The sole purpose of the Junior Chamber movement is to meet the personal and career development needs of young women and men. The personal improvement philosophy is what we inspire Jaycees to live by.
More than 75 years ago, Henry Giessenbier and a group of young men in St. Louis established the junior Chamber for personal reasons. They wanted to move ahead in their careers and their lives, but they faced a classic "catch-22". To advance they needed more experience, but the only way to get more experience was to advance. They found they faced similar problems and had different solutions.
That diversity became their strength.
Coming from a variety of backgrounds, they discovered they ALL possessed a wide range of talents, skills and abilities that, if harnessed, would excel their careers in ways no body every imagined.
With the help and guidance of established civic and business leaders, the St. Louis group determined its own needs and set about meeting those needs. To advance in their careers, members needed skills in planning, budgeting, training, communication and supervision. To gain those skills, they channeled their collective efforts in a unified direction.
Committees were formed. Chairmen elected. Goals set. Timetables established. Resources marshaled. Management and workers trained. Manpower took action.
They built the organization.
Membership swelled from 32 to 750 members in just five months. Lectures, speakers and training sessions provided the group with "classroom" knowledge. But some laboratory-like vehicle was needed for members to practice what they learned. Community service projects were the answer.
Community projects allowed practical application of the lessons learned in the classroom. Members built a parkway, conducted a citywide clean-up effort. and promoted a community pride campaign. Like a well-oiled machine, the diverse parts of the junior Chamber movement began to work toward the common goal - building better people.
Leadership training through community service.
Today the junior Chamber is re-emphasizing its purpose: Provide the opportunity for personal development and leadership training through community service and organizational involvement. Everything in the Junior Chamber is Individual Development. Every project, every meeting, every experience expands the abilities of Jaycees. Each new situation presents opportunities and choices. Actions are the results of choosing. Personal improvement is achieved through each set of circumstances. Ideas are conceived. Beliefs are strengthened. Opinions are formed. Memories are mentally filed away for future reference and use.
An equilateral triangle depicts the total Junior Chamber concept. Each side represents an area of activity or involvement. Yet Individual Development is more than just one side of the triangle - ID encompasses the entire triangle, all three sides, inside and out.
Experiential learning
Chapter projects serve as a vehicle for hands-on learning. "Off-the-job" training while benefiting society is how Junior Chamber members transform classroom learning into self-improvement. All the skills to plan, promote and manage a junior Chamber project are directly transferable to real-life situations. Community Development projects are the "laboratory" where Kunior Chamber members learn while doing!
Activation and retention programs like Springboard, Degrees of Jaycees and Leadership Academy are the basic tools needed for human resource development. Chapter Planning Guides, Blue Chip and Chairman's Planning Guides are systems and strategies to harness and channel available resources to achieve desired results. Each position or office in a chapter or state organization offers even greater opportunities for responsibility, authority and leadership.
To supplement the multitude of personal development experiences available through involvement in the Junior Chamber organization, resource materials are available to help members expand their knowledge. The "Dynamics" series has provided solid, proven information.
For years, junior Chamber members have used the concepts in Communication Dynamics, Leadership Dynamics, Personal Dynamics and Time Dynamics to improve their life skills. In 1991, responding to the need for new materials, The U.S. junior Chamber of Commerce introduced all-new workbooks, audio cassette programs and videotapes designed to further strengthen members' abilities.
Many chapters and state organizations have developed comprehensive programs to help build personal and professional skills. junior Chamber International also offers a wide variety of programs and materials, including its Training Academy programs PRIME and EXCEL, to train and develop new junior Chamber trainers and instructors.
Whatever the needs for personal improvement, we have the means available to meet those needs! A multitude of resources and personal development opportunities sit quietly in the community, waiting for us to tap their riches. The topic, breadth and scope of Individual Development programs are limited only by our imaginations.
Constant and never-ending improvement.
Each of us is an unfinished product. We all have "rough edges" to smooth and exceptional skills to polish. We must be seekers of knowledge! Opportunity knocks but once, and often so softly that it's unnoticed. To grow as individuals, we must proactively seek experiences and situations that stretch our limitations and expand our minds.
You have probably heard, "You only get out of something what you put in to it." In the Junior Chamber, it could be more accurately stated, "You only get out of your Junior Chamber experience what you take from it."
The opportunity to grow as a person is here. But members must recognize those opportunities and use them to their advantage, to selfishly strive to improve.
Building better people is what the Junior Chamber is all about!
Join the Jaycees in your community today!
