Dear Member,
I hope you've had a rewarding school year so far, full of new and exciting experiences that help shape your successful future. As November begins and we quickly approach the end of the fall semester, many of us will also begin making preparations for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Traditionally, people spend the holidays together, enjoying family gatherings and festivities. However, in light of public safety concerns, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) now advises that we reduce the size of planned gatherings or, instead, rely upon creative and innovative options to celebrate virtually.
A virtual Thanksgiving may seem like a foreign concept, but utilizing your skills as a leader can help make it a success. Here are a few ideas to lead the way for a virtual holiday:
Commit to connecting: Your ability to plan, organize, and create can help you reimagine your family traditions and still make the holidays memorable. That said, basic empathy is among the most admirable leadership traits. As this fall/winter holiday season may be particularly isolating due to social distancing, reach out to family and friends with a warm hello and check in on how they're doing. It will go a long way and make someone’s day.
Think outside the box: When it comes to celebrating, decide upon a holiday theme and an online activity that you can invite others to do with you, remotely. One example might be everyone preparing meals in their own kitchens and then join a Zoom call together for dinner and conversation. Or, perhaps everyone could compete by baking the same dessert and then sharing images of their masterpiece in a Zoom where a group vote decides the best photo. To make it even more competitive, offer up a festive first place prize.
Plan it to a T: Use your organizational skills to coordinate a virtual celebration just as you would a live, in-person event. Provide guests with full details in advance, along with the event's start and finish time and accompanying activity plans. You can invite guests to participate via email or make it feel more official by utilizing one of the many digital party invitation platforms such as Evite to design something more festive. The sky's the limit in the virtual world, so however you choose to celebrate, be creative, and make it fun!
Have a wonderful November and a Happy Thanksgiving.
Best wishes,
Regards,
Charles Knippen
President
The National Society of Leadership and Success
Your NSLS Story Could Earn You a $100 Amazon Gift Card!
Your personal story and testimonial can help inspire fellow leaders to discover the benefits of joining the NSLS community. So, we want to hear from you and learn more about why you decided to join The National Society of Leadership and Success, and the impact it’s had in your life.
We’re asking members to record a short video and share what it means to be a part of the NSLS. We'll choose clips from selected submissions and edit together a final video to share with students invited to become new members of NSLS. Just for submitting a video, you'll receive a code for 10% off our NSLS Shop. And if your video is selected, you'll also receive a $100 Amazon gift card!
Keep an eye on your email for more information soon!
Scholarship Award Announcements:
Congratulations to our October Giveaway Winners!
Members who share their communication style with @theNSLS and include #theNSLS on social media are entered to win a $50 gift card.
Here are October’s winners:
- Calista Barbowski, University of New Hampshire at Manchester
- Valerie Wolf, SUNY Erie Community College
- Wesley Jackson, University of Phoenix
Additionally, members who complete our post-event satisfaction surveys are automatically entered into a monthly drawing for a $1,000 scholarship! October’s winner is Madison Ricketts from Wagner College!
Partners Spotlight:
NSLS Pay:
We pride ourselves on providing our community of members with a wealth of opportunities and benefits. One of our most popular is NSLS pay, a free app that instantly saves you money at the places you already shop and eat. It’s easy to use and you can save an average of $400 every year!
Members Love NSLS Pay. Here’s why:
- Instant savings
- Use with other retailer coupons, discounts, credit card rewards, and rebate apps
- Works in-store and online
- Safe and secure
- Save an average of $400 every year!
- You can use NSLS Pay at over 100,000 locations, both online and in-store.
Download the free app today or learn more at NSLSPay.org.
Prioritizing Virtual Social Interaction in Student Organizations | By: Charles Knippen
At the onset of the pandemic, The National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS) noticed its over one million members were in need of support. The organization shifted gears to create Live Online, a structured, interactive virtual experience. Live Online includes speakers, breakout sessions and networking opportunities—all critical parts of the NSLS program—in one easy-to-navigate location so students had one less technology issue to stress about going into the new school year.
Click here to read more.
Bill Nye the Science Guy called UTSA 'fabulous, beautiful' during national leadership talk
Bill Nye the Science Guy has explored evolution, climate change and UTSA enough to call it "fabulous" and "beautiful." The 1990's kid favorite and science "educator," as his website calls him, was a guest speaker for a live series presented by The National Society of Leadership and Success on Oct. 20. NSLS is one of the nation's largest honor societies, with more than 1 million members and 700 chapters, including one at UTSA.
Click here to read more.
NSLS Members Release a New Book to “Redefine Normal”
Alexis Lenderman-Black and her husband, Justin Black--both NSLS members--are releasing their new book, “Redefining Normal: How Two Foster Kids Beat the Odds and Discovered Healing, Happiness, and Love,” on November 9!
The book provides a thoughtful exchange of ideas and personal experiences to highlight how any person, no matter their background, can overcome painful pasts and find joy and happiness.
Check out re-definingnormal.com and Amazon for more information on Alexis and Justin, as well as their book.
Prairie Stars on the Move: Sarah Murray
Even in the face of this year’s obstacles, one student on campus refusing to let anything stop her from succeeding is Sarah Murray. Among other things, she is an exercise science major, psychology minor, Capital Scholars Honors student, the Treasurer of PERIOD Club and the President of the National Society of Leadership and Success’ UIS Chapter.
Click here to read more.
Aurora Woman Strives to Sew Comfortable Masks
Even though Allisha Suing and her family have made more than 2,500 face masks, she doesn’t just throw them together. The National Society of Leadership and Success member is careful about doing a good job. The first three months of her work, Suing used ribbons for her masks instead of elastic. A friend of hers found his mask uncomfortable. “And I didn’t want that for my customers,” Suing shared. Eventually, she switched to elastic. But she kept looking until she found a soft version of elastic.
Click here to read more.
Storytelling Can Make or Break Your Leadership | By Jeff Gothelf
“It’s a new goal-setting framework.” That was one of my large enterprise clients’ attempt at an inspirational rallying cry for their rollout of Objectives and Key Results, or OKRs. As you might expect, it wasn’t met with much enthusiasm: “Why do we need a new goal-setting system?” managers and employees protested. “What will this mean for my evaluation? Am I still on track for that promotion?” The problem wasn’t anything inherent to the proposal — instead, what was lacking was the executive’s storytelling.
Click here to read more.