HOW ARE WE PREPARING OUR LEADERS?
by
WBro. Tim Bryce
Among the hidden benefits of becoming a Mason is that it builds
character. It also helps develop our speaking and presentation
skills
as we learn catechisms and ritual. Aside from this, there is little
to
teach Lodge officers how to be leaders. Normally, when someone is
elected or appointed to a chair there is considerable on-the-job
training where they will inevitably make mistakes. By the time
someone
becomes Master of a Lodge they should know how to perform such tasks
as
preparing a budget, how to establish objectives, plan and schedule
activities, managing finances and investments, and set the Craft to
work
with proper instruction for their labor. Our rituals teach us some
valuable lessons regarding life, but not how to be a better a
leader.
It is a false assumption that just because someone sits in a chair in a
Masonic Lodge, they are suddenly possessed with the required knowledge
and skills to lead and manage. A person's professional background may
be such that they have never had any formal training or experience in
this regard. Although they may valiantly try to lead, inevitably, they
are ineffective and the Lodge flounders.
I believe one of the best vehicles for preparing someone to become an
effective Worshipful Master is to serve as a Little League umpire, which
I did for a number of years We take baseball pretty seriously down here
in Florida. Its not just a matter of volunteering your time. There are
several clinics to attend and books to study. Whereas coaches manage
their individual teams, umpires manage the game. From this experience,
I learned several things:
- Pre-game preparations (checking the condition of the field and
equipment, and briefing the coaches).
- The need for fair play,
- That nothing happens until the umpire makes the call.
(You should take your time so that you make the right call.)
- Make your calls loud and clear.
- Recognize when you have made a mistake and rectify it.
- Maintaining order and discipline on the field.
- Handling hecklers (my personal favorite).
- Sportsmanship.
- And how to properly dress as an umpire.
For those of you who have served as an umpire or a referee in other
sports, you know exactly what I am talking about. As a sports official,
you assume certain responsibilities that many other people depend on.
As such, it shouldn't be taken lightly and you should learn as much as
possible to do your job effectively.
Being a Worshipful Master is essentially no different. True, you have
to know Masonic ritual, but you must also know how to manage the Lodge,
and this involves developing planning and people skills. Very few Grand
Lodges offer programs to develop such skills, if any. I understand the
Grand Lodge of California has a program whereby officers must be
certified in order to graduate to another chair. This makes a lot of
sense to me. It gives the person a glimpse of what lies ahead of him
instead of learning it under fire.
I would like to see more robust training programs for officers to
properly prepare them for their job. To this end, I recently wrote a
paper entitled "Bryce's Crash Course in Management." This was done as
part of my management consulting business, but the lessons inculcated in
it are every bit as applicable to a Masonic Lodge as they are to a
commercial enterprise. The paper is free and you can download it
here.
Better yet, I developed a free 45 minute multimedia presentation on the
subject you can download
here.
As our membership declines and our expenses continue to rise, we need
to properly cultivate Lodge leaders to prepare them for the years ahead.
My paper is but one small step in that direction. Ideally, it would
be nice to see Grand Lodges develop more sophisticated programs to
develop the skills needed to steer our Lodges through the troubled
waters ahead.
Keep the Faith.
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