Imagine that you work as a volunteer for the local community animal shelter called ABC Animal Rescue. You have volunteered for approximately four years. The Board of Directors has asked you to meet with a group of 25 volunteers and the local community during a fundraising event. The Board requested that you mingle with the volunteers, many of which you already know, and the local community members.

The purpose of your mingling is to build relationships and trust between the organization (ABC Animal Rescue) and the community/volunteers. You agree because you are passionate about this cause.

Using the results of the “New Drivers of Leadership” self-assessment, and the 10 traits from the Jones (2015) article “What Employees Want in a Leader,” describe how you would approach the community and volunteers to build relationships and trust.

Start your paper with an appropriately formatted Title Page per the CSU Global Writing Center. (Links to an external site.)
Provide an appropriate introduction (Links to an external site.), which includes your thesis statement.
Your paper will be 1-2 pages in APA format.
Use citations (Links to an external site.) in your writing and corresponding references at the end of the document when referring to the articles or authors (see references below).
Casse, P. (2014). The new drivers of leadership (Links to an external site.). Training Journal, 27-30.
Jones, D. (2015). What employees want in a leader (Links to an external site.). Print + Promo, 53(1), 14.

Here are several helpful links.

How to Write a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.)
Writing the Conclusion (Links to an external site.)
Writing an Effective Essay (Links to an external site.)
APA Template Paper

ANSWER

Board of Director’s Essay

The opportunity for a business to interact with the local community, which can be attained through charitable or fundraising events as seen in ABC Animal Rescue, provides numerous benefits, as the employees, such as I, have a platform to meet, work, sell the brand and partner with different community people. Business partnerships are built on credence and mutual value, which are established as successful when working to meet both partner’s interests, right from the initial conversation. In this fundraising event, I am tasked with meeting 25 volunteers and people from the local community where we mingle and build trustworthy relationships between the community and the organization. I will use an integrated communication approach that focuses on transparency, cultivated over time for adequate understanding, defines the business’s goal candidly, and since I plan to make an extended outreach and meet about 80% of the target population, I will used focused groups.

According to the leadership self-assessment exercise, central leadership drivers with higher scores are speed (59) and focus (17) (Casse, 2014). I am focused on ensuring that the highest number of community members in the event have adequate knowledge, trust, and develop mutual relationships with the organization. With speed being a critical strength, I believe by being innovative (Jones, 2015), meeting the volunteers or local members in groups of 5, will help meet the focal objective. While developing effective and beneficial relationships, time is crucial, therefore, since meeting each person individually may limit the 80% goal, through groups I can ensure open, two-way communication where I present the organization’s MVGOs (Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives) candidly and transparently. In a group, I can answer numerous questions within a short time, and we understand each other’s needs.

With the MVGOs approach, I will ensure to communicate the most important information, ensuring the development of an effective winning elevator pitch.  Among the community members, there are key people targeted to have higher influence; hence, for these individuals, communicating my elevator pitch will be done individually. While communicating, I will ensure to integrate gestures such as open hands, an open torso to show confidence and adequate professionalism with related humor such as puns to create fun and value of their engagement (Jones, 2015).

References

Casse, P. (2014). The new drivers of leadership. Training Journal, 27-30.

Jones, D. (2015). What employees want in a leader. Print + Promo, 53(1), 14.