Sidney Dietze on Leadership

I’m so excited to introduce you to the sweet Sidney Dietze today! Sidney currently serves as the president of Tri Delta’s Beta Tau chapter at Baylor University and is the social media manager for Baylor’s Communications department. In the short time I’ve known her, I’ve been so inspired watching how she leads and loves others so well. We sat down one Tuesday in October in downtown Waco and talked all things college community, being a good leader, and loving others intentionally.

Okay, getting started… tell me a little about how you came to Baylor and what you are currently involved in here.

Both of my parents and most of my extended family went to Baylor so I’ve wanted to come here ever since I can remember and wanted to live in that legacy of them. I think coming here I wanted and needed community. I grew up in a small town where everyone knew each other and so finding community was super important for me. 

Both of my parents were in Greek life and I knew that at Baylor Greek life was very different than a lot of other places, so coming into that and getting involved in a sorority was something I planned on. I wanted to invest in that community and was able to hold a leadership position each year I was there, which was really fun. 

As far as at Baylor, I’m also the communications department social media manager, so I’ve become apart of that community and been able to pour into that side of my academics and really get to know professors and build those relationships which has been really cool. I also get to meet the students within my major. I think that’s typically difficult at an institution this size, because while Baylor does feel small, you really don’t know everyone and so being the social media manager for the communications department has been a really cool way of getting to see the diversity and all the different people involved.

How did you decide what you wanted to invest in here?

I think my whole goal coming into Baylor was community and I wanted to invest in whatever was going to give it to me. I came in premed first semester and I really struggled to find community there which made me want it even more. I think finding Tri Delta and a group of girls that I felt were like-minded and driven - that was really the community I clung to. It was a community that loved the Lord and wanted to serve and I saw that in them and I wanted a part of that.

How have you been poured into here? Are there professors or mentors at Baylor who have encouraged you through the years?

Coming to Baylor, I didn’t know a lot of people, but there was one girl I knew from my high school who was someone I had always looked up to. She was always so faithful in the Lord, she poured into everyone she met, she gave, she served, and she was a Tri Delt a year older than me. She was from my hometown and I always looked up to her as this really influential person coming into Baylor that made me feel comfortable.. and just made this place feel like home.

Since I’ve been at Baylor, I’ve been able to get close with my professors and Dr. Jane Damron specifically has been someone I’ve really looked up to. Her drive and her ability to connect with people and to build community has been really neat to watch. I’ve learned so much by the way that she is so inclusive and loves people well and wants to serve the department the best she can. She is so driven and so talented in everything she does and always keeps my perspective grounded so she’s definitely been someone I look to for advice for the future and things like that.

Going into leadership in Tri Delt, did you have any advice given to you or values or principles you knew you wanted to keep in mind going into presidency this year?

Well, first of all, I never would have expected to end up where I am right now. I was in leadership in high school, but I figured this is such a big university, there are so many girls, this is just not going to be me. I think really my goal was just to be put in a position where I could love people and I’ve never been one to be super harsh or direct and I thought that being president that you would have to do that. So I was like “oh, there’s no way I’m going to be that.” I really went in with the mindset of wanting to love people and make them feel welcome and encouraged and empowered, so I just wanted to be put in a position to do that. I didn’t really know what that would look like, but knew that that was what I wanted to do and that this group of women would place me where that was evident. I definitely didn’t think that would be president, but it is, and I tell people that you know, 95% of the time I have no idea what I’m doing, but I know that I need to love people and I need them to feel accepted. They joined this group to be able to be themselves and I want to empower them to do that and allow them to be surrounded by a community that’s full of good role models and that keeps them accountable. So that’s what I try to do and I try to be open and approachable. I don’t want to change anyone. Obviously there are rules, but we’re called to love people and I think that’s definitely what I’m trying to do as president.

What does loving and encouraging people like that look like practically for you?

I think just making myself available to being able to talk to people. One of the main things I’ve found from the leaders I look up to is that you’re not afraid to bring issues to them. You don’t feel like it’s not their problem or that they’re going to think your problem is stupid. So practically I’ve just made myself available to that. I’ve also tried to be intentional with the encouragement that I give and in the things that I let go. I think being a leader is making sense of which problems are worth tackling and which ones are allowing people to learn. Being able to let problems go in order to let girls learn has been something that I didn’t really know beforehand. Also delegating - I was really really bad at that at the beginning. But delegating has been one way of, one, not being completely overwhelmed, and two, being able to give girls the opportunity to show their leadership too. If I did everything, there’d be no point for other leaders and there totally is a need for that. So delegating tasks has been a really fun way to watch girls be empowered to do things that they want to do. 

Does the amount of time you have to lead, just one year as president, shape your priorities in the role?

Yes! It goes by so fast and it definitely makes your time much more valuable because you don’t have a ton of time to do the things you want to do so you have to be very proactive. That’s something I’ve really learned with the things I’ve wanted to make an impact on, or the things I’ve wanted to accomplish or help people with-- there’s just not a lot of time so you have to be quick on your feet and make time for what you care about. It’s definitely a shift in priorities. When I first started presidency, I told everyone that it’s like relearning how to time manage because it is a job. It’s a fun job and I love it, but it is a job and it’s work and so I think that that temporary mindset allowed me to push through the work knowing that it’s not forever. It’s been fun to see how much can change and how much I can empower these women in the short amount of time that I have. There are times when I think about how I get to be such a small part of the history and story of Tri Delt and that’s been really cool just to see that I can be a small part of it all. Also with that short time there’s not the pressure that I’m going to screw things up forever! I just get to contribute which is really cool.

Any parting words of wisdom or encouragement for young women entering or pursuing leadership? 

Please never sell yourself short. I never in a million years would have thought I would be president of our chapter and I think it’s important to realize and recognize that people see things in you that you can’t see in yourself. So when you think you can’t do something, it doesn’t mean you can’t… we’re just extremely critical of ourselves. I think talking to people and having people affirm you in what you can do is extremely beneficial to your character and your confidence in that. Also I think as a Christian woman, believing and praying in the Lord to give you those abilities is so important. There are still times to do this day where I feel like I can’t do some part of this job and I’m constantly in prayer asking the Lord to help me through it because I can’t do it on my own. So I think being in prayer during leadership is super important because there is pressure on you but ultimately the Lord takes that and those anxieties away from you. 

And then just be confident even when you’re not 100% sure what you’re doing. People value that and they don’t expect you to be perfect. That’s something I didn’t realize at the beginning because I was so stressed about being perfect, when in reality your followers, or your members, are not expecting you to be perfect. Just be confident in what you’re doing because you were selected for a reason. And lastly… just love people and give grace where grace is due. Know that everyone is human and you’re human and you’re allowed to mess up and they’re allowed to mess up. Just be open to having those conversations and loving and empowering everyone you can.