Inasmuch as I have been fortunate enough to guide the company which still sends me cheques every month from its origins literally as my son's grandfather's one-man handyman operation to the MNC it is today, I have had the somewhat dubious honour of sitting through likely FAR too many management seminars over the course of my career. Basically, what these management gurus have taught me is this: Although there are likely thousands of subtle variations, Leadership comes down to basically two different styles:
1.) Leadership by example.
2.) "leadership" by edict.
I don't believe that anyone, myself included, can lay honest claim to 100% adherence to either style, but I do try very hard to stick the former as much as possible. Regrettably, many in leadership positions today in organizations of all ilks tend to gravitate toward the latter, owing mostly to its proven ease and short-term effectiveness. Most folks have never developed the vision required to see very far beyond what is right in front of them at any one given moment in time, an error which naturally bestows immediate credence upon the, "You do this, because I know it is best, and I know I am right", style of thinking reflected in the very common "leadership" by edict choice. Being insanely overly-obsessed with controlling with the dissemination of information, telling folks what is best for them, issuing mandates instead of genuinely seeking collaboration - these are the actions which absolutely do produce the very best results in the very short term. And there are times when we all do it. When a speeding, out-of-control bus is racing toward you and about to run you over, I simply have neither the time nor inclination to have a conversation with you seeking your agreement that I should shove you out of the way of this bus. I simply shove you out of the way. But if I then conclude that the undeniable expediency of constantly shoving you is the best way to get the results I want from you, I have in actuality only demoralized you and devalued both of us.
Regrettably, this is precisely the situation as I see it with the currently sitting GFA Board. There is almost always no genuine attempt at collaboration, rather there is only the unquestioning and affirming head nodding of a very tiny group of like-minded individuals who all reassure each other that their way of thinking is absolutely correct, that they know what is best for everyone else, and that therefore their tiny collective will should be imposed on ALL GFA Members, and any dissent should and must be quashed, regardless of how respectfully that dissent is presented. This is the essence of any organization in a serious state of decline. When alternative views are not only just rudely dismissed and/or denigrated, but actually actively censored, that organization has lost any and all legitimate claims to even trying to exercise true Leadership by example, and has instead fallen into the very common and undeniably effective in the short-term trap of "leadership" by edict.
The GFA Board needs to realize that the vast majority of GFA Members simply cannot attend meetings in person anymore, unlike how it was when the GFA was founded in the 1950's and the majority of a group of 50 or so guys could easily get together and hash things out. The GFA Membership has grown to roughly 200 now, and the reality of trying to coordinate 200 individual's schedules (to make no mention of the logistics of doing so) so that at least the majority of them can physically get together and come to any decisions reflective of the true majority will is an impossible task. But the currently sitting GFA Board's stubborn refusal to modernize and implement such obvious innovations as absentee balloting, proxy voting (other than when it suits them to do so), or even just the livestreaming of meetings or even the creation of a simple website clearly demonstrates how far the currently sitting GFA Board has both fallen out of touch with modern reality and has shifted from being the Leaders of the true majority of GFA Members, and has instead adopted the unfavourable status of merely "leading" a tiny group of hardcore unquestioning loyalists who actively support the conscious efforts to refuse to see the GFA evolve and adapt to both the modern current and future realities of the GFA Membership-at-large.
This simply must change. As any zoologist worth their salt will tell you, any organism on the planet which fails to adapt to its changing environment is an organization racing toward extinction.
We really CAN do MUCH better.
Thank you very much for your DEEPLY appreciated support!! :-)
The GFA Annual General Meeting will be held on August 31 at 09:00 in the School Auditorium. 𝙊𝙉𝙇𝙔 GFA Members in good standing who are able to 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘎𝘔 i̳n̳ ̳p̳e̳r̳s̳o̳n̳ will be allowed to vote on anything. Please attend.
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