MW Cameron M. Bailey

Vision

In my last post I talked about how important it is for a leader to both hold and communicate a vision to those around him. You can read that post here.

In this post I'll be writing about one of the ways in which a leader can lose this essential vision, even without realizing that it is being lost.

As leaders we badly run the risk of losing our vision if we get overly caught up in the details of the day to day operations of our Lodge or other organization. This is because in order to properly utilize vision, it must be held at the forefront of our minds. If however we are so focused on side issues and little details, those things move to the front of our minds, and vision gets lost somewhere in the back, with all the clutter.

At the Lodge level, if we are Worshipful Master, I suggest that we don't need to be intimately involved with our charity and scholarship funds, rather we can let 'Bob' know what our vision is for those funds, and trust him to take care of things. We don't need to plan our annual camping trip/retreat, rather we can let 'Alan' know what our vision is for that weekend and let him plan it.

These are just a couple quick examples, but the principal holds true across all activities of the Lodge.

We need to communicate our vision for the Lodge to our Brothers, and then step back and let them help us achieve that vision. If we can't step back and feel that we must control everything, well then we will lose that vision because we will become consumed by meaningless details.

We see this I think in Grand Lines as well. A new fellow gets elected and has a vision of where he would like to see our Fraternity go. Very quickly though that vision is consumed by meaningless details. He's spending countless hours a week on the highway, sitting in meetings discussing property the Grand Lodge owns, sitting in other meetings talking about the stock market. Still more meetings discussing charitable efforts. Eventually he becomes Grand Master and whatever vision for the future, whatever help he was going to provide our Fraternity is dead and buried, buried under a mountain of details because he never was able to trust his Brothers enough to let go. Or, he didn't feel that he could let go given the expectations of the Masons of his Jurisdiction.

To be successful leaders we must have a vision, we must be able to hold that vision first in our minds, and we must be able to communicate that vision. If we can't do all three of those things we will fail in our duty to lead. Therefore, we must guard against putting too much focus on those things that would tend to overwhelm our vision. If we can do this, we can have a great year in the East.

#Leadership #Lodge #Vision #GrandLine

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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As Freemasons those of us who desire leadership have that opportunity. We can have the tremendous honor of becoming a leader of men by becoming Worshipful Master of our Lodges.

Title and position however, no matter how lofty, do not make a man a leader. Position is simply a place, title is only words.

What actually makes a man a leader is having at least one other person who is willing to follow where he leads. It is impossible to be a leader without having followers in turn.

It is I think important to ask, what makes a leader? What makes a man become someone who other men want to follow?

I argue that the answer to that question is vision.

In order to lead, a leader must hold a vision of where he wants his Lodge to be in the future, and of equal importance, he must be able to communicate that vision to the members of his Lodge.

If he either lacks vision, or can't communicate that vision, then the members of his Lodge can't follow him, if for no other reason than the fact that they won't know where they are headed, or where their efforts should be directed.

What this means for those of us who lead our Lodges, or who plan on leading a Lodge is that we must spend some time figuring out exactly where we think our Lodge should be in the future, and plot out at least a few initial steps that can be taken to get the Lodge there.

What it also means is that we can't just bounce from our Installation to our first Stated Meeting as Worshipful Master. Rather we must sit down with the members of our Lodge, at the very least the key members of our Lodge, and we must explain our vision for the Lodge to them in the most complete manner possible.

By doing so, the members of our Lodge can help us to achieve our vision.

By neglecting to do so, we have little to no chance of success during our time in the East.

Standing in the East we have no greater duty than to hold a vision for our Lodge, and communicate that vision to our members.

Why?

Because a single bad year can and does decimate a Lodge when it happens.

A Lodge can go along very well for years, improving a bit with each passing year until it is ticking along at a superb level. Providing education, providing fellowship, growing. That is the work of years, the next year all of that work can be destroyed.

I've unfortunately experienced that exact thing in one of my Lodges. If you've been a Mason long enough, you probably have seen it too. You have probably also seen that it takes years of good leadership to repair the damage done during a single bad year.

This cycle can be crushing to a Lodge.

The good news is that the cycle can be prevented. We prevent it by holding a vision for our Lodge's future, and communicating that vision to our members. If we do that, we are actually leading our Lodge, and we will be assured of a good year in the East, for our Brothers will be there to assist us. With the help and support of the members of our Lodge, we can not fail.

#Leadership #Lodge #Vision

-Cameron

Cameron M. Bailey Past Grand Master The MW Grand Lodge F&AM of Washington

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