I've been leading the Methodist Team of the Odyssey for about four-ish months now, and through this experience, I have learned a lot, not just about leadership, but also on how to lead a team of extremely talented writers every single week. I give to you eight things that every Odyssey Editor in Chief should know.
1. Your team will not submit articles unless YOU submit articles.
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EIC's aren't rulers in a castle, lording over their team and doing barely any work. We are also writers, and thus have a duty to produce articles weekly. The Editor has to be at the forefront of the team, and without setting that example, the team will not want to submit.
2. Not every week is going to be a good week.
Life happens, and sometimes it happens to everyone all at once. There will be a few weeks that not everyone will submit an article. (AND THAT'S OK). As long as there is a good communication with your team, these weeks can be easily managed. It is good to have an alternative though, which brings us too...
3. Try to get everyone to have a good backup.
Bad weeks do happen, and when they do, it can hinder a team's progress. This can be taken care of easily though, if team members have a backup article. These are just non-dated articles that each member will have written and unpublished just in case there is a week where the writer cannot write a new article. This keeps the team going strong and let's the writers take care of their lives.
4. Respect your team members.
People have differing opinions. It is just a fact of life. A writer on your team may submit an article about something you disagree on. As an EIC, you have to be able to think objectively and not use your editing permissions to change the work of your writer. It's just common decency
5. Clickbait will never EVER go away.
Coming up with a fun/interesting blurb for social media share is TOUGH. It is hard to entice a reader with one sentence in the hope that they will read your article. One thing a lot of people will do without thinking is resorting to clickbait blurbs. These are things like "You won't believe what this food does to you" or "Man cheated on his wife, you won't believe what happened next!". These are bad. Every EIC has had to deal with at least one writer who has wandered into this dangerous territory.
6. Communication is key.
If an EIC doesn't communicate with their team, then the team will fail. It's sad but very very true. It is vital to a successful team for there to be good back and forth communication. It's that simple.
7. Not all articles are gems.
Some weeks are poor because of a lack of articles. These are strained weeks for an entire team, but sometimes writers will have a bad week, and submit an article that is sub-par. The important part of the job is to help a writer who is having a bad week, to help them workshop their articles so a bad article can become a good article.
8. Your team is your strength.
Without your team, you are nothing. As an EIC, I have learned so much from my team, and I am so very grateful that I have the opportunity to lead them in this venture. All are amazing writers and I hold each of them in a high regard.
