliment or thank someone enough for the work they are doing.


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TOOL 1: HOW TO SET A VISION AND GOALS

The first step to leading a successful chapter is understanding what direction your

chapter is going and what you all want to accomplish. The following worksheetsshould be something you complete each year or semester with the executive boardof your chapter. They help the leadership of your chapter understand the vision ofthe chapter, the goals of the chapter, the action plan to get there and what isexpected of members.

In this tool, you will learnHow to set a visionHow to set goalsHow to make an action planHow to set group expectations

Set a VISION:The vision that you will set in a few moments is the motivating force behind yourFACE AIDS chapter. Likewise, your chapters vision should align with the visionof FACE AIDS as a whole.

Have everyone take one minute to write down three things that really matter tothem in the context of global health and social justice. When the minute is up, seeif members of your group wrote similar things. Talk about what values thosethings represent to you and to your chapter.

Three things that are really important to me:1)

2)

3)

Use the shared values you came up with to talk about how your FACE AIDSChapter can get at these important issues.

Questions to think about:1. Why do we FACE AIDS?

Tip:

Make sure you puthis entire exercisin the recordkeeping notebookthat were createdthrough the chapt

guide. Good recokeeping year-to-year helps achapter knowwhere it has beenand lessonslearned.


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2. What can our chapter do for:Our members?

Our campus?

Our community?

The world?

Now, come up with a vision for your chapter. Your vision should be a broad, oneor two sentence statement that reminds your chapter what youre working towardand why. Your vision should also compliment the mission of FACE AIDS as anentire organization. Heres the FACE AIDS mission statement: Our mission is tofight HIV/AIDS by building a movement of young leaders dedicated to global health equity andsocial justice. How does your vision fit into this?

This year, our vision is

Set GOALS:How are you going to achieve the vision you just set? To accomplish that vision you have to set measurable goals. Every goal that you set with your chaptershould be in service of your groups vision.

Questions to think about:What is our fundraising goal this year?

How do we want to educate people?How should we build out our chapter and community?

There are three main areas to focus your chapters efforts on for the year:Fundraising: Each year, FACE AIDS members across the country raise

money to support Partners In Healths comprehensive health careprograms in Rwanda. This shows our commitment to global health equityand social justice.Community: While supporting PIH is a huge part of what we do, FACEAIDS is about more than just raising money. FACE AIDS is a communityof leaders who share similar values and support, educate, and inspire each

other.Education: Education provides the why behind all we do. FACE AIDSleaders strive to know more about the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the fieldof global health to be informed global citizens. Promoting new knowledgewithin your chapter and your community is one of the best ways you cancombat HIV/AIDS stigma, dispel misinformation, and unite peoplearound activism


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CHAPTER GOALSHow will you build the movement? Write down some goals in each box below:

FundraisingGoal 1: Raise $______

Goal 2:

Goal 3:

CommunityGoal 1: Recruit ____ new members

Goal 2:

Goal 3:

EducationGoal 1: Read and discuss ___ news articles about HIV/AIDS a month.

Goal 2:

Goal 3:

To-Do:

Email your goalsand action plan toMaggie atmaggie@faceaidsrg


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Set an ACTION PLAN:How will you make these goals happen? List a few ways or ideas for reaching eachgoal. You can achieve many of these goals through joining national campaigns,implementing chapter events or building strong chapter culture.

National Campaigns: These are long-term initiatives led by Nationalthat unite chapters across the country around a specific challenge or cause.Within the National goal, chapters set their own personal goals and createtheir own events to achieve them.Chapter Events: These are events outside of National Campaigns thatchapters dream up and implement themselves.Chapter Culture: Chapter culture is about creating a fun, safe

environment where members feel like they are agents of change. You canincrease your chapters capacity through recruitment and retain membersby empowering them. Encompassed in chapter culture is each membersknowledge about HIV/AIDS and passion for global health equity.

It is important that you remember to set specific actions that have a deadline forcompletion.

Fundraising

Actions for Goal 1:

Actions for Goal 2:

Actions for Goal 3:

Time Frame:

Community

Actions for Goal 1:

Actions for Goal 2:

Actions for Goal 3:

Time Frame:

Tip:

You can add apersonresponsiblecolumn to this cha


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Education

Actions for Goal 1:

Actions for Goal 2:

Actions for Goal 3:

Time Frame

Set GROUP NORMS: When working in a group it is important that everyone is on the same page.Group norms are helpful in guiding how a team works together. Group normsserve to help the team achieve its goals.

