July,2002
SELF ASSESSMENT
I’m always rather critical of myself. I just chaired my first Board of
Director’s meeting on Sunday. Personally, I give myself a rating of 4 on a
scale of 1 through 10. I gave the participants a ranking of 8. Wayne, thanks for
keeping me on track. Shelley, thanks for keeping me in line. Dale, thanks for
caring so much and showing so much desire. Turk, thanks for that stare from the
back of the room. Believe me, I saw it. Ray and Naomi, thanks for not running
and screaming into the night. Danny, thanks for the ideas like the
organizational name and the things that may be holding us back. John, thanks for
stepping into the fire. Yog, thanks for the level headedness and caution. Beefy,
thanks for not pointing and giggling. Mike and Batman, thanks for your belief
that it can work. Merf, thanks for the commitment. Patti and Stina, thanks for
the support. Nancy, thanks for everything you do – which is too much to list.
Dean, thanks for covering my backside – a big job if there ever was one. And
to every single other one of you who was there - Toby, Redneck, Corky, Tony, (I
wish I has a photo so I could go through it and not miss anyone – and I know I’ll
miss some) – Thanks for putting up with me. What a great organization!
I knew I was bringing in a lot of new ideas and a different focus to the
group. But I tried to warn you. We got through a lot. There are many things that
you now have to take back to your charters. I hope you took good notes. I know
the minutes are coming to you along with supporting information so don’t feel
too overwhelmed.
I never claimed to know exactly what I’m doing. If any of you thought you
were getting a polished, "Robert’s Rules of Order" stickler I guess
I proved otherwise. But I’ll try harder next time.
I’m not one much for playing politics. Funny, I’m on contract with the
state of Tennessee and see it being played out in its finest form every day. I
sat in a conference the other day and watch three people script out a meeting
they were going to have in the future with others involved. They were all
concerned about getting the flow and the process just right. Something like -- I’ll
say ‘this’ and that will open the door for you to ask ‘this’ question
and then you can say ‘this’…. All of this wasted time and energy in order
to make people think that something wasn’t so – that this initial meeting
hadn’t taken place. All of this waste so someone could feign surprise and
bewilderment at a question she knew was coming. They looked at me and I said,
"I’m sorry, I don’t play politics. Leave me out of this." I looked
at the lady in charge and asked if she was in charge. She said yes. So I asked,
"Then why don’t you just call a meeting and bring up what you know needs
to be discussed?" The look of shock and disgust was incredible. "Then
they’d know we were talking about this beforehand!" God forbid that this
new director be allowed to talk with people and find out what’s going on. I
thought that was her job.
Well, as many of you know, I brought up a lot of ideas at the meeting this
last weekend and I came straight down the middle. I spoke with most chairmen and
a number of charter officers over the last few weeks and let everyone know what
was coming so that there were no surprises. I didn’t ask them to propose these
changes. I asked for their ideas and incorporated a lot of them in my
submittals. But, I didn’t ask anyone to carry my water. If the ideas stunk I
wanted it to stink on me, not them. And frankly, some of them stunk – but not
all of them.
So, now you know what my plan is: Standing Committees for Activities,
Membership, Products, Safety, Communications and Fiscal Oversight; 6 month
memberships for MSF Graduates; a few By-Law changes such as anti-discrimination
and members-at-large; multiple pieces of legislation and Membership retention
and growth. I’d like each of these committees (if the plan is approved) to get
working as soon as possible and bring their ideas, schedules, budgets and plans
to the BOD as soon as possible. Now it’s in your hands.
Did I put my foot in my mouth? You bet. Could I have handles certain things
differently? Yup! Turk, no disrespect intended. I really am colorblind. Heck
some of my closest friends are white folk.
Remember, you can always impeach me. I’m expecting that vote to come on
September 8th. I’m a life member. I can always sit in the back of
the room.
Until then, just ride…
Steve
