Burnout
Straight from our archives, Dave Westol was formerly a fraternity advisor at Michigan State University. In this article he discusses a problem which has touched all of our fraternity experiences at one time or another, APATHY. Yes, apathy...the real subject, not our softball team. This article was reprinted with permission from Alpha: The Magazine for Campus Greeks.
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You can spot him in almost any chapter, at almost any chapter, at almost any time, but particularly during rush, slumped in a chair or leaning against a wall, arms crossed, shoulders slumped.
Eventually a guest will approach, ignoring the warning signs - and it is always the most enthused of potential members, bubbling over with new-found comradery and exuberantly unaware of the burnout's leave me alone posture.
"Hey," he begins, peering closely at the name tag which is lettered with a four syllable obscenity spelled backwards, "how long have you been a member?"
The burnout fixes him with a cold stare..... "All day."
"Oh, that's, ah....great."
"Not really."
At this point the youngster is quickly ushered from the scene by an alert junior who suggests that he should try the second bowl of punch.
"What's wrong with that guy?", asks the rushee. "Is he upset about something?"
"Naw", assures the brother, "he's just the house burnout."
It would suprise the youthful guest to know that the house burnout at one time was equally enthused and anxious to get involved neck deep in the fraternity. It would surprise the diplomatic junior to know that burnouts frequently occur as a result of lack of brotherhood, poor management practices and weak officers. Nothing wouild surprise the burnout, except perhaps, a brother not asking him to "do something for the house once in a while instead of tearing it down."
But why a burnout? How could a rookie with all the tools - leadership, enthusiasm, business judgment, charisma - do a 180 degree turnabout when his brothers had him pegged by All-Fraternity honors?
The Too Much / Too Soon Syndromes:
Too Much. Subject usually a sophmore or junor. Symtoms: bleary eyes, extreame fatigue, complains of being the only one in chapter doing anything, but upon request for assistance, right arm will automatically begin waving. Subject's attitude toward fraternity is increasingly cynical speaks of chapter as them. Little if any encouragement, recognition or reinforcement by brothers.
Burnouts most frequently occur in lazy chapters with ineffective leaders. It is far too easy to assign minor as well as major tasks to the young, enthusiastic members. He's keyed, we'll tell ourselves, so let him handle it, exemplifying perfectly the 80/20 principle - 80% of the work done by 20% of the brothers - while two dozen members yawn their way through meetings and ask when the next party is scheduled.
Some members are masochists because we allow them to be. Instead of delegating, motivating or confronting, we take the path of least resistance, systematically wearing down the few members who volunteer. Result: burnout, and once lost, the member is difficult if not impossible to find. Under the guise of taking some time off, he effectively withdraws from participation.
Too Soon. Subject is a freshman or sophmore with less than two terms of membership. Symptoms: termical frustration subdued, defensive. He has discovered that a fraternity is what his dorm roommate told him - a bunch of guys looking out for themselves. Speaks of chapter in terms of "I thought they would fire up...I figured everyone would jump on this project."
One chapter at Michigan State made a practice of choosing a first or second term initiate as a rush chairman each term. The rationale: a rush chairman will be expected to sacrifice his physical health and drain his emotions in "leading" that chapter through the intensive rush period. Therefore, a young entergetic and enthused member is the obvious choice. Then too, the theory goes, his enthusiasm will rub off on the older members bringing them merrily into line with a somewhat twisted version of the Knute Rockne champagne-from-a-barttered-oil-can pitch, "Let's go fraternity."
That chapter avoided the fact that the young members lacked the experience to organize a major program, that he lacked wisdom in dealing with others, that he lacked motivational tools, that his impression of fraternity leadership was hubba hubba speeches reminding brothers of their responsibility to the chapter, the fraternity, and the founders, and that the young brother was woefully unprepared for the stresses and strains of leadership under combat. Upon occassion, a mature and talented "sensayshun" may make it, but frequently the result is akin to starting a rookie at quarterback in the NFL.