Some sample group norms include:We will start and end on time.Only one person at a time will speak.We will stay on agenda.

The Group Norm setting process should occur at one of your first meetings of theyear. Here is a process to help you set group norms:

1.On a flip chart list all the members ideas for norms theyd like to see thegroup adopt

2.Have a period for questions and clarifications so that everyone understandswhat each of the proposed norms mean. Re-word as seems appropriate.Continue until every team member is satisfied that everyone understandseach others suggested norms.

3.Go through the list item by item to see which norms all team members wantto adopt. No member should be pressured into accepting any norm thathe or she cannot fully endorse. If any team member does not approve of aproposed norm, eliminate it.

4.If the list of approved norms is longer than ten items try to reduce the list bysimplifying and combining complementary items.

5.Make sure all team members are comfortable with the revisions.6.Adopt the set of group norms.

Tip:

Make sure youbring your vision,goals, action planand group norms each chapter andexecutive boardmeeting to refer

back to.


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Group Norms:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)


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TOOL 2: HOW TO RUN AN EFFECTIVE MEETING

Running an effective meeting is one of the key roles of the chapter leader.Chapter meetings are what bring people into and keep people in FACE AIDS.The more fun and more productive the meetings, the more people will want to

remain engaged in FACE AIDS.

Some key things to rememberMake it interactiveHave an agendaStay on taskChange it upFollow up

Make it interactive: The 40-20 Rule: No one likes to sit in a meeting andlisten to someone talk to him or her for an hour. The best meetings include ahighly interactive component, involve people in decision-making, and generallyprovide a social outlet. In a 60 minute meeting, 40 minutes should be devoted tobusiness and 20 minutes to something interactive, fun and engaging.

Have an agenda:Always have a clear agenda that establishes who is responsiblefor each point and how long each point should take. A strong agenda sets the tonefor a meeting and ensures that there is a purpose to the meeting. A good agendamight have the following sections:

Introduction/Welcome Welcome everyone. Why are we here, and what arewe doing at todays meeting? Have an ice-breaker question to get peoplethinking.

Education You might show a short video or have shared an article prior tothe meeting that you want everyone to discuss. Use the Education Bundles onthe website to find good material for chapter meetings. Find them at:http://faceaids.org/learn.html

Updates from Executive board members This is the time for each boardmember to share updates with the chapter

Event logistics conversations This is the time that you would discuss the nextbig event and what needs to be accomplished. This might be the time whenyou discuss what your next event might be if you dont have one in the worksor when you sign up volunteers for certain tasks.

Open Forum This is an opportunity for chapter members to expressanything that wasnt covered elsewhere in the agenda.

End on a tradition (see next section)Another basic agenda structure that people often use is:

WelcomeAnnouncements

Tip:

Email the agendaout to the chapteror executive boarprior to themeeting.

To-Do:

Call or email

Maggie if you nehelp thinkingthrough structurinyour chaptermeeting


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Committee reportsUnfinished businessNew businessSpecial issuesAdjournment

One conversation at a time: Focus everything you and your team talk about.

Dont say, Were here to talk about the event. Instead say, Were here to talkabout the event. First we need to decide a final date, then we need to find alocation, and finally, we need to focus on what different types of advertising wecan use. Make sure you stay on task as well. You want to model goodcommunication and behavior. As the facilitator of the meeting you set the tone.

Follow up: It is a great idea to make sure that everyone is on the same page after

the meeting is over. You will want someone at the meeting to take minutes fromthe meeting, write down all of the major decisions that were made, and record allof the To Dos (along with who is responsible for them). Then, the person in

charge of minutes should send them out to everyone in your chapter immediatelyafter the meeting. This helps everyone keep track of their responsibilities, as wellas helping those who might have missed the meeting feel included in the group.Send out action points and whos responsible within 24 hours

Change it up: Not every meeting should focus on just event planning or logistics.Keep everything you do fresh and interesting. Plan a social activity for the first fiveminutes, then have a fundraising update, then lead a discussion on an event, breakup into groups and hold a tabling workshop, and wrap it up with committeemeetings. Your meetings should be lively and engaging, not one track affairs.

