Course 2: Becoming a 7 Cups Leader - (Discussion #2) Service Leadership at 7 Cups
Please note: In order to successfully complete Course 2, you must respond to this post. Your comment/response should answer the questions/shows that you completed the given activity (if any). Read the post carefully and follow the instructions given. Save your responses to a document that you can later refer to. You will need to copy/paste your response in the course evaluation form at the end of each course to show that you have done the work and to refresh your memory.
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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!
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@Heather225
Servant leadership
How can you encourage others to serve if you're as a leader don't do it?
I like the idea of servant leadership since it creates a working environment which promotes equality, respect and more warmth, simply more positive without anyone feeling on the lowest step of a ladder.
How can you become a better “servant” to our community?
Improving my communication skills, learning more about certain areas on the site.
@Heather225
Can you list one example of service leadership you have seen on 7 Cups?
Heather, one example is what you do now, serving the community by offering them ways to improve. Another example are our mentors, always giving their very best to support their mentees - my experience.
@Heather225
Questions:
What do you think of the idea of service leadership?
I absolutely love the idea of service leadership and have no doubts it is along the backbone of the 7 Cups structure. I try to put it in practice on my side every day I log in, being a better listener, more "servant", more focused, putting others first, and investing in them to grow stronger and more positive, all while sharing.
Can you list one example of service leadership you have seen on 7 Cups?
Being on Sharing Circles, for example.
How can you become a better "servant' to our community?
By taking self-care and self-care breaks incredibly seriously, while working hard to stay committed and accountable to my "servant" roles in the community while I actually am active on 7 Cups.
@WatchingOverYou
Great answers!
@WatchingOverYou These are great. Thank you for sharing ~
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?
Answers :
1. Service Leadership is leading through service. It is a service first approach where one's main motive is to serve and do something good for the community no matter from which position they are at in the moment. When that happens, leadership is bestowed upon one automatically because they showed their dedication and commitment way before they were asked to do or administratively empowered to do. Service approach to leadership ensures one is not there for the sake of power, they're there to serve.
2. I'm myself one such example here as I stepped forward once to contribute to a project on 7cups while I wasn't a leader. I was very pleased to have been given the opportunity to do it despite being a simple listener. My motive was to serve. I didn't approach the admin to make me a leader before I served.
3. I think I already am a servant here as I've never given up on serving 7cups through all my years here. But to become a "better" servant to this community, I think I need to allot specific number of hours or make a schedule to invest myself in a better way. This will help me serve with more focus and intention. Also, I want to find the right way of serving so that service flows effortlessly through me. I've already decided since years here that I wanna be a quality mentor here. I'd love to now get involved and start learning it keeping Service Leadership concent in mind. Thank you, I finally feel I can begin serving!
What do you think of the idea of service leadership?
I love the idea of service leadership! Service leadership (from my understanding) is leader who does not aim for power or personal gains. The aim of the leader is to ‘serve’ the people. They do this out of genuine love for the community, and the desire to see the community and the people in it grow.
Can you list one example of service leadership you have seen on 7 Cups?
I think every kind of leadership role on 7 cups is a form of service leadership. We do things because we genuinely want to help others. We don’t receive rewards like money (although we do get badges and loads of appreciation!). I think that makes our work more selfless.
How can you become a better "servant' to our community?
To become a better servant, I can:
- improving active listening skills
- being empathic and understanding
- be able to receive feedback
@Heather225
I think that the leadership service is a great idea!
I think an example of leadership service is people taking the time to take care of themselves.
I'd be a better servant by taking more time for myself and also helping more people on 7cups, like, balancing my life and 7cups.
@kateaala I hope you're able to achieve balance!
What do you think of the idea of service leadership? Can you list one example of service leadership you have seen on 7 Cups?
the service leadership is for me help and guidance for others. in the sharing circle, I lead, hold together, manage the group.
How can you become a better "servant' to our community?
with humility, attention, with love, patience, empathy, and perseverance
@Mankka I like the qualities you listed to be a better servant!
What do you think of the idea of service leadership?
I really like this aidea and I would like to see if further supported as 7Cups. There are many areas of the site that could be improved, but the tools aren't always there for people to achieve what they would like.
Can you list one example of service leadership you have seen on 7 Cups?
I think there's a good history of members doing this - supporting others in the forums, chatrooms, feed, etc. even when there were no leadership roles for members.
How can you become a better "servant' to our community? By communicating more with teammates. I often go off and run with an idea, but I don't always include others in the planning phases.
Service leadership for me is doing my best to help others and fulfill my roles as a 7 cups leader. It is working hard not for myself but for others (even tho self care is really important). It is being happy because I can serve others and if it gets recognised being happy because it means I helped them well.
I would like to talk about those amaizing listeners who understoodhold members sharing circles who do an incredible job at supporting them and listening to them. No matter how hard it is they do an awesome job at making members feel heard and understood
I think I can be a better servant to this community by believing more in my abilities and doing my best to become a better listener. I can learn from those who are more experienced than me and apply what I'm learning to help those who are less experienced
@Ginevra962
I like your idea that spreading information and assisting those that are new at this is a way towards better servant leadership!
It sounds like a good model to follow and what democratic countries in this world tries to represent in their ideal. It would hold the leader accountable to their actions and reinforce the idea that those in power doesn't get to abuse their power.
I think in a sense, every listener here in 7cups is a servant leader. We all hold a certain type of power over the members when they decide to open up to use, and it's up to the listeners to give warmth to the members in their time of need.
I believe that the first step towards becoming a better servant leader is to learn to recognie the needs inside the community, without properly identifying goals, it's not possible to expect good response and work.
@SophieWX Perfect answer and well written thoughts!