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One problem a lot of SGA's struggle with is that only a small group of students in the organization are taking on responsibility. The result is that those leaders get burned out, the majority of the members feel disconnected, and the transition from year to year is rocky because the SGA's only leaders find themselves graduating.

SGA's that constantly develop a lot of leaders throughout their organization are able to tackle more projects, keep their members motivated, and keep their organization intact when transitioning between school years.

Here are some tips for developing your SGA members into leaders:

• Create opportunities for people to take on leadership. In other words, in order to develop leaders, first you need to have leadership roles for people to take on - so you should start by thinking through all of the leadership roles that people COULD take on.
  For example, let's say you're organizing a Lobby Day. Some possible roles might be: Media Coordinator, Lobby Meetings Coordinator, Materials Coordinator, Logistics Coordinator, Overall Recruitment Coordinator, Class Announcements Coordinator, Student Org Outreach Coordinator...
• Ask everyone to take on more leadership. Literally, everyone. It's OK to keep your eye out for rising stars, but you should work to see the leadership potential in everyone. Not everyone will say "yes" to taking on more leadership - but you'll never know until you ask!
  For example, let's say a new volunteer comes to your committee meeting for the first time. Ask them to take on some role immediately, that week. Then after they do that, ask them to take on more responsibility. And then more...
• Teach skills. One of the reasons that you're a leader in your SGA is that you have a set of skills that you've gotten really good at - like public speaking, running a meeting, and managing volunteers. When you first got involved with SGA, you probably weren't as good at those skills as you are now. One of the best things you can do to develop leaders is to train them in the skills they'll need. Always look for chances to teach people how to do the things you do.
• Give feedback. Along with training, feedback helps your members get better at what they do. And it builds their confidence, by letting them know what they did well and what they can improve for next time. Anytime someone completes a leadership role, make sure to take time to give them feedback.
  For example, let's say you ask a new SGA member to coordinate a table to collect student surveys. Afterwards, let them know what they did well and one thing to improve on for next time. (And then ask them to take on another leadership role!)
• Know people's motivations. Know why they got involved, what they want to get out of their experience, and what they're most excited about. That way you can ask them to take on a role that they'll be good at and excited about. Hot tip: you won't know this stuff until you ask, so take the opportunity to get to know your members!
  For example, let's say there's a great new volunteer on the Affordable Textbooks committee. You find out that they're actually really excited about social media, so you ask them to create and publicize a huge Make Textbooks Affordable fan page. They build their investment, and they help the campaign, while doing something they're excited to do.
• Challenge people. Ask people to take on more and more. You should offer responsibility and opportunity beyond what they ever thought they would be capable of. The sheer act of asking people to take on more and more will inspire confidence in them. If you're afraid it will scare them off, don't be - usually the worst that will happen is that they'll say no!

If you use these tips to constantly develop leaders - all the time, and with everyone who gets involved in your SGA - you'll build a stronger SGA that can continue making a big impact year after year.