The Senior Burnout:
Subject is a senior or older. Symptoms: blase, lackadaisical attitude, professes lack of interest in chapter affairs, frequently and vociferously reminds younger members that, "now it's their turn to carry the ball." Infrequent meeting attendance, arrives late, leaves early. Justifies lack of participation by calling attention to past deeds. Speaks of life after college, grades, law boards, "meaningful relationship", relocation and failure to relate to the house. Taunts younger members for their enthusiasm and says, "you'll learn."
The senior member may not be able to relate to the environment in the house because the members have not made so much as an attempt to direct activities toward keeping him active. However, his priorities have changed. We stubbornly maintain the attitude that he should participate because it's his duty...and usually lose his talents forever.
The Leader Burnout:
Subject is a chapter leader of varying age, experience and office who is unable to delegate responsibility. Symptoms similar to those of the "Too Much" syndrome, except that the leader tends to assume too many duties within an office rather than too many offices. Standard phrase is, "If you wanna get it done right, do it yourself", and it usually runs him into the ground.
Lack of proper training plagues the leader burnout along with a non-functioning committee system. Result: as leader sinks slowly into the west, chapter members complain of his apathy.
There are the burnouts. Regardless of age, background, or office, they all suffered from one common character flaw - they wanted to work very hard for the fraternity which all too gladly their brothers allowed them an unlimited opportunity to do.
Burnouts are avoided rather than cured or rekindled, and in avoiding burnouts a chapter will find itself organizing a membership development program, a key in maintaining enthusiasm.
Leadership and its transistion is the single most important factor in avoiding burnouts. In a well organized chapter, leadership is developed rather than anticipated or forced. Leadership development is a smooth flow from pledges, who serve on committees, to new initiates, who work as assistants to officers and chairmen, to appointed chairmen, to elected officers. Kep positions have assistants to provide for consistency. A comprehensive file or notebook is kept to retain knowledge and train newcomers with the ideas, errors and mistkaes or serveral generations of past officers thus eliminating the necessity of reinventing the wheel each year.
Delegation of authority is encouraged and practiced by the president and vice president who monitor other officers and chairmen and assist in spreading the work load.
The chapter committee system is watched over by the vice president who meets with the chairmen regularly. Youner members, particularly pledges, are asked to serve on a committee of their choice. Sledom if ever is a call for volunteers made at a meeting. Encouragement is teh key word in staffing a committees.
People support what they help create, an ancient but true concept. Involving more members is the operation of the fraternity and spreading the decision-making authority out to the committees will give more members a stake in the affairs of the organization and less opportunity for burnouts. These concepts must be emphasized from teh first day of pledging.
Recognition and reinforcement are equally important in keeping leaders active and in developing new leaders. Every opportunity must be taken to thank, praise, and recognize members for their efforts on behalf of the chapter, regardless of the scope or impact of teh contribution. The house manager who picks weeds from the side lawn or the new initiate who does the artwork for teh alumni newsletter equally deserve an "Attaboy Award" as much as the rush chairman or the homecoming coordinator.
The seniors are the proverbial money in the fraternal bank - hedge against inexperience, naivete and impetuousity. The collective experience, practical politics, and abilities of teh seniors must be tapped by the chapter if progress is to be made each year.
Several chapters have established senior committees which meet three times per semester to review major chapter operations, brotherhood, and alumni relations. A chapter officers sits on the committee as an ex officio member. Although the committee has no official say, it does serve as a sounding board and as a means of organizing recommendations for the executive council in setting chapter policies. Seniors should also be used in conducting rush clinics and setting up speaker programs for brothers interesting in graduate school admission, job placement, and meaningful relationships (like marriage). Recognition of seniors for their contibutions is equally important.
It's ironic that those qualities of fraternity life which attract new and enthusiastic members - spirit, pride, help from others, leadership traits - are the factors which when left without organization contribute to the burnout of many of our best members.