We kind of hijacked another thread talking about leadership problems within the fraternity.  I thought we could have a thread where we could discuss our common issues and learn from each other how to solve them.  Ours is a unique organization from a leadership perspective.  We are 100% composed of volunteers.

Volunteers don't fit many of the traditional leadership models.  As leaders, our audience can get up and walk at any time.  They aren't bound by an enlistment contract or by employment.  We have to serve each of their individual needs, or we have no one to lead.  That makes it a much more difficult challenge to get buy-in and compliance with what needs to be accomplished.  The WM can't just say, 'We're going to do this, that's why.'  He has to find ways to convey the message so that every single Brother hears it differently in the context of what pushes his "I want to do this" button.

Ours is an institution steeped in tradition.  As it should be.  The ritual, lessons, principles, values and precepts are timeless.  But, we must change how we do business and, how we recruit and retain members.  "We've always done it that way.", doesn't fly any longer.

I started out as one who had what I thought as the best interest of the lodge at heart. God, was I wrong. The most hateful thing I ever heard said proved true. It often takes a few Masonic funerals to change a lodge.

 

I was thinking more along the lines of not just reviewing our issues, but more geared towards how we're fixing them and what can we do better moving forward.

Here are some gentlemen who take Freemasonry seriously:
http://vitruvian.org/

Here is the concept of their lodge:
http://vitruvian.org/?page_id=15

Lodge Vitruvian is made up of members from other lodges in Indiana -yes, Indiana Grand Lodge allows dual membership. Remember, each state's Grand Lodge is solely responsible for the governing of lodges in that state's jurisdiction - no one entity speaks for Freemasonry in America. Their position is, that most lodges turn into "degree mills", only concerned with getting more and more new Masons to replentish the ranks. Lodge Vitruvian meets in an established Lodge in Indianapolis, paying them rent for the use of the facilities. We all know the 2 arguments to anything new and/or different proposed in lodge; "We have always done it this way", or  "We've never done it that way before"! A lot of small lodges are struggling to find money for paying utilities - forget major repairs and upkeep. They would be better off selling the building and renting space from another lodge in the area for meetings. My late father was master of a lodge in a small, nearby town in 1955. About 10 years ago, they faced the fact that they had not the membership or funds to keep going. They approached a lodge in the northern part of the county, and now, this lodge hosts 3 different lodges, and membership and fellowship is at an all time high for each. Sure, dates for stated meeting had to be changed (We've always done it that way before), but when utilities and repairs are split between 3 lodges, it is cheaper in the long run.
We sometimes forget about fellowship, and the bottom line is that, this is what a fraterrnity is all about. We, as Freemasons, exist to make good men better.

Here is a link from Lodge Vitruvian's website entitled "How I Survived Fish Fry Masonry"
http://vitruvian.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/FishFryMasonry.pdf

Brothers, I appoligize if I have drifted the thread. These are just my thoughts.
carl00
40- sum year Master Mason

The other side of that coin is for far too long we have had "leaders" that haven't done anything.  They wore a jewel for a year, then went to the sidelines to watch their successor do the same.  I've ruffled a lot of feathers in the past couple of years, but the days of that have got to stop.  We have to put competent, qualified men in place that will do something.  Hell, something wrong can at least be fixed.  But nothing is, well, nothing.

When I had the throne dropped on me last October I fortunately had a plan ready to go.  At the first officer's meeting we all agreed to what I call the, “10 P’s of Leadership”.

People -
People are what separates Leaders from Managers
Know them
Everyone is different
Learn what drives each one
Bring out the best in them
 
Presence -          
Leaders cannot lead from a distance
Lead from the front

Proficiency -
You must know the subject
You must be capable of doing what your people can do
You must effectively communicate

Participation -    
Be actively involved
Not just showing up and doing what you’re told
Do what you see needs done
We don’t need leaders that sit around and stare at their shoes
We need ideas and input
We need action

Persistence -      
Never quit trying
“No” is only an acceptable answer if I’m the one saying it

Patience -          
Freemasonry isn’t an organization tolerant of change
There is much that must change for the fraternity to survive
Nothing in Masonry moves quickly without pain
I have very little patience
I’ll need to borrow some from time to time

Planning -          
What you intend to do as MIGM needs to be planned now
Listen to the needs of the Companions, they set the priorities.
It will change, write your plan in pencil
Be willing to accept that it will change
Have it ready early
You never know when you’ll be called off the bench

Preparation -      
Planning is worthless if you’re not ready to execute
Have things ready and coordinated

Passion -            
You cannot motivate anyone to do anything
People must motivate themselves
Leaders must be contagiously passionate
You must fuel the passion and drive in others

Pray-                  
A lot

As Leaders we must see the way, walk the way, show the way, guide the way and then get out of the way.

In my short time as a Master Mason who is sitting in the East prematurely I will share my insight-

A unifying cause can help a lodge.  We lost our building and were nearly without a place to meet. No one wanted to be the WM that surrendered our charter.  We committed to raising funds to secure a new building.  After securing a new building that required a lot of work we set regular work days.  We get some work done, but also manage a good bit of Masonic education in the process.

Practice with purpose.  We have been without degree work for a few months and have been working on lodge ritual awards.  Having a goal makes it easier to get bodies in chairs for practice.

Find ways to make business meetings more efficient and productive.  Committees are a big help.  Try not to get bogged down in endless debate.  Conduct business, but make time to offer Masonic education.

Mentoring.  It can be as formal as a Grand Lodge established program or informal as a the top line signer working with a new brother on ritual.

