STB-94-07
MASONIC LEADERSHIP
By: E. Doyle Freeman
Bro. Freeman is a member and Past Master of Slidell
Lodge #311, Slidell, Louisiana. This article appeared in
the 4-94 issue of the Louisiana Freemason and is
reprinted with their permission.
Editor
Introduction
The role of a leader in a volunteer organization
is a special challenge. It requires thoughtful
understanding of the group to be led. This is
especially true in a Masonic organization,
because the lodge in most instances is composed of some members who have proven
capacities for leadership, and others who may
have had no training or experience in any type
of leadership role. Your role also requires an
understanding of Masonry, its tenets, its teachings, its practices, its organization, and the
authority and responsibility of the Worshipful
Master and other officers of the lodge, both
elected and appointed.
When leadership is discussed regarding the
Masonic lodge, it is extremely important to
understand the authority and responsibility of
the Worshipful Master. Because of the
Worshipful Master' s sovereign authority and
power within the lodge proceedings, a person
with little or no leadership qualities or training,
will be very ineffective in conducting the lodge
affairs and accomplishing the many objectives
and tasks that must be done during the year.
However, a Worshipful Master who can organize his plans for the year, can envision the
obstacles of manpower, monetary needs, time
restraints, etc. and can enlist the help of other
lodge members to work in a unified force
toward achieving the goals, will have a very
successful and enjoyable year as Worshipful
Master, and the lodge will benefit.
With these general precepts you must understand the unique composition of your own
lodge. Is it a young lodge? An older lodge?
Does it have specific areas of weakness that you
should address in your year? Knowing the
needs of your lodge will help you define your
role as the lodge's chief executive.
So, when do you begin to think about your
year as Worshipful Master and begin to plan for
it? Obviously, it should start long before you
are actually installed. You should start to prepare yourself as soon as you get elected or
appointed to your first station and have hopes
and ambitions of serving in the various chairs
and eventually becoming the Worshipful
Master.
The Junior Warden's station in some lodges
becomes the first real "test" of a person's leadership and planning abilities. For example, in
the Slidell Lodge, the Junior Warden is responsible for all refreshments at each meeting and
meals for all open meetings--working within
the budget, providing the food, preparing the
dining area, serving the members and guests,
cleanup, etc. A lot of preplanning, preparation
and coordination of many people are involved.
After this initial test, the Senior Warden's
position has relatively little outside responsibility, because it is here that the Senior Warden
develops his plans for his year as Worshipful
Master and begins to consider the most qualified, dedicated, and promising members for the
appointed positions. This is perhaps the most
critical year in the short career of a Worshipful
Master.
To be an effective leader of the lodge, you
must set realistic goals that may be implemented during the year. You must also evaluate
your position relative to the other members of
the lodge. Are you involved in any clique that
might make it difficult for you to lead effectively? It is essential to know where you stand
with others in any administrative position, but
particularly one in a volunteer organization.
What kind of Worshipful Master
do you want to be?
The way you view your leadership role will go
a long way toward shaping the decisions you
make as Worshipful Master. In any case, there
is one quality you will need to demand of yourself as leader--flexibility--because you will be
leading volunteers. You cannot overly reprimand or terminate them if they fail to perform.
That is to say you cannot be so critical and
harsh in your dealings with your fellow officers
and or members that you begin to alienate them
from acting as a team. Tact, consideration for
another's feelings, and common courtesy are
always good rules to follow.
What are the various styles of leadership?
With flexibility as the key, we can say that
there are three fundamental modes of leadership
in a volunteer organization: The leader who
shares responsibility; the leader who reconciles
differing factions; the leader who chiefly builds
on what has been done before. An unusually
gifted leader may be able to use all three styles
as the occasion demands, but most people will
tend to favor one style over the other.
1.) The sharing leader. Shares responsibility
with the other lodge of ficers. The sharing leader
may receive less public attention, but will surely achieve greater results than the Worshipful
Master who has difficulty delegating authority.