Incorporate one or two small weekly activities that become an expected part ofchapter meetings. A strong family-like culture does not just come from monthlysocials or after meeting dinners, but from the constant and consistent message thatthe members of FACE AIDS are cared about and appreciated. Here are a fewuseful meeting rituals that FACE AIDS leaders have used in the past:

Highs and Lows: Everyone takes turns sharing the high point of their week alongwith the low point of their week. This is designed to create honesty and trust.

Kudos, Snaps, and other Affirmations: To encourage sharing, opinions and ideas,tell everyone to snap or clap whenever someone makes an awesome comment orcontribution to the meeting. That way, people can simply affirm a speaker

whenever they want without disrupting the flow of the meeting.

Open Forum: Devote an entire section of your meeting to hearing ideas. Openforums are the part of the meeting that give people a safe space and a clearopportunity to voice ideas, and for people to put ideas out there without anyoneshooting them down. They can be a time of rapid-fire brainstorming and lead tonew, dynamic ideas generated.

Tip:

Print out theagenda on quartesheets for themeeting. This is agreat place to

include shoutouts members for greathings done, theKinyarwanda woof the week, or afunny cartoon.


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Peer Education: Every meeting, put your education coordinator, or anotherchapter member, in charge of creating an educational presentation, groupactivity, or video screening.

Music: Everyone loves to listen to his or her favorite band. People are alsoespecially interested in discovering the tastes of their friends. Moreover, when youplay music before, during or after a meeting, you are revealing information aboutyourself without asking anything in return (I like Toxic by Brittany Spears.... so?).

YouTube Video of the Week: This is basically the same idea as playing musicbefore meetings. It provides a fun way for everyone to bond over something sillybefore the meeting begins. It is a quick 5-minute social outlet.

New York Times Videos: Every once in a while the New York Times will run afeature article on issues surrounding HIV/AIDS with numerous supportingmultimedia features. Recently they have featured young people that have grownup living with HIV and people living with HIV in the Southeastern US. The

videos are the stories of real people and can spark excellent dialogue aroundstigma and discrimination. They can be found by going to nytimes.com andsearching for HIV.

Kinyarwanda Word of the Day: Teach a word or phrase at each chapter meeting.Review previous weeks word or phrase at each chapter meeting. You can use theone from the weekly e-mail blast or use this dictionary as a guide.


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TOOL 3: HOW TO BUILD A STRONG CHAPTER COMMUNITY

Chapter members will inevitably get to know each other when theyre volunteering, when they come to meetings, or while they plan events andcampaigns. But there are some ways that you can actively promote community

building among the chapter. As a community you want to know each other on apersonal level. FACE AIDS is an awesome group of people that are passionateabout similar issues and also like to have fun together!

Motivate the Team!

Motivated and enthusiastic volunteers are essential to successful chapters.Celebrate individual differencesRecognize members contributionsReward one another for participationCreate recreational events for your members outside of your regular meeting

timeEncourage the sharing of personal stories and feelings among your members.

FACE AIDS Socials -- Get to know everyone

One of the best ways to get to know members and encourage strong bondsbetween each other is to hold social events: Have weekly dinners. go bowling,volunteer together, and stick around after meetings and get to know one another.Here are a few types of social events that might be useful:

After Meeting Dinner: Every week go dinner together, and invite the entireorganization. Do not organize the event yourself. Put someone new and energeticin charge of it, and then get the entire team excited about hanging out with each

other. Make sure that you dont talk about FACE AIDS work over dinner unlessyou have to. You want to send the message that everyone in FACE AIDS caresabout each other, not that socializing is just another form of work.

Bowling Night: Call your local bowling lanes and request a group discount.Announce your bowling night as one of your largest socials of the year, and inviteevery member to it. Make it fun, and really hype it up.

Potlucks: Everyone brings a different type of food or drink. Some people like toplan out what everyone is going to bring to a potluck, but it can also be moreinteresting if you just leave it open to chance what everyone brings for dinner.

Board Game Night: Bring board games and desserts to your meeting room after ameeting and host a board game night. This is a really easy and fun way to bond atthe end of a meeting.

