Assignment/Activity Title— Managing editor of Silver Chips Online
Year— Junior
Skill— Group
Dynamics, Writing, Media
Portfolio Category— Advanced Exhibition
In the spring of my junior year, the Silver
Chips Online staff chose me (along with one other person) to become a managing
editor of the publication. This is a position that doesn't exist in Silver
Chips print, and basically what it means is that along with continuing to write
stories – one every cycle – I also edit almost every story that gets published
on the site. Managing editors receive the stories after they send them to the
section editors and before they get sent to the Editors-in-Chief (EiCs), and we're
also a part of the administrative team. Apart from editing and writing stories,
the managing editors are also in charge of checking in on staff morale and
helping the junior writers with any questions or concerns they have. Over the
course of just a few months as acting managing editor, I've not only begun to
establish a personal leadership style but also learn some things about myself –
all the while keeping the publication running smoothly.
I consider myself a leader. Between
captaining an NCSL division one soccer team for multiple years (as well as the
Blair junior varsity boys team in my sophomore year) and my position as
founding member of the Sweet Truth, I had confidence in my leadership
abilities. What I didn't realize, though, was that this organization was
different – instead of leading by example, it was more about taking a
pedagogical approach to foster new talents and writers.
My first lesson came just a month
after I assumed my new position. I was still learning what I needed to do, and
was unsure of what was expected of me. I received a feature article on a new
teacher from a junior staff writer, and sat down to edit it. As I read,
however, I came to the realization that the article was a stellar piece of
writing. Apart from some minor changes, I left it pretty much alone – and that
troubled me. I felt like I was slacking; not doing my job in some way. But I
eventually realized that just doesn't because I'm a senior editor doesn't mean
I need to create problems with a story – if the writing's good, then it's good.
The truth of the matter is that you should change the story no more than it
truly needs, even if that means making barely any edits. This was the first
step in defining my leadership style – an ability to let things go. Not necessarily
taking too much of a laissez-faire approach, but being flexible enough to recognize
when you're not needed is one of the key characteristics of a successful
leader. At the same time, however, you need to be able to reverse that: if a
story is awful, it's my responsibility to try and fix it. It's a constant
effort to find the balance between being helpful and overpowering a story.
My group dynamic skills and
capability for empathy also developed as a result of this position. Late last
year, I received an email from a new staff writer that I found to be
exceedingly rude. After showing it to and discussing it with Ms. Edwards, the
publication's teacher advisor, I sent her edits back with a request for the
writer to be more courteous in the future. She never replied, and eventually
dropped the class a couple weeks later. This was the first situation I've ever
been in where a first impression led to a bad business relationship, and it
reinforced my own desire to be as polite and honest as possible. The phrase
'you only get one chance to make a first impression' is a common one, but I
never really realized the impact that being rude could have until I was on the
receiving end of it.
I also ran into trouble with the
publication's other managing editor. She consistently slacked off over the
summer, forcing me to keep checking in on her and do more than my share of the
work. While normally I would have let her take the hit for her
unproductiveness, this time it was too much of an issue to ignore. Apart from creating
more work for me, her reluctance to edit anything also slowed down our site (in
that we couldn't publish stories until she had looked at them) – and above all,
it's disrespectful to the writer whose story it is. And when the school year
finally started, things didn't get any better. Along with letting stories sit
in our joint email's inbox for days, she also steamrolls over every meeting and
won't let me get a word in edgewise. I was originally going to go to Ms.
Edwards and complain, but when I thought about it I realized that there are a
couple things wrong with that: it probably won't accomplish anything, and it's
also unfair to the other managing editor. So I went and talked to her. We had
an nice, open, honest conversation about each of our expectations and
responsibilities, and now – not to be cliché – everything's better. Whereas a
year ago I would have either been extremely passive-aggressive until she got
the hint or gone straight to Ms. Edwards with my concerns, working as managing
editor on Silver Chips Online has taught me to deal with my problems head-on.
It's better for group dynamics and relations to deal with problems immediately
(and politely) than to let them fester and grow.
As managing editor, I'm also in
charge of grading my classmates on the quality of their stories. This is a
tricky thing to do, since I have to give them what I think they deserve – but
at the same time don't want to risk alienating myself from my peers. For
example, at one point one of the seniors on staff accidentally skipped managing
and sent her story straight to the EiCs. While I felt bad for her and didn't
want to hurt her grade, I had no choice but to give her a zero for the story.
Silver Chips Online is teaching me that leadership involves a balance between
being everybody's friend and being able to act independently of social
expectations, something that I haven't had the opportunity to learn on the
soccer field or working with Sugar Free Kids.
I've also been struggling slightly
with receiving edits on my own stories. When I got edits back last year, I
didn't think too much about them. I just made the indicated changes and sent
the story to the next editor. Now, however, I'm being edited by my peers.
Because we have the same level of experience (along with the fact that I feel
I'm a better writer than some of them), I'm more inclined to argue about or
ignore edits that I disagree with. I got into a heated discussion with my EiC
recently where she ended it by saying that "the fact of the matter is, the
EiCs are in charge of what finally goes up on the site. I still have to power
to edit your story how I see fit (and likely will). Yes, editing is often
subjective and our styles may not agree, but that's just the way of the
paper." I just don't agree with this. Each piece of writing is the
property of the staff member who created it, and that person should have final
say in what the article says or looks like – unless there's a serious issue
with something in the piece, the EiCs should accept the writer's decision.
Working with the Silver Chips Online staff is helping me understand that even
when I feel that I'm right about something, I need to be able to have a
civilized discussion about it. The snapping back and forth at each other that
my EiC and I was doing wasn't productive at all, and it wasn't until I asked
her about it in a more courteous tone that she finally discussed it with me.
Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and calm down in order to make your
case and maintain good relations. In this case, it worked – my EiC reconsidered
what she'd said and ended up letting me keep my story the way I wanted it.
Between helping me better understand
group dynamics and engage in a positive way with other people, serving as
managing editor for Silver Chips Online is allowing me to help define and
establish my own leadership style. I am a leader who is able to let things go
but also knows when to step in and intervene, a leader who knows how to deal
with disrespect and issues with another person while still maintaining positive
relationships. Silver Chips Online has helped me develop myself into a
respectable and successful leader, and has given me skills that I will be able
to take and use no matter where I go in life.
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