On behalf of our League's members, I'd like to take this opportunity to extend a grateful thank you to all who helped make the luncheon, Celebrating Susan Lempert, a wonderful success. I'd like to especially extend our gratitude to Renee Kaseff, the luncheon committee chair, for her leadership, vision, attention to detail, and for her incredible energy.
The event was everything I expected it would be, plus much more. It was a wonderful opportunity to honor Sue who has given, and continues to give, her leadership and dedication to improve the communities in which we live. It was a pleasure to listen to each speaker recount Sue's significant contributions.
What I was not prepared for were the litany of compliments paid to the League of Women Voters by each speaker. Speaker after speaker voiced respect for and gratitude to the League for its leadership. I felt great pride and supreme joy to be part of an organization revered for its ability to be relied on for accurate, nonpartisan information to help others make knowledgeable political decisions.
The common thread was LEADERSHIP. Leadership is an elusive concept, subject to personal interpretation. But we all know it when we see it...and we all suffer if it's lacking in our lives, in the organizations for which we volunteer and in the places where we work. League leaders are expected to produce an incredible range of results, including representing the organization to the public, making timely decisions, building an effective team, overseeing the generation of revenue, increasing membership, running a productive meeting, training the leadership for tomorrow, seeing the larger picture and doing something about it...to name just a few!
An organization such as the League of Women Voters is more than the sum of its parts. The strength of the League's "grassroots" lies in the network of its members, bound together, effectively and efficiently to lead others to achieve common goals. We must all be committed to the development of new leaders. The League provides the opportunities and the encouragement to acquire and to practice leadership skills. Institutionalized leadership development opportunities and ongoing leadership training are the hallmarks of successful, long-lived organizations.
As League leaders we have the responsibility to foster new leadership, through formal training and informal apprenticeships, through supportive policies and procedures, and through effective role models. Our successful history is attributable to past leaders; our successful future depends on all of us to encourage and develop new leaders.
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