Purpose:
The purpose of the Individual Development Course (iDC) is to equip
the participants with a variety of personal, interpersonal, group,
and project management skills that will help them develop as leaders
in their professional lives, families, churches, communities, and
Lodges. The focus of this course is not on Masonic issues or skills
that are specifically related to Freemasonry, but rather on personal
skills to help them in their everyday lives. It is comparable to executive
management training courses given in the corporate world costing thousands
of dollars. A student completing this curriculum will be able to identify
his core values and goals, communicate those goals to others, create
and work with teams to achieve them, manage time effectively, mentor
and empower others, and develop an understanding of the process needed
to effect change in the behavior and attitudes of a group or community.
Curriculum:
• Identifying
core values |
• The hallmarks of an effective
group • Mentoring and empowering others • Dealing with difficult people • Project management methods • Social marketing and effecting change • Creating effective surveys • Evaluating and analyzing data • Creating a plan for personal growth • Understanding the levels of leadership |
Methodology:
The course is presented as a combination of individual study
and monthly face to face sessions held over a period of six months
at locations across the state. These group meetiings make take place at formally organized training centers or
locally in your own District if you have six to ten interested participants (including family members if your group so wishes). The sessions are designed to provide
the participants with the skills that they will need to develop as
leaders and to complete a final group project. The self-study component
consists of reading several chapters in the workbook, answering the review
questions for each, and preparing for the class breakout sessions by reviewing
the topics that will be discussed.
These chapters are designed to enable students to
absorb core concepts and information at their own pace. The format
of the monthly face to face sessions is a combination of breakout discussions where participants
can explore and further develop their new skills under the guidance
of a facilitator and project work where the skills are applied in practical situations. As
the course proceeds, students will begin to use
their skills as facilitators and project managers as they lead their
own groups under a facilitator’s supervision. They will employ
their skills in communications and dealing with diverse groups as
they survey other organizations, analyze the data, and employ the
process of social marketing to identify an issue and create a project
to effect a change in the attitude or behavior of a target group.
Students are expected to commit to attending all of the course sessions
and class prerequisites.