Leadership is an essential ingredient throughout the Y-Adventure Guides program. Adult members lead their children. Circle Navigators lead the members. Nation Navigators and Officers lead the Circles and steer the Federation. There are many things that a Nation or Circle Navigator must know to effectively fill the role. Our web-site (www.yomechas.org) is specifically designed to help supply that knowledge.

The outline that follows is intended to help new Nation Navigators assume their role quickly and effectively, but Circle Navigators should also read this document.

1. First Things First
   1. Review the Federation Master Plan.
   2. Arrange a handoff from your outgoing Nation Navigator. Ask questions. Get their prior-year planning notes.
   3. Make sure you have a complete list of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all your incoming Circle Navigators. Make contact early.
   4. Review the Federation Calendar. Copy your meetings dates to your personal calendar. Tell your Circle Navigators to do the same.
   5. Arrange a substitute for yourself should you be unavailable for a Federation or Nation meeting.
2. Understand our Program. Plan Your Nation.
   1. Obtain and read your Navigators Packet, Member Packet and your Friends Always book.
   2. Get familiar with the resources on our web site (www.yomechas.org).
   3. Talk to your incoming Circle Navigators early.
      1. Listen to suggestions, compliments, or complaints about the prior year.
      2. Learn which Circles need new members (or have too many).
      3. Encourage summer-time recruiting by all members. The Federation always has room for new members. (If a Circle is full, newcomers can be placed elsewhere.)
   4. Review your Nation Offices. Have at least one job for each Circle. Be sure your plans cover all the duties you will need to delegate. Official positions are listed in our Constitution (Article VI). But you might want to split some duties out separately, such as:
      1. Hockey/Soccer coordinator.
      2. Adopt-A-Family coordinator.
      3. Graduation Ceremony coordinator.
   5. Establish an Honor Point system to encourage participation and volunteerism. Set a minimum number of points required for a Circle to earn the Honor Circle patch. Plan to reward one Circle with a Top Honor Circle patch. (Your Tallykeeper should track honor-points and report monthly standings to your Circles.)
3. Conduct Monthly Navigator Meetings
   1. Remind your Navigators of each meeting a few days in advance by email or telephone. Stress that if a Navigator cannot attend, they should send someone else.
   2. Prepare an agenda for each meeting. (Use materials from the Federation Board Meeting. Add items that pertain to your Nation only.)
   3. Start on time, end on time.
   4. Don’t mail materials to a navigator who misses - have them come to you.
   5. At Your First Meeting of the Year...
      1. Set a positive tone of cooperation and volunteerism in your first words. Make your job look easy. Your circle navigators are a new group of volunteers; they will take their cues from you. If you are an enthusiastic cheerleader most will jump in.
      2. Explain the duties and responsibilites of each Nation post that needs to be filled. Explain that a Circle fills each post (not just the Circle Navigator.)
      3. Line up volunteers for all of your Nation offices and for any special needs of the upcoming year. (Campouts and sports may entail special needs - see below). Use your Honor Point system to encourage volunteerism. If all else fails, just wait silently until someone steps forward.
      4. Keep a list of the volunteers. Distribute the list back to your Navigators at your next meeting. Refer to it throughout the year whenever help is needed.
4. Campouts and Sports
   1. Campouts will be your best-attended activity. Make good campout plans. Don't wait until the last minute. Learn the ropes before you conduct your first Navigators Meeting in the fall. Delegate properly.
   2. Most nations run indoor floor-hockey or soccer during the winter months. Although indoor sports are a winter activity, advance preparation must begin in the summer - before our fall program gets underway.
      1. Identify your new sports coordinator as early as possible. Arrange a hand-off of planning materials from the outgoing coordinator. Arrange a hand-off of equipment.
      2. Reserve a facility early. If you expect to use a school gym, the school should ideally be contacted before the end of the school year - at least during the summer. (You will discover that all facilities begin to fill up by late summer.)
      3. Discuss Circle participation and team organization at your first Navigators meeting. Distribute rules and play schedules as early as possible. Give your members ample opportunity to fit the schedule into their personal calendars.