Tip:

Try to keep thecircumstances andneeds of yourteammates in minas you plan socia

events. Noteveryone will beable to go out todinner every weeand some peoplewill be busy aftermeetings.


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FACE AIDS Teambuilding Group activities and Icebreakers

Meetings can become tedious monotonous if you do not include creative and funways for people to relax, get to know each other, and take a quick break fromwork. What follows are a series of exercises that can spice up your standardmeeting, and get people involved in the chapter on a deeper personal level.

The skittles game -- Break your team members into groups of 3 - 5. Give eachteam a bag of skittles and ask each person in each group to take as many skittles asthey want without eating them. After everyone has gotten skittles, tell your teamthat they have to share a little fact about themselves for each skittle they have,according to color. Heres an example:

Red: Embarrassing childhood storyGreen: Proudest achievementPurple: Favorite foodYellow: Secret fearOrange: Guilty pleasure band

What is FACE AIDS to you? -- Give everyone a sheet of paper and a bunch ofmarkers. Ask them to answer the question What is FACE AIDS to you? in a fewwords (one sentence max) or in an artistically creative way. Then have everyoneput the answers in a collage on any type of background (poster board, outline ofAfrica, blown-up image of the pin, etc.). This works especially well during timesof organizational change. Put the collage up on the wall during all of yourmeetings. You can also create a word collage using www.wordle.net.

Switch If -- Everyone stands in a huge circle and takes their shoes off and placesthem in front of their feet. One person takes their shoes out of the circle so thatthere is one less pair of shoes than there are people. That person goes in themiddle and reveals something about them self, for example Switch if youvenever seen the original Star Wars movies! Then, everyone who shares thespeakers experience runs around the circle until they find a pair of shoes otherthan their own without a person standing next to them. The person left without apair of shoes to stand behind goes into the middle and shares. This can work withup to 75 people.

What is service? Provide each member the How Do You Define Service? Askteam members to rank on a 1-16 scale which actions are closest to their personaldefinition of service, with 1 being the closest and 16 being the farthest from theirdefinition. Then put them in small groups and have them share their responses.

You will be surprised by the diversity of thought in your organization. Access theworksheet here:http://nationalserviceresources.org/filemanager/download/733/Definitions_Service_Koth.pdfand learn more about the activity here:http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/node/17587

Silent Birthdays: Designate one side of the room as January 1 and the other asDecember 31. Ask everyone in your organization to get in order of when his or

Tip:

These are greatactivities for the 2

minutes of the 40-20 minute rule of meeting


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TOOL 4: HOW TO EFFECTIVELY DELEGATE

No one person can run a FACE AIDS chapter by themselves. There is simply toomuch to do. Moreover every person who joins FACE AIDS brings their own skillsto the organization and has the potential to open up new possibilities By

delegating responsibility, you encourage people to use their skills and talents inservice of FACE AIDS' mission.

At its core, delegation is about empowering others to take responsibility, so thatthey feel ownership in the cause. What exact responsibilities you delegate willchange from case to case depending on circumstances. Delegation:Empowers others to take responsibility.Distributes the workload amongst the members within a teamAllows more people to be actively involvedDevelops members of a team for their personal growth as well as for the benefit

of the organization

The basic steps for delegation are:Decide if the task needs to be delegatedChoose the right person for the jobDefine the job and set mutual expectationsSet a deadlineDetermine methods for follow-upAcknowledge achievement and give recognition

Here some principles of effective delegation:

Clarify the goal: You want to clarifying exactly what responsibilities you are

delegating and why. This lets the people they delegate to know that they havegiven the responsibility that they are delegating considerable thought. By beingclear in your task, you let the person you are delegating to know that you havegiven the task considerable thought.

Encourage creative problem solving: Many times we delegate by askingpeople to execute solutions that we have already developed in our own heads, butgreat leaders delegate by giving the people in their chapters problems to solve.Here are a few examples: Last year we raised $500 at our events. We need a way to raiseat least three times that. Can you assemble a team and solve this problem? We have 13members who were with FACE AIDS last year, but have not shown up to a single meeting this

semester. Can you help us get them involved in the organization again?

