Out Chapter is thin on passing information from one leader to the next. I think its partly the fact that we have some relatively young leaders & the old guard either aren't around anymore or don't care to help. I think in the old days, like the 1990's, when new leaders took over, one of the old guys would take he or she out to lunch & talk about what had to be done. No on has the time for that anymore.
I recently recieved an e-mail from the Institute's Director of Membership or some such title. It was directed to all Chapter President's. She's putting together a Chapter President's Guide & asked if any chapters currently have one they would like to share. She then asked if any of us had ideas to include in her guide. Here's what I wrote in return:
"We do not have a President’s Guide in the Baltimore Chapter, but what I did receive from our Chapter Secretary shortly after taking office is an interesting collection of information. First, she has taken it upon herself to codify various Chapter policies that were discussed at length by the Chapter’s Board of Directors & finally agreed upon, but not necessarily written down. There were I believe 15 in the packet ranging from our Chapter financial status to membership levels & dues to reservations at our monthly meetings. The packet also included information on Robert’s Rules of Order, non-profit management, non-profit status in the eyes of the IRS and information on professional writing. I have found this information invaluable.
President’s need to have, have read & understand their Chapter’s by-laws. This is particularly important when the phone call comes that an Industry member has left his/her job & is no longer in the construction industry. This happened to me twice during my first term – 1 a Director & 1 our Treasurer. Its also important to understand what you can & cannot do as President, what requires board approval, etc.
President’s also need to understand how their office effects their standing within the Region. I think this may vary from Region to Region, but in the Middle Atlantic Region, each Chapter President is also a Region Director, so attendance at LOS & Region Conference is a necessity. This is why ever since taking office, I have tried to have my 1st VP attend each of these events with me so that she knows what to do when she assumes the presidency.
I feel it is the duty of each President to prepare his/her predecessor for taking the office. I came in fairly cold & my predecessor came in practically frozen. This has made some things very difficult. I think it is also why our 1st VP was not ready to be president when needed. I have made sure that she is ready when the time comes. Its little things like writing the President’s Message for the newsletter or putting an agenda together for the summer planning meetings; writing announcements for the monthly membership meetings & getting correspondence from the Institute. She needs to be aware of all of this.
Finally, the President needs to know that his/her performance dramatically affects the membership at large. We just went through FY 05 & 06 with lackadaisical presidents & our monthly attendance showed. If there is perceived instability at the top or worse, harsh or brusque personality at the top, the chapter will suffer. If there is inability to act or disorganization in the presidency, worse things can happen than low attendance. The president should have a vision of where the Chapter needs to go, not necessarily a plan of action to get there. The other leaders can help formulate the plan based on a collective agreement of the vision."
So then I got to thinking maybe we should put together a President's Guide for our Chapter. I could do the leg work & then let several past presidents review it. What should go into it besides what I listed above?
