[TheForge] Questions regarding group leadership

[Bruce Freeman]

I would like to put a bug in peoples ear that
sometimes the best way to lead is not to.

Altogether too many people in positions of leadership
get the impression that everyone is waiting for them
to take the lead.  My impression is that mostly
they're wanting you to get out of their way so that
they can do what they want.

A typical organization has a president, one or more
vice presidents, maybe a past president and an
incoming president, treasurer, chairman of membership,
ways and means, programs, etc., etc., ad naseum.  Each
one has his little fiefdom which he either runs or
doesn't.  If he doesn't, he blocks progress.  But if
he runs it, he probably runs it to his pleasure and no
one else's.  (Part of the problem, of course, is that
these chairmen  amount to committees of one in most
organizations, i.e., officers.)

When I wrote the NJBA bylaws, I took those ideas into
account.  We have no officers, just directors.  That
way no one can get in the way of progress.  No
"program chairman" can stop us from having good
programs.  No "president" can strut his stuff and get
in the way of the organization working to the benefit
of its members.

Once a year we have an elections meeting.  Typically,
we just reelect the current slate of directors, but
any member can move that the elections be run
separately for each director.  Anyone can
self-nominate.  There's no limit to the number on the
board, so no one is ever defeated in an election
(though separate elections for each director would
permit that if necessary).

Between elections meetings, the board can elect new
directors for terms ending at the next elections
meeting.  Hence, the minute we spot an active member,
we draft him onto the board (so to speak) and involve
him.  As a result we have a board of about 15
directors, of whom we almost always get a quorum of
1/3 at board meetings.  We have one director who
considered resigning a few years back when he got on
the board of Peters Valley - because he didn't think
he'd have time for both.  I told him not to be silly -
being on the board of PV WAS an NJBA activity as far
as I was concerned!

What happens in an organization like ours is that you
get essentially two levels of membership, not based on
privilege, but on interest.  Most of our members hang
back, read the newsletter, attend meetings either
frequently or occassionally, but show little or no
interest to do more.  Then there are those of us who
are more active, arranging programs or putting on
workshops for our monthly membership meetings, running
or assisting at our weekly open forge meetings, etc. 
(Kind of a club within a club, but NOT an exclusive
one.) Yet with fifteen directors, this proves not to
be very much work for any of us.

In short, by letting interested people contribute in
ways they're interested in, we have a very dynamic
group and seem to well please the membership.

Bruce
NJ


--- David Childress <trollkeep at gmail.com> wrote:

> I realize that I am a little slow on this Thread,
> but I am also
> running for the Board of our Statewide
> Association.(Indiana)  I know
> what the Members that I regualerly see would like to
> see change and I
> have a vision of a goal, that everyone at least will
> someday know
> someone who practices our craft.  This will require
> many new
> blacksmiths and many more visiable blacksmiths.  I
> would like to be
> able to go to Menards and buy a pair of tongs
> because there is enough
> demand to make it worth their while to carry tongs. 
> How to do this I
> only begin to know but I am willing to try.  Any
> suggestion How?

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