Support Autonomy: Great leaders always support the independence andautonomy of the people that they delegate to. When you give a task to someone,they are not going to approach it in exactly the same way that you would.Sometimes they will diverge radically from what you had expected. Independenceis a very good thing to encourage in your chapter. After all, why would you have


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asked someone to solve a problem if you expected them to do exactly what youwould have?

Provide Support and Inspiration: As a leader it is your job to constantly

make sure that the members of your team are excited about completing theprojects that they are working on. You can accomplish this by consistentlyreminding them of the importance of their project, and by giving them anyresources and tools that they may need.

One can see how well these principles dovetail with each other. One of the bestways to clarify the goal is by encouraging creative problem-solving. One of thebest ways to encourage creativity is by supporting autonomy. Likewise, the otherthree principles function best when your members know you are there to supportand inspire them.

Remain on the same page and set up mutual expectations: Anotherform of support is making sure that you both remain on the same page and

informed through out the project. It is important to have an initial one on onemeeting to set expectations for and goals of the project and then have regularchecks-in until the project is completed. These may occur at executive boardmeetings or as one on one meetings every few weeks. It is also helpful to have arunning Google Doc that all involved in the project are share on.


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TOOL 5: HOW TO MAKE GROUP DECISIONS

As a chapter you will often need to make decisions about a variety of topics.Examples might include deciding who will lead the chapter next year or what themajor fundraiser of the semester will be.

There are 3 categories of decisions that can be made.

Organizational Decisions: Decisions that affect everyone in the organizationby changing the very structure of how your organization works are probably themost complex decisions that your chapter can make. Here are some examples oforganizational decisions: Do we want to add two more officer positions to FACEAIDS? Do we want to meld our group with the campus pre-med organization?Who should run the organization next year?

Strategic Decisions: These types of decisions do not necessarily alter the waythat your chapter functions. Rather, they affect what your chapter will focus on fora given period of time. A few examples of strategic decisions are How many

events should we have next year? or What should be our goals for next year?

Tactical Decisions: These are the most common decisions that your chapterwill face throughout the school year. They could be anything from What speakersshould we book for our next event? to What color table cloth should we buy forour luncheon?

How should we make decisions?

Voting: This is a very common way to make decisions. Voting is more complexthan simply getting a show of hands. To make an informed choice, the membersof your organization need to be presented with possible solutions, and might even

benefit by being a part of generating solutions. Here is one way to run a votingprocess:.

1. Identify the decision to be made. Let's say that you need to decide whatevents to run next year, and you want your whole chapter to be a part ofthe process.

2. Brainstorm possible solutions. Take 10 minutes and ask everyone in theroom to shout out possible event ideas. Make it clear that this is a time foreveryone to listen to each other, and to build off of each other's ideas, notto shoot ideas down.

3. Break up into small groups and workshop. Ask each group to focus onfleshing out their two favorite ideas that have been suggested.

4. Present. Ask each group to present their ideas.5. Vote. Ask everyone at the meeting to vote on which idea they like the best.

Take the top 3 ideas and these are your events for the year. (It could be anynumber, of course.)


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Consensus: One of the best ways to make major decisions is to come to a

consensus with the members of you chapter. When you focus on a consensusdecision, the brainstorming-breakout-presentation elements of the process describedabove become even more important. Building consensus is the act of finding asolution that satisfies everyones needs, especially among those who have different

viewpoints. It doesnt mean compromise or surrender. Consensus-building allowseveryone to feel a sense of ownership of the project.

Outline of the consensus-building process:1.List what each party wants out of the situation.2.Review what is critical for each person and what isnt as critical.3.Brainstorm new solutions.4.Discuss the outcomes of those solutions.5.Rework the solutions and other decisions to meet the critical needs.6.Check for agreement through the thumbs-up/thumbs-down method.

Delegated decision-making: Many times, it is not essential that decisions are

made by the entire group (or even by your board). Most tactical decisions fall intothis category. Generally, it is best to delegate decisions to the person responsible forthe question at hand. For example, if the decision to be made is what band tobook at your next benefit concert, it is probably best that the event planningcommittee in charge (or the event coordinator and his or her team) make thedecision on their own.


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TOOL 6: HOW TO FACILITATE A GOOD CONVERSATION

In this segment, you will learn about how to facilitate a conversation effectively.The same principles follow if you are facilitating a chapter meeting, an executiveboard meeting or a smaller conversation between a few peers.

