Abstract
Session presented on Sunday, September 18, 2016:
Leading a chapter board as president is a major responsibility that requires a personal investment in terms of time, intellectual resources, and emotional responsiveness. Omicron Delta is a large, diverse chapter with members and chapter leaders in distant geographic regions. We value the leaders who accept the challenge to lead our chapter, and who go on to be past presidents who stay actively involved in service activities, mentoring future leaders and leading other initiatives on behalf of our members. To recognize these leaders, Omicron Delta created a presidential stole that is a leadership symbol in the same vein as the presidential chain worn by the Sigma Theta Tau ceremonies. The Presidential Stole is a purple velvet stole that has the names of the current president and past presidents along with the years they served embroidered in gold letters. The stole is passed on to the incoming president during the installation of new officers. The president wears the stole during inductions and other important ceremonies. We have found that our members appreciate the symbolism. The leaders who are recognized in this way have also indicated that they in turn feel appreciated for their service to the chapter and our members. As other chapter leaders know, leadership succession is something that chapters struggle with as they seek presidential candidates given the busy schedule and multiple commitments of the nursing leaders we tap for this important position. Having the presidential stole to serve as a tangible form of recognition may be a motivating factor as prospective leaders make their decisions. Furthermore, this has allowed us to create a legacy for our chapter. Jim Rohn, a philosopher shares nine principles necessary for a successful life and a lasting legacy noted the following as his first principle: "Life is best lived in service to others." As our presidents and past presidents live their lives in service to our chapter and its members, we celebrate their leadership through our legacy of the presidential stole.
Sigma Membership
Omicron Delta
Lead Author Affiliation
University of Phoenix, Southfield, Missouri, USA
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Tradition, Legacy, Leadership Transition
Recommended Citation
Dziedzic, Antoinette M. and Klakovich, Marilyn D., "Leaving a legacy: The Omicron Delta presidential stole" (2024). Leadership. 90.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/leadership/2016/posters/90
Conference Name
Leadership Connection 2016
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2016
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Leaving a legacy: The Omicron Delta presidential stole
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Session presented on Sunday, September 18, 2016:
Leading a chapter board as president is a major responsibility that requires a personal investment in terms of time, intellectual resources, and emotional responsiveness. Omicron Delta is a large, diverse chapter with members and chapter leaders in distant geographic regions. We value the leaders who accept the challenge to lead our chapter, and who go on to be past presidents who stay actively involved in service activities, mentoring future leaders and leading other initiatives on behalf of our members. To recognize these leaders, Omicron Delta created a presidential stole that is a leadership symbol in the same vein as the presidential chain worn by the Sigma Theta Tau ceremonies. The Presidential Stole is a purple velvet stole that has the names of the current president and past presidents along with the years they served embroidered in gold letters. The stole is passed on to the incoming president during the installation of new officers. The president wears the stole during inductions and other important ceremonies. We have found that our members appreciate the symbolism. The leaders who are recognized in this way have also indicated that they in turn feel appreciated for their service to the chapter and our members. As other chapter leaders know, leadership succession is something that chapters struggle with as they seek presidential candidates given the busy schedule and multiple commitments of the nursing leaders we tap for this important position. Having the presidential stole to serve as a tangible form of recognition may be a motivating factor as prospective leaders make their decisions. Furthermore, this has allowed us to create a legacy for our chapter. Jim Rohn, a philosopher shares nine principles necessary for a successful life and a lasting legacy noted the following as his first principle: "Life is best lived in service to others." As our presidents and past presidents live their lives in service to our chapter and its members, we celebrate their leadership through our legacy of the presidential stole.