Investigation committees that are diligent.

I am sure more will come to mind, but that is a start.

Have officers meetings.  I need to call another one.

One of the greatest and best times of my Masonic journey happened 12-13 years ago. A local lodge (not my own) made araignments between the Indiana and Missouri Grand Logdes, to have their  Blue Lodge Charter transfered to Hannible, MO, to confer the EA degree upon 3 worthy members of the local Indiana lodge. A fellow brother's father was a member of the Hannible lodge, and my brother set the whole thing up. It was REALLY neat, how the Hannible lodge turned everything over to the local Indiana lodge! As I recall, the Master of the Hannible lodge, said "Brother's, you will hear some differences in the work, but just remember, our work is correct :)". It was a really great time,and much good times were had by the members and their wives/SO's. The dinner trip on the boat on the Missisippi River was something I will never forget, along with the great fellowship!
We, as Master masons, sometime get  "hung up" on the ritual, thanks to the old f@$^&! We exsist to make "good men Better", and that's the bottom line!!!!
carl00 (40-sum year Master Mason)
Sorry for the mis-spellings, my spell checker is broke!

Luckily My lodge has been fortunate enough to have many brothers willing to serve as officers. I have seen some other lodges where nobody wants to volunteer for the positions, and they have to almost make guys fill the seats reluctantly. That is why some men choose to change lodges to where they have a more solid line of officers.

Beer Slayer is correct . My lodge is a good example of good old boy network .

My lodge is very well established, one of if not the best run in the state and yet we still obviously have issues. Last night at our stated the SW refused to organize a 3rd degree for a member because he didn't want to come into town on a Saturday. Our WM told him he did not have to attend, but that it was still his job to put it together. The SW balked again and flat out said he would not do it if he wasn't going to be there. A PM spoke up and said he would organize and run the degree, and sadly after 30 seconds of very awkward silence the WM accepted the PM's offer.

The SW is a friend and a brother, but is notoriously bad at any follow through and shirking his duties off to others. His actions have me disgusted with him in leadership positions. Any ideas on how to deal with this? For reference I am simply the chaplain.

Yes I do suppose it is that simple. I guess I'm just venting. It was a very disappointing moment that I didn't want to see happen.

I was pushed into the East less than three years after being raised.  Our lodge was in disarray after Masonic charges were brought against the master and jr past master and we had some deaths.  We could barely ( as a group) open and close the lodge.  We did not have enough brothers attending to fill the stations and chairs. We couldn't do a degree on our own much less a lecture and there was only one teacher- me!  And we had other lodges attmpting to move in and take over our lodge and our bank accounts.

For my year, I focussed on the esoteric work and our finances.  Every meeting that we had was preceeded by practice and teaching the work. We came in on several days a week to rehearse for degrees and open and close.  Two years later, we have brothers petitioning to affiliate and we have raised 4 MMs and we have 6-10 in the pipeline.  We are doing all of our degrees with lodge members.  All members in the line all know how to open and close all lodges.  We have several teachers to cover all of our candidates.  This year our lodge completed the requirements for the Vanguard award for the first time ever. We recovered with hard work.

The one thing you must never slack off of is the rituals.  They are the foundation of all masonry. Once all of the brothers are working and rehearsing there is only one old boy network and every brother is a member.

My Lodge has had an education, mentoring  and vetting system for potential members in place for years, in fact GLNY is adopting it state wide.  The incoming GM next year will be strictly enforcing it. Keep your standards high across the board, from who you let through the inner door, how they are mentored and educated, continuing education for all brethren and very high standards for work in the Lodge.  Not every man can go through the chairs, and the men that get to go through them should be held to the highest standards of the Lodge.

Harmonie 699 O.M.

I will be in the East next year, and I have worked my ass off to get there.

Well played Worshipful!  That is a huge problem IMHO with some of the appendent bodies, and one of the main reason that while I retain Shrine membership but do not participate.

Sure, I can tell you how to deal with that.  He has to be voted in to the East, does he not ?

Often that's a function of a guy just being tired.  After you've done your seven years, sometimes you want to enjoy your parole a little.  :)

Some guys find it difficult to sit on the sidelines and watch what used to be "their" Lodge change direction.  In that case it is best for a PM to take a little step back and wait.

In my case, for not just Lodge but also for Chapter, Council and Commandery, I am so used to being the guy in charge I have to really work at my advice being just that, advice.  It's very easy to subconsciously continue to run in that leadership role.  I've been High Priest, Thrice Illustrious Master and Commander multiple times.  We now have a group of younger guys that have taken the reins.  It's a little tough to step back.

It's really tough in Council.  My son's the TIM and I'm the MIGM.  Talk about it being difficult to keep your mouth shut.  He is taking great pleasure at calling me, "Companion John".  The other night I replied, "That's Most Illustrious Companion John to you."

The issues we're discussing here all boil down to two things:  membership and participation.  There will always be a certain percentage of members that want to be actively involved.  Let's put that number at 10%.  If you have 100 members of your Lodge, that's only 10 bodies.  If you grow your membership to 200, you now have 20 guys willing to do the work.  It's really just that simple.

I've been harping on this for years.  Everywhere I go, any time I have the opportunity to speak, I pound the mantra of Participate and Replace Yourself.  

There is no reason we cannot actively seek out and recruit good men to Freemasonry.  If you look into your particular regulations any prohibition is probably something like, "improperly solicit".  I read "improperly solicit" to mean you can't offer a free toaster for submitting a petition.  Short of that, there's no reason why we shouldn't be "selling" what we have to offer.