Mentoring for Leadership: Building on the VFW Auxiliary Foundation

Members of the Auxiliary are very generous giving individuals. YOU are one of those individuals.

You give:

• Time
• Donations (monetarily or items)
• Share your skills and talents
• Support to programs and individuals
• Emotional care to veterans and members
• Companionship
• Support to community initiatives
• The hand of friendship
• By taking on leadership roles (Chairmanship/Officers)

With such genuine giving as an individual, what as an organization can we give back to you?

Mentoring!
The Auxiliary provides great resources to help enhance your knowledge of programs and traditions to assist you to broaden your insight in to the organization, build confidence to be an active participant and create leadership skills.

At your leisure, take some time to page through the Building on the VFW Auxiliary Foundation guidebooks. The guidebooks are versatile. You may print the entire book, a certain section of interest or read online. The goal of these guidebooks is to develop and maintain consistent practices across the organization; to train and equip leaders of today and tomorrow; and to strengthen the basic building blocks of the organization: the foundation.

Would you like to learn about the different elected positions within the organization and their responsibilities? Would you like to learn how to prepare a resolution or the value of standing rules?  What are the expectations of a Chairman? Do any of these topics pique your interest? Do you want to find a resource to gain insight of expectations and duties? Truly, this reference guide has something of interest for all members.

Guidebook 1:  Officers’ Duties
Information and help for each Officer of each level of the organization, except Treasurer.

Guidebook 2:  Programs & Reporting
Information and help on Chairmen duties, setting up a project and/or program and reporting on each level of the organization.

Guidebook 3:  Extension, Membership & Recruiting
Information and help for forming new Auxiliaries, working membership and recruiting new members.

Guidebook 4:  National District Council Members
Information on the role and responsibility of National District Council Members.

Guidebook 5:  Financial Responsibilities
Information and help for Treasurers and Trustees on all levels of the organization.

Auxiliaries are requested to provide a mentoring program to its members, you! If your Auxiliary does not have this program in place currently, please make the request to have such program. If you are unable to attend a meeting, yet have a strong desire to learn more and would appreciate one-on-one dialog, don’t hesitate to contact your Auxiliary President; he/she will put you in contact with the assigned mentor.

A mentor will find the guidebooks to be a main go-to resource when volunteering with a mentee. As a mentee, if your mentor has not addressed this resource with you, please ask about it.

The Building on the VFW Auxiliary Foundation guidebooks provide direction to help you move to a leadership role if you desire, and are a great avenue to better understand the organization.

A few suggested ways to use the guidebooks.

Individually

• Access the Building on the VFW Auxiliary Foundation guidebooks through the Program & Publicity Resource page on the National website. (print or review online)
• At your leisure and in the comfort of your own home, review the sections that support your interests.
• Upon review, make a note of any additional questions or clarification you may have and speak about this with a mentor one-on-one or bring the question to an Auxiliary meeting. Remember, there are no stupid questions. All questions are vital to members and growing the Auxiliary.

Auxiliary

• Print at least one copy of the Building on the VFW Auxiliary Foundation guidebooks to share.
  • Make available to any member who is interested and unable to access through the Program & Publicity Resource page on the National website.
  • Break the guidebook in to sections so multiple individuals can review at one time.
  • Ideally, it would be great if each Officer could have a copy available.
  • Assure that all Officers read the section pertinent to their responsibilities.
• Identify a section to review at monthly meeting.
  • Request mentor, Chief of Staff, or any member who shows interest to take on the task of leading the review.
  • Encourage group participation.
  • Hold a question and answer session.
  • Make a list of questions that may go unanswered and follow up with the Department Mentoring for Leadership Chairmen for clarification.
• Election of Officers
  • Prior to the election of Officers in April, encourage members interested in taking on a leadership role to review their potential responsibilities.
  • Following election of Officers, urge each individual taking on a new role to review the guidebook that applies to their responsibilities.

After reviewing the Building on the VFW Auxiliary Foundation guidebooks, you may want to consider putting together a guidebook pertinent to your own Auxiliary.

• Maybe you have certain responsibilities that accompany an Officer role.
• Do you have a project that is conducted annually? Include pertinent information together so additional volunteers can take on the responsibilities. Any information you may provide to your members will empower them to take on additional duties.
• The more information you can share the greater success a project or program will achieve.

“The future doesn’t just happen, it is created…Our destiny is not in the stars, but in ourselves. We may need to follow in the wake of those who have gone before, but what we do and where we go is ultimately up to us. The attitude of initiative is an on-going state of exploration that is never finished…a journey that never ends.”