The hidden job of all club Presidents

Most presidential duties are pretty obvious: lead the club, organize events, promote the club, seek new members, etc. Most Presidents do a good job at these tasks so long as their motivation and time permit. There is one really important task that many Presidents, even great Presidents flounder at: replacing themselves and grooming new administrative talