The fine art of leadership among peers: A national nutrition month fair

Abstract

As co-chairs of the most prestigious nutrition education annual public event held at the medical center, leadership is underscored as not only a major attribute, but an essential management skill requiring finesse and sensitivity. Without exception, we were charged with maintaining our existing workload while coordinating the efforts of our classmates to launch a dynamic multi-topical fair with six distinct booths and raffle prizes. Organizational efficiency necessitated the development of a master strategic plan to insure the smooth evolution of an interactive nutrition education experience that was zero budget based. The dietetic intern class was provided with a production schedule that required their interactive participation to: acquire proclamations from the mayor of the city and governor of the state; twenty-five major raffle gifts from area corporations; overall theme development; cafeteria menu analysis; patient theme program; booth theme topics and interactive activities; and internal and external publicity coverage. While identifying the obvious organizational elements followed textbook scenarios, what was not accounted for provided the greatest of challenges. Securing the dates and rooms with organizational conflict, developing press releases, coordinating the engineering department to build a buzzer board and wheel of nutrition on schedule, obtaining computers and printers, negotiating with printers and obtaining donation bids, and scheduling intern status meetings when scheduling was barely supportive of a quorum were just some of the challenges we faced. The stark reality of priorities in the workplace was underestimated when integrating with outside vendors, political figures, and the inherent corporate culture of our organization. Self-assuredness, effective communications, serial documentation, team spirit, anticipating the unknown, and a sense of humor were all leadership qualities that required rapid refinement to secure our effectiveness in unveiling the 1993 National Nutrition Month Fair. The fine art of directing, critiqueing, approving, rejecting, modifying, and supervising one's classmates to foster a team effort, respect the established plan, and maintain a sense of humor was the most invaluable experience to be learned from this event.