May 23, 2013

Posts by Dave Kelly, America's Student Leadership Trainer™

About Dave "Gonzo" Kelly

Dave Kelly is the leading authority on Student Leadership and Community Service on college campuses today. As a professional trainer, motivator, and servant leader, Dave is an expert on all aspects of running and leading campus organizations and developing the character of a servant leader. Dave has 20+ years training leaders and advisors from Student Government Associations, Campus Activities Boards and campus clubs of every kind on Campus Organization Leadership and Community Service Projects. He has trained students and advisors at more than 140 different colleges and universities and is the national coordinator for the APCA Serves! Initiative by the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities.

Managing expectations for your club or organization

Dave Kelly, College Speaker - Managing expectations for your club or organization

One of the keys to keeping your classmates involved in your campus club or organization lies in managing their expectations. Students can  have expectations about everything about the club for how it is run, to what they'll get out their involvement, to what impact the club will have in the community, to how much fun it will be. It's easy to lose members along the way or for them to become disengaged because the organization is not what they expected it to be . It's up to you as a club officer to set and manage your members' expectations. You can do that both during the recruiting process and in how you run your club meetings and … [Read more...]

14 Elements for a great club meeting

Dave Kelly - 14 Elements for a great club meeting

If no one enjoys coming to your meetings, your campus club or organization is going to be a big flop. Your meetings are the key event that gets and keeps your core members involved. Want to keep everyone from getting bored and get a lot accomplished at the same time? We previously talked about 3 ways to pep up your campus club meetings but if you follow these guidelines (that includes those 3 ideas) for structuring your meetings you should see marked improvement in involvement, enthusiasm and most importantly retention. Make the meeting fun and interesting with lots of participation. A greeter welcomes attendees to the … [Read more...]

A way to provide leadership training for all campus organizations

Dave Kelly - Leadership training for all campus organizations

At the start of the academic year or the semester many colleges and universities conduct leadership programs and retreats for student government officers, members of the campus programming board, emerging leaders programs, and residence life. Many of these programs include a variety of topics including servant leadership and developing effective communication between team members. Usually, there is a team building element to these events where students get to know each other better and make connections intended to pave the way for future success. There's another large pool of student leaders on your campus who sometimes get overlooked and … [Read more...]

Dave Kelly on building a Servant Leadership Resume

Dave Kelly - They - College Speaker

I travel the country presenting my two core programs for college students: Campus Organization Leadership Training™ and Building Leaders Through Service® and they both resonate with the same overarching theme - SERVANT LEADERSHIP. The bottom line is that I believe in serving and that by serving others - especially those we intend to lead - we become better leaders. COLLEGE SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT But, I'm not some Johnny-come-lately who attended a seminar on speaking at colleges and sees an opportunity. By always being willing to roll up my sleeves in service to others I've built a SERVANT LEADERSHIP RESUME that I'm quite proud of. … [Read more...]

The 5 ‘hows’ of community service

Dave Kelly - The 5 hows of community service

In a previous post, I discussed "The 5 whys of community service." Now the questions that remains is HOW do you get students involved in service to others? Here are five 'hows' that have worked for me. 1) Implement a community service requirement for all campus organizations and leaders. This includes the Emerging Leaders and Honors program participants, scholarship recipients, and SGA officers and senators, etc. This is pretty straight forward, but be prepared for push-back. Students will tell you they don’t have enough time to do community service, and that they are too busy with their leadership roles and other involvements. They may … [Read more...]

Begin and experience the power of boldness

The impetus for this blog post comes from a quote that has hung on my office wall for 25 years. “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.”- Johnann Wolfgang von Goethe: What Goethe is telling us is that whatever it may be that we desire, wish for, or dream to have real in our lives, we should go for it! There is so much in life that we all want to make happen and so few people seem to really reach for their dreams. Why is this? I think it is because the accomplishment of the dream seems to be a far off thing, and many times it is. That can be discouraging when we want it now. … [Read more...]

3 things to do if your club officers are fighting

3 things to do if your club officers are fighting

My wife has six cats. Yes, they all belong to her - not me. That does not mean, however, that I do not fulfill my role as a “kitty daddy” and sometimes mediate disputes between them. Cat fights usually happen when one cat looks at another and the second cat does not want to be looked at. This leads to loud shrieking and paw-batting at one another. How do I deal with this? Two loud claps of my hands and then I shout “HEY!” The combatants then run off in different directions. That probably won't work if it's two of your club officers. If it did it'd be great. Two of our officers get into an argument before, during, or after a meeting … [Read more...]

3 Ways to pep up your campus club meetings

Dave Kelly - Seminole State College Leadership Program 01

Two things most of us will avoid like the plague... The droning of a monotone voice from the front of the room and the meeting leader that sits in the middle of the floor and asks, "So what do you guys want to talk about tonight?" As part of running better campus clubs and organizations let's make sure our meetings are fun and interesting or just put us all out of our misery and stop having them! Here are a couple of my time-tested ideas to give things a kick in the pants. 1) Start on time. End on time. People's time is important. Drop the, "I'm going to wait a few minutes until more people arrive." Start NOW! Don't punish the people … [Read more...]

A Week in the Life of a Believer in Service

kindergarden

Some people call them "random acts of kindness"… others "simply being polite." To me, it is all about serving others. Service to others is one of the best and easiest things we can do. And when we practice it often, it becomes a habit and a lifelong commitment to serving others. I learned about having a service commitment when I was young, through the Scouts and through high school and collegiate organizations. I have continued that involvement in both formal and informal ways. I am a member of a civic organization that focuses on service, Kiwanis International, and I do work through my church. But, I also take time to serve in other … [Read more...]

Elvis, Leadership, and You: Putting Fun into Campus Activities at TVCC

Dave Kelly - Elivs Leadership and You

  While attending the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities (APCA) National Advisors Institute in Las Vegas this past January (2-4, 2011), I caught up with one of my long-time friends, Justin Core. Justin is the Director of Student Programs and Residence Life at Treasure Valley Community College (TVCC) in Ontario, OR. Ontario is just over the border from Idaho, along the Snake River, about an hour west of Boise. He is also a fellow past Circle K International President and we have had some fun and interesting times over the years! Justin is a great guy who is very devoted to his students. He is a bit of a renaissance … [Read more...]

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