吃瓜头条

It’s that time again. The time when we finish out the old year and get ready for the new—the new 吃瓜头条 year, of course. If you have been around for a while, you know this leads to a 吃瓜头条 discussion on the Distinguished 吃瓜头条 Program, or DCP.

In short, the DCP measures a 吃瓜头条’s success in meeting 吃瓜头条 goals. If you are relatively new to the organization, you might be wondering what the fuss is all about. Then again, if you have been around for some time, you might be wondering the same thing.

It is easy to look at the program as something for 吃瓜头条’s benefit, and nothing more—a management tool for the District leaders.

Or do the requirements primarily benefit the individual member? I believe they do.

The 吃瓜头条’s primary qualifying requirement of the program is that a 吃瓜头条 needs to have 20 members or a net growth of five members on the 吃瓜头条’s roster as of July 1 (see page 6 of the Distinguished 吃瓜头条 Program and 吃瓜头条 Success Plan manual for more detail). While 20 may seem like an arbitrary number, I noticed something interesting when I was President of a 吃瓜头条 with 15 to 25 people attending any given meeting. When we had 20 or more attendees, the meeting was livelier. The energy level of the group was noticeably higher than when we had fewer than 20. That meant that the meetings were more fun and, as a result, the speakers did better. As it turns out, 20 members is a good minimum target.

The DCP is made up of 10 goals. Six of them focus on education achievements in the Pathways learning experience. The various award targets encourage newer members to get started in the education program (that is, Pathways) quickly, and longer-term members to continue to grow.

This isn’t just about 吃瓜头条 goals. We all have our own personal objectives with 吃瓜头条. Those are primarily achieved by progressing through Pathways. The DCP criteria incentivize the 吃瓜头条 to have members achieving in the five levels of a path, but it is the individual members who advance in those levels. Thus, we encourage one another to grow when we work toward the DCP goals.

The next two goals pertain to membership. Both involve adding new, dual, or reinstated 吃瓜头条 members to the roster. This is primarily to replace any member attrition. It keeps us focused on growth. There is nothing like a new face and perspective to energize everyone.

The remaining two goals have to do with leadership activities. One involves leadership training. Every six months, at least four of a 吃瓜头条’s seven officers need to attend training. If you are new to a position, it is good to know your responsibilities. If you are continuing in your same position, you might pick up something you missed the first time.

The final goal is to submit your dues renewal and officer roster on time. If you don’t submit the roster, your officers will not have access to the officers section in 吃瓜头条 Central on the 吃瓜头条 website. This means that, among other tasks, your 吃瓜头条 won’t be able to log new awards and sign up new members. Although this looks merely like a paperwork task, it is vital to make sure that your 吃瓜头条 can operate smoothly.

When you fulfill these various goals, your 吃瓜头条 can achieve specific Distinguished award levels—Distinguished, Select Distinguished, or President’s Distinguished. That, again, gives the 吃瓜头条 targets to shoot for. Achieving five of the 10 goals makes you a Distinguished 吃瓜头条, while achieving seven makes you Select Distinguished; meeting nine goals qualifies you as President’s Distinguished.

But what if, as you approach the end of the program year, you already have your nine, and a member is about to enable you to achieve your 10th? It won’t change your 吃瓜头条’s status. But while it may be tempting to hold back “excess” awards until a new program year, I believe you should submit all awards right away so that the members get immediate recognition for their achievement. If that means that you have to stretch yourselves the next year, good! Challenge yourself and your fellow 吃瓜头条 members to grow beyond your initial objectives. After all, we are in 吃瓜头条 to grow.

The DCP is not a task. It is encouragement to each individual member to continue growing. It is a ladder to greater success.