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Effective Lodge Leaders

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John Loayza, Assistant Grand Chancellor
Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M.
April 2017​

Brethren, successful lodges or other organizations come from effective lodge leaders who generally follow a certain pattern of doing things every day. Therefore, let’s examine some of the criteria which many effective lodge leaders use, such as:

1-TURNING TO OTHERS FOR IDEAS-Successful lodge leaders know that they can’t do everything by themselves. They search for new and innovative ideas from the world around them. Thus, they use a macro approach rather than a micro approach in developing their lodges and their lodge officers. What occurs next is an emphasis on the lodge officer team which in turn alleviates the burdens of the Worshipful Master while empowering the officer corps and other members to feel that they are making a valuable contribution to the lodge.

When we empower and encourage others, this method will lead to a broader thinking and gathering of more ideas to move the lodge in a positive manner. This is a process that indicates and allows a better execution of ideas and not only generates more value but also leads to a greater overall engagement of all lodge officers or members that helps in achieving a mission.

Therefore, the recognition of all ideas creates a lodge environment that encourages creativity and acceptance while identifying the true potential leaders within a lodge. No matter what, it’s important for lodge officers to work with others at all levels to become innovative. Then the lodge officers should congratulate them for having the courage to share their ideas (good or bad). It’s important to teach our members not to be offended if their ideas are not considered good, because discarded ideas may often lead to something better.

2-OVER-COMMUNICATE-One of the biggest issues that many ineffective lodge leaders have is how well they and how often they communicate with their other lodge officers and the lodge in general. Breakdowns in communication usually lead to confusion and conflicts. Ergo, it’s best to err on the side of over communicating.

Getting everyone in any organization to buy into a mission, project or anything else is critical, just as it is in constantly repeating the lodge mission frequently, and without any reservations. Then this leads to everyone doing his part in reaching the lodge goals. It’s important to create an open and honest feedback into what’s working and what’s not, in order for everyone to feel that they are part of the conversation. Moreover, this process leads to building a lodge organizational trust which is the basis of all lodge relationships.

3-MEASURE EVERYTHING-The main goal of a lodge leader is to have everyone working together to improve his lodge. However, there can be no lodge improvement if we don’t constantly measure or analyze what is being done by the lodge. Corporations do this on a consistent basis, otherwise they lose their customer base and eventually go out of business. Thus, effective lodge leaders understand that consistent analysis of lodge activity (events, member and family participation/growth, officer development, financial/sales/marketing/management/communications/community activity, etc.) all contribute to understanding of what needs to be done next.

All organizations should always consider their value proposition and how they are positioning themselves with the members and to the public. When we consider our lodge strategy, we need to bundle up metrics with which to measure the inputs, processes, and outputs of our programs. In other words we need to know what worked, why it worked or how it failed. Only through measuring or analyzing our lodge efforts can we establish a baseline and take action for improvement.

4-EMBRACE MISTAKES-Failure is difficult to accept but is also an important learning experience to help make better future decisions. The best lodge leaders know to embrace mistakes but not lament them. Any innovative leader recognizes that an organization can stumble into a great idea if he is willing to fully diagnose the issue. However many lodge officers prefer to quickly push past or close their eyes to problems, instead of analyzing them. Thus, other lodge officers are bound to repeat them in the future.

It’s essential that lodge officers stop and analyze issues because sometimes a small change can produce a breakthrough into a positive venue instead of a negative one. This process needs to be explained to the other lodge officers in order to help them become more effective, and there is no shame in making a mistake, if the lodge officers learn from them. Unfortunately, many lodge officers are afraid of making mistakes, thus, the effective lodge officer needs to emphasize that failure is a learning process which everyone goes through, and it shouldn’t stop others from contributing innovative ideas.

5-BULIDING RESILIENCE-All organizations face their share of challenges, and a lodge leader is responsible for guiding his lodge through those rough and rugged issues. Resilience pertains to being strong enough to adapt to and bounce back from any setback or obstacle. It’s a characteristic of an effective lodge leader.

Being focused and resilient are essential characteristics in a good lodge leader. He must focus on a long term strategy with objectives, and must have a unwavering resilience to lead his lodge officer team through any failures into success. This is a vital trait of an exceptional lodge leader.

6-ZOOM OUT-There are many small tasks on a lodge leader’s plate, and he can easily be caught up in day to day processes and may lose sight of what he should be working towards. However, the most effective lodge leaders should keep their eyes on the big picture or macro versus micro management of the lodge. Otherwise, micro management makes it more difficult to making lodge decisions that affect longer term goals.

The effective lodge leader will clearly outline the strategic lodge business plan to his lodge officer team, and then he empowers them to make the necessary daily decisions to make it happen. By focusing on the macro picture of the lodge business plan, he can establish the necessary benchmarks for his officer team, and also set any tweaking and checkpoints throughout the year to measure lodge progress.

7-GET REAL-All effective lodge leaders need a sense of healthy, realistic optimism in their approach. However, the key word is being realistic; it’s necessary to be honest with oneself about one’s own ideas but not be shortsighted or to proud to admit that one’s ideas may not be the best. Perseverance is necessary to get things done but persevering on the wrong path is also the enemy of success.

Hopefully, these seven points will be useful to you as effective leaders of your own lodges.
 