1) Keep the conversation focused on a common goal. Asconversations go on, they tend to get less focused. As a facilitator, it is your job to keep the conversation focused on the task at hand. If you sense alack of focus, try reminding everyone to get back on task.

2) Make sure everyone understands the process that the group isusing in the conversation. If you are leading a brainstorming session,make sure everyone knows exactly what steps you will be taking (e.g. Firstwe'll talk about the problem, then we'll come up with ideas for 10 minutes,then we will think about potential problems with the ideas we like the bestfor 5 minutes, then we will merge our three best ideas at the end).

3) Encourage Participation. The best conversations have input fromeveryone at the table. When someone makes a contribution, acknowledgeit in a positive way, (e.g. That's an excellent idea because..., That speaksto what X was saying earlier.). Have every one go around the circle andshare their thoughts or call on people by name that may be shy to speakup.

4) Remain as neutral as possible. If you truly want people to open upwith their ideas during a conversation, you will need to keep your ownopinions out of the conversation, except for times when they are explicitlyneeded (like when the people involved in the conversation ask you for youropinion.)

5) Acknowledge all contributions. When you are leading a conversation,the people there will most likely generate lots of ideas. Instead of choosingone, it is generally a good time to identify which components of each ideaare exceptional, and if possible, combine them into a final solution.

Learn More:

The American HeAssociation has awonderfully conciand helpfuldocument on howto facilitate a groconversation atwww.americanhet.org/presenter.jhl?identifier=1881


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TOOL 7: HOW TO BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER

In the American culture, we actively hear only half of what is said to us,understand only a quarter of that, and remember even less. Most people use only25 percent of their innate ability to listen. As leaders, it is imperative that you

develop effective listening skills.

When people are part of an organization that listens to them, they feel acceptedand valued, and they work much harder than if they were in an unreceptivegroup. Of course this advice seems intuitive and simple, but actually keepingyourself honest and constantly listening is one of the most difficult skills to learnand requires a lot of practice.

Active listening is when you engage in a conversation with someone for the sake ofmutual misunderstanding, when you meet someone else on their ground, asopposed to simply trying to get your point in or respond to everything they say.

Active listening takes a lot of practice and discipline, but is one of the mosteffective tools of leadership. It can be especially useful when someone brings anidea or criticism to you that they feel very strongly about. Here are some generalguidelines for active listening:

Be aware of body language: Your body language should convey the messagethat you are listening. Sit up straight. Make eye contact and face the speaker.Conversely, the speakers body language can give you clues into how they arefeeling about the conversation. If he or she fidgets or squirms more than expected,he or she might be uncomfortable. If he becomes animated with their handgestures, then he is probably excited and emotionally invested in the conversation.

Ask open-ended, clarifying questions: Since the point of active listening isto understand the speaker's point, and since misunderstandings inevitably arise inconversations you may want to ask clarifying questions. Asking open-endedquestions can also show that you have taken in what has already been said andwould like to know more. Examples include: What happened after that? Who elsewas there? How did that tactic work? Why was that tactic successful?

Repeat content for understanding. Much like asking questions, repeatingcontent can help you clarify if you have everything they are telling you correct andallows them to feel as though you are invested in the conversation and are listeningto what they have to say. It also helps you remember later on, since you haverepeated some details.

Withhold criticism: It is essential that you receive everything that yourinterlocutor says without judgment or criticism. As you keep your initial criticismsout of the conversation, you will find it much easier to truly understand the pointof the person speaking.

Allow the speaker to finish: When you are listening actively, it is important tolet the speaker get out all of their ideas completely before you respond.


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Minimize internal and external distractions. Clear your thoughts, turn offthe TV, close your laptop or book, and focus all of your attention on the speaker.

Acknowledge the speakers feelings. Often the times that are most importantfor a chapter member to feel like they are being listened to are when they might beupset or really excited about something. It is important that you meet them wherethey are and acknowledge how they are feeling in this situation.

Keep an open mind and search for agreement. Sometimes someone willbring criticisms they have to you. Try to focus on the positive of the speakersperspective and try not to become defensive. If the speaker is criticizing a certainpolicy of the chapter, it shows that they care enough about FACE AIDS to bringtheir comments to you. If the person is proposing an event you don't think willwork, they are showing that they have interesting ideas for taking the chapter tothe next level.


