Officer's Corner: Karin Wasler, National Vice President Member Motivation Keeping members motivated is key to a successful, healthy lodge. The difficult part is figuring out how to do it. Motivation is a very individualized factor – each member will have different keys that unlock the secret to their own personal reasons for joining – and staying. By thinking about what each person's reason is for joining the organization, you can better help them get the most out of their involvement. Some members join groups to learn or explore something new. To motivate these members, continue to feed their curiosity by helping them learn about modern Denmark, a unique component of our culture, or even invite them to run for a lodge office that puts them a bit out of their comfort zone. Sometimes people may have joined to meet new people in their community. You might motivate them by involving them in ways that require them to interact with others, like helping with a committee. Think about the topics your members bring up during social hours: is it social justice? Is it animals? Is it supporting the local women's shelter? Invite them to give a presentation on how these topics are addressed in Denmark; or maybe this is a cause your group would like to support for a year or two. After all, our foundation is built on providing help for one another. Our Danish Sisterhood lodges offer members a wonderful place for our members to feel like they 'belong.' We share heritage
or even language, or maybe just a passion for all-things Danish. These shared values can help us feel satisfied, needed and validated. Providing opportunities for members to make contributions to the organization is especially important when it comes to motivation. Do you remember to acknowledge accomplishments at meetings? Do you thank each other for coming? Sometimes small gestures can have a big impact in how a person feels about belonging to an organization. Use peoples' names. Give individual attention to people – even in a Zoom meeting. Listen - a lot. And lastly, let them know how important they are to you. An exercise I used in my days working with college groups was to hold a brainstorming session on all the reasons people joined the group. Then, break up into subgroups and assign each subgroup part of the list. Have each subgroup analyze how well your Lodge meets each reason for joining. As a final step, have each subgroup report back to the larger group. This can be a great way to promote dialog in your lodge about how to improve motivation and engagement in your Lodge. Karin is a second generation Danish-American, born and raised in Wisconsin. She lived in Iowa, and Minnesota prior to moving to Los Angeles in the early 2000's to be with her now husband, Locke. Karin has managed a health and safety training program at UCLA since 2008.
Snowbirds:
Just a reminder to all you snowbirds, please let me know when you want to change your address for summer delivery of the Newsletter. You’ll find the change form in the back of the newsletter or email secretary@danishsisterhood.com Thank you, Glenda Danish Sisterhood News, March 2022
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