The role of this type of leader is that of delegator in the midst of personal interaction. NOTE:
As a point of information, it must be noted that
while authority may be delegated, you cannot
delegate responsibility. You may assign
responsibility to the person to whom you have
delegated authority so that person may effec-
tively accomplish the task assigned.
Although you may delegate authority and
assign the responsibility for performing, you as
Worshipful Master are still ultimately responsible for all that happens in the lodge during your
year.
2.) The reconciling leader. Even within the
fellowship of Masonry, there are times when
pressures and tensions create factions in the
lodge. No greater contribution to a lodge can be
made than by a Worshipful Master who strives
to restore harmony and friendship. Reconciling
leaders may not see their cherished projects
realized during their year in office, but will
undoubtedly pave the way for growth in many
areas for the Worshipful Masters who follow
him. During the term of such a Worshipful
Master, a lodge can solve thorny problems.
3.) The building leader. A Worshipful
Master should know what to change and what
to build on. Much energy is lost when a project
is launched one year and dropped the next,
before it is completed, and another is started in
its place. However, it is not an example of good
leadership to allow something to continue just
because "it's always been done that way."
SUMMING UP
Outstanding leaders of volunteers are realistic
people who can measure themselves and their
goals for the lodge in relation to the facts
around them: i.e., the resources and manpower
they have to work with, chiefly their committee
chairmen. Such leaders are able to keep their
forces in balance and to work to increase their
assets and diminish their liabilities.
BRIEF LEADERSHIP TIPS
Old fashioned leaders have a "heroic" concept
of their role. They must be everywhere at once
and do everything themselves. This is unfortunate because it stifles their committee mem-
bers' initiative. On the other hand, successful
leaders in a volunteer organization are friendly
and understanding; communicate frequently
and openly with their committee members; provide frequent encouragement and motivation;
praise lodge members for a job well done; harmonize differences; attempt to enable team
members to work to their full potential; take
pleasure in developing the leadership talents of
younger members in the lodge.
TIME MANAGEMENT:
AN INFALLIBLE RULE
Any number of books have been written on
how an executive should manage time, but
there is one sure pathway to more efficient use
of time, and it can be simply stated.
Because of your unique position and complete
authority as Worshipful Master of your lodge,
you are the only one who has ALL the relevant
information and resources to know the difference between which matters are truly important
for your lodge and which matters are merely
"urgent to the person who brings them to your
attention."
Your phone rings constantly, or will immediately upon your installation in the East, and you
know that certain matters are critical for you to
accomplish in a given time period. And you
know what should be deferred no matter how
urgent it seems to the person who brings it to
your attention. The rule: unless an emergency
interferes, keep your eye on the larger goals and
let the "merely urgent" wait--not too long--
but let it wait
LASTLY
As you continue your year in your present
position, and especially to those who will
assume positions of responsibility in their lodge
next year, please remember this little phrase,
and perhaps pass it along to your new officers:
Realize that you, in essence, have volunteered
to serve the lodge in either an elected or
appointed capacity.
Remember, you are a volunteer until you volunteer. Once you volunteer, you then are a
Mason with a job to do!
The following list of Short Talk Bulletins and
digests dealing with Masonic Leadership and
Program Development are also available
through the Masonic Service Association.
SHORT TALK BULLETINS
10-78 Attracting Masonic Leaders
2-87 Dare To Be Different
5-67 Keeper of the Springs
9-79 Leadership is Expected and
Respected
1-79 Masonic Maturity
1-81 Masonic Public Relations
2-41 Master
2-88 Master as Manager
10-83 Seminar Techniques that Work
6-47 Sword in the Stone, The
8-66 Short "Short Talks" for Special
Occasions
7-79 To Exist--or to Live
3-83 Who Leads the Leader?
12-61 Youth Programs for Boys and Girls
DIGESTS
Think Tank for Junior Wardens
The Hat and Gavel
Program Notebook for Worshipful Masters
Worshipful Masters Workbook
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