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TOOL 8: HOW TO HOLD A ONE-ON-ONE CONVERSATION

Already in this toolkit you have learned how to effectively delegate, facilitate agood conversation, and actively listen.

In order to build a movement, we need to build relationships. Communityorganizers often use one-on-one conversations as a way to identify newcommunity leaders and organizers for their cause. They are a great way to buildrelationships with potential new members or donors to FACE AIDS. One-on-onesserve as a starting point to building the community of young people that makes upFACE AIDS. They are a way to learn more about and connect with those thatyou are working with. During one-on-ones you learn about someones passionsand drivewhat makes them tick and why they do this work.

One-on-ones can serve a few different purposes:1.To build the initial base of support: One-on-ones can help build the

team that will carry FACE AIDS forward on your campus. Buildingrelationships with the team that you will be working with day to day is keyto working together effectively.

2.To renew the passion of the community and move them to act:Often organizations can become stagnant in the work that they aredoingmaybe the mission is lost or the passion lackluster. One-on-onescan help remind people of why they got into this work in the first placeand challenge them to approach the issues from a renewed outlook.

3.To grow the movement and encourage new leadership within theFACE AIDS chapter: Building new leadership within a chapter is vitalto a sustainable chapter. One-on-ones can not only serve to build theFACE AIDS community and engage new members, they are anopportunity to empower younger members to take on more responsibilityand leadership within the chapter.

Tips on holding a one-on-one meeting.

They are intentional. They happen person-to-person at a set time and place.They have purpose. You are looking to find common passion, values, and

interest.

They are an opportunity to tell our own story and for the other person to sharetheirs.

They are a chance to fully explain the FACE AIDS program. You should findcommon ground where that person can engage with FACE AIDS.

They are a chance for that person to make a commitment to FACE AIDS. Youwant one-on-one meetings to end with the person making a specificcommitment to FACE AIDS. Maybe they will come to a chapter meeting orrun a new fundraiser.


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Outline of a one-on-one meeting

Introductions if you do not yet know each other. Spend a few minutes catchingup on what is generally going on in his life.

Share your story about why you do this work.Ask her why she is interested in this work.

oSome sample questions:

What first got you involved in global health equity/socialjustice/HIV?

What current organizations are you involved in on campus? Why did a particular moment/event spark their curiosity? Why do they believe in the work of FACE AIDS (if a

current FACE AIDSer)?Listen to what he has to say. This is a chance for you to learn about him and

engage him.Listen for ways that she could engage with FACE AIDS. Where could her skills

be used most effectively in FACE AIDS?

Briefly explain the work of FACE AIDS if he is unfamiliar with theorganization making sure to highlight parts of the organization that wouldmost excite him. Does she love microfinance? Speak about the savings andcredit programs in Rwanda.

Leave with a commitment from her. Building off what you have learned abouther during the story-telling portion of the one-on-one, engage her through aspecific task.

Follow up with a thank you email. Briefly share some things you were excited tolearn and remind them of the commitment they made.

A note on one-on-one conversations:When you are speaking with a personface-to-face or over the phone, you cannot act as just a facilitator, since the otherperson will expect you to participate more than you would if you were simplyfacilitating. By far, the most important part of having a one-on-one is listening tothe person across from you. Strategies for listening are covered in the next section.

Learn More:

Learn how to tellyour story in the

Chapter Guidefound onfaceaids.org


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CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

"The world changes according to the way people see it, andif you can alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at

reality, then you can change the world." -James Baldwin

You are a leader in this movement for global health equity now and in the future.Dont make this leadership toolkit a one time read, but think of it as a toolkit that you can refer back to again and again. Furthermore, these tools are not onlyapplicable to your work with FACE AIDS, but are skills that you can carry withyou long after you graduate.

Remember that you are not alone in the work that you are doing on your campus.You are part of a coalition of youth who all envision a world without HIV/AIDSand a world in which all people have equal access to high-quality, comprehensive

health care. With a coalition of students behind you, a national office to supportyou, and an unwavering passion to create change in this world, I know that youare going to be a successful, inspiring and committed leader in this movement!

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Documents

FACE AIDS Leadership Toolkit