Carolee Followill is the Collegiate Chapter Director for Delta Zeta. Our chapter is incredibly lucky to have such a well-rounded and learned advisor. Carolee is an exemplary sorority women and it was motivating to see where my sorority can take me. Originally from Alabama, Carolee attended the University of Alabama from 1972-1976. While there, she became a member of Delta Zeta and soon became their corresponding secretary. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science, was a teacher, and then moved on to the “corporate world”. Carolee became a chapter advisor and was given the title of National Academics Chairman. Throughout Carolee’s life, she has been given the opportunity to be a leader, and her most important piece of advice is to empower the people you work with. Carolee first started to be a leader in high school. She was organized and seemed to gravitate towards positions where she was in charge of an event or people. Being given those responsibilities helped her realize that she had the characteristics of a leader. Carolee was looking for people that could guide her on this path, and she found that in various adult leaders through church. These leaders helped her to define the way she wanted to live her life, and she found her experiences with them to be inspiring. From this first question, I already felt connected to that. In high school, I became a leader and I relied on the influence of my youth group leaders to give me the strength to pursue those opportunities. And Carolee from the beginning stressed the importance of keeping in touch with those people that helped shape your leadership style. That really hit home because as I grow up, I realize that important people to me are no longer that important. I want to have them in my life to share in the incredible things we are doing. Defining leadership is hard, and when I asked that question, it took a while to answer. Ultimately, I received this response, “Leadership is having the courage to make tough decisions and to guide and empower others to make their decisions.” Leadership, true leadership, takes courage. But honestly, before this semester I did not think about empowerment. Before college, I did not have to exert effort to motivate individuals because they cared just as much as I did. Now, I see how crucial that empowerment is, especially in the sorority world. Carolee discovered that as well. I expected, and so did she, that every member of Delta Zeta would wholeheartedly believe in our values and standards. But, not every woman lives those standards in the same way that I do. When Carolee realized that you cannot place your own set of expectations on others, she was able to move forward and really motivate individuals to think about it. I’m now trying to approach how I empower people differently because I see how beneficial it can be. As the conversation progressed, it became clear that Carolee had similar struggles early on in her leadership career as I do.
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For her, the hardest lesson was learning how to let others do their job. I understand that more than anything. I’m not a control freak, but I have an idea of how something needs to be done. When I delegate tasks, it's hard for me to not step in when they are going in a completely different direction. She stressed the importance of showing people that you trust them. So if something is not done “right”, the leader has to deal with it. Leadership is not about being the person to make all the decisions. As Carolee says, “My leadership style is more toward being a sounding board.” We cannot put ideas down or halt their creativity just because we can. Leaders are supposed to be the ones who give everyone a chance. I do not always give everyone a chance. I do not always listen to every idea because I already have a judgement about it. Especially when an organization is struggling, it cannot be successful if all the ideas are not explored. With success, comes the opportunity to make a difference on a bigger scale. Carolee’s experience as a national chairman changed her outlook. Academics is the most important value for our sorority. Being in charge of that value and standard has an immense
For her, the hardest lesson was learning how to let others do their job. I understand that more than anything. I’m not a control freak, but I have an idea of how something needs to be done. When I delegate tasks, it's hard for me to not step in when they are going in a completely different direction. She stressed the importance of showing people that you trust them. So if something is not done “right”, the leader has to deal with it. Leadership is not about being the person to make all the decisions. As Carolee says, “My leadership style is more toward being a sounding board.” We cannot put ideas down or halt their creativity just because we can. Leaders are supposed to be the ones who give everyone a chance. I do not always give everyone a chance. I do not always listen to every idea because I already have a judgement about it. Especially when an organization is struggling, it cannot be successful if all the ideas are not explored. With success, comes the opportunity to make a difference on a bigger scale. Carolee’s experience as a national chairman changed her outlook. Academics is the most important value for our sorority. Being in charge of that value and standard has an immense