Ancient Balance

Registered User
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John Loayza, Assistant Grand Chancellor
Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M.
April 2017​

Brethren, successful lodges or other organizations come from effective lodge leaders who generally follow a certain pattern of doing things every day. Therefore, let’s examine some of the criteria which many effective lodge leaders use, such as:

1-TURNING TO OTHERS FOR IDEAS-Successful lodge leaders know that they can’t do everything by themselves. They search for new and innovative ideas from the world around them. Thus, they use a macro approach rather than a micro approach in developing their lodges and their lodge officers. What occurs next is an emphasis on the lodge officer team which in turn alleviates the burdens of the Worshipful Master while empowering the officer corps and other members to feel that they are making a valuable contribution to the lodge.

When we empower and encourage others, this method will lead to a broader thinking and gathering of more ideas to move the lodge in a positive manner. This is a process that indicates and allows a better execution of ideas and not only generates more value but also leads to a greater overall engagement of all lodge officers or members that helps in achieving a mission.

Therefore, the recognition of all ideas creates a lodge environment that encourages creativity and acceptance while identifying the true potential leaders within a lodge. No matter what, it’s important for lodge officers to work with others at all levels to become innovative. Then the lodge officers should congratulate them for having the courage to share their ideas (good or bad). It’s important to teach our members not to be offended if their ideas are not considered good, because discarded ideas may often lead to something better.

2-OVER-COMMUNICATE-One of the biggest issues that many ineffective lodge leaders have is how well they and how often they communicate with their other lodge officers and the lodge in general. Breakdowns in communication usually lead to confusion and conflicts. Ergo, it’s best to err on the side of over communicating.

Getting everyone in any organization to buy into a mission, project or anything else is critical, just as it is in constantly repeating the lodge mission frequently, and without any reservations. Then this leads to everyone doing his part in reaching the lodge goals. It’s important to create an open and honest feedback into what’s working and what’s not, in order for everyone to feel that they are part of the conversation. Moreover, this process leads to building a lodge organizational trust which is the basis of all lodge relationships.

3-MEASURE EVERYTHING-The main goal of a lodge leader is to have everyone working together to improve his lodge. However, there can be no lodge improvement if we don’t constantly measure or analyze what is being done by the lodge. Corporations do this on a consistent basis, otherwise they lose their customer base and eventually go out of business. Thus, effective lodge leaders understand that consistent analysis of lodge activity (events, member and family participation/growth, officer development, financial/sales/marketing/management/communications/community activity, etc.) all contribute to understanding of what needs to be done next.

All organizations should always consider their value proposition and how they are positioning themselves with the members and to the public. When we consider our lodge strategy, we need to bundle up metrics with which to measure the inputs, processes, and outputs of our programs. In other words we need to know what worked, why it worked or how it failed. Only through measuring or analyzing our lodge efforts can we establish a baseline and take action for improvement.

4-EMBRACE MISTAKES-Failure is difficult to accept but is also an important learning experience to help make better future decisions. The best lodge leaders know to embrace mistakes but not lament them. Any innovative leader recognizes that an organization can stumble into a great idea if he is willing to fully diagnose the issue. However many lodge officers prefer to quickly push past or close their eyes to problems, instead of analyzing them. Thus, other lodge officers are bound to repeat them in the future.

It’s essential that lodge officers stop and analyze issues because sometimes a small change can produce a breakthrough into a positive venue instead of a negative one. This process needs to be explained to the other lodge officers in order to help them become more effective, and there is no shame in making a mistake, if the lodge officers learn from them. Unfortunately, many lodge officers are afraid of making mistakes, thus, the effective lodge officer needs to emphasize that failure is a learning process which everyone goes through, and it shouldn’t stop others from contributing innovative ideas.

5-BULIDING RESILIENCE-All organizations face their share of challenges, and a lodge leader is responsible for guiding his lodge through those rough and rugged issues. Resilience pertains to being strong enough to adapt to and bounce back from any setback or obstacle. It’s a characteristic of an effective lodge leader.

Being focused and resilient are essential characteristics in a good lodge leader. He must focus on a long term strategy with objectives, and must have a unwavering resilience to lead his lodge officer team through any failures into success. This is a vital trait of an exceptional lodge leader.

6-ZOOM OUT-There are many small tasks on a lodge leader’s plate, and he can easily be caught up in day to day processes and may lose sight of what he should be working towards. However, the most effective lodge leaders should keep their eyes on the big picture or macro versus micro management of the lodge. Otherwise, micro management makes it more difficult to making lodge decisions that affect longer term goals.

The effective lodge leader will clearly outline the strategic lodge business plan to his lodge officer team, and then he empowers them to make the necessary daily decisions to make it happen. By focusing on the macro picture of the lodge business plan, he can establish the necessary benchmarks for his officer team, and also set any tweaking and checkpoints throughout the year to measure lodge progress.

7-GET REAL-All effective lodge leaders need a sense of healthy, realistic optimism in their approach. However, the key word is being realistic; it’s necessary to be honest with oneself about one’s own ideas but not be shortsighted or to proud to admit that one’s ideas may not be the best. Perseverance is necessary to get things done but persevering on the wrong path is also the enemy of success.

Hopefully, these seven points will be useful to you as effective leaders of your own lodges.
Thank you for sharing these great points!

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