Course 2: Becoming a 7 Cups Leader - (Discussion #2) Service Leadership at 7 Cups

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Being a leader at 7 Cups takes many forms. One thing every listener has in common is that we are all agents of service. Whether we are taking member chats or we are welcoming a new listener to the community, every unique contribution made by listeners is equally wonderful and valuable.

There are many ways to spend our  volunteer time at 7 Cups. Some of you will choose to focus on member chats and others will choose to be involved with our community programs, or both!  No matter which path, all contributions are considered incredibly valuable and special.

The term  Service leadership  (based on the philosophy of servant leadership, in  which the main goal of the leader is to serve)  can be explained in this way:  "Traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the top of the pyramid. By comparison, the servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible."

Sometimes leaders or community members who help with projects receive high praise for their efforts (and they all deserve it) but this is never to take away or undermine the contributions of listeners who fly a little bit more under the radar. How one chooses to spend their volunteer time on 7 Cups is up to them & we love you all the same!

Leadership - Becoming a Teen Star, Mentor, Mentor Leader or Ambassador.

Weve long said⦠that if you want to be a mentor, be a mentor, eventually youll get a badge. These service leadership roles are incredibly important to the functionality of our community. The individuals in these posts do an excellent job helping to keep our community safe and positive. I am very thankful for them.

One misconception I have heard floating around is that once youre in one of these roles you need to do more, be more, show more, etc. The reality could not be any further from the truth. These roles signify contributions that are currently being made & are not about contributions we hope these individuals will make in the future.

Another way to think about this is - Â if youre accepted to be a mentor leader or ambassador, we will not be giving you more work. Our aim is to honor the work you have been previously/currently doing. In fact, wed love for you to add more self-care to your regular routine. These titles are reserved for successful project leaders & community members who are already involved in community engagement projects and actively making a positive impact. In some cases, we may give you more tools to do your specific projects more effectively.

In this sense, service leadership is simply about where you plan to spend your time. To those of you out there who focus 100% on member chats, we LOVE YOU! To those of you out there who focus on community programs, we LOVE YOU TOO! All of these contributions are equally valuable and important. As a collective  community, our aim is to honor your contributions, no matter where or how they manifest.

In this vein, my hope is that you will remember 3 key things:

1. Self-care - always! Make sure self-care is baked into your volunteer work here

2. Dont take on more than you are able. If you dont have the bandwidth to do something, you owe it to yourself and the community to say no. It is 100% okay to say no. (And if you are asking someone to help you with a project, please do not get upset if someone has to say no.)

3. Remember that 7 Cups is an ecosystem. Every single contribution matters! Â

If youd like to be in a service leadership role, my advice would be:

1. Pay attention to how others are contributing

2. Figure out what gets you excited in the community!

3. Once you have an idea of what gets you excited, dive in! You dont need to have a mentor badge to help out, get involved & start learning.

4. If youre not sure how to get involved, you can chat with a mentor or sign up for listener coaching.

5. Once you feel comfortable with your area of attention, apply for the appropriate mentor track.

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Questions: What do you think of the idea of service leadership? Can you list one example of service leadership you have seen on 7 Cups?
How can you become a better "servant' to our community?

Activity: Please reply to 3 of your peers  in this thread with encouraging or supportive words!

After fulfilling the requirements of this post, please check out the next post here! You must take part in the brainstorming/activities given in all of these posts to successfully complete the program.

This post is brought to you by the Leadership Development Program Team, find out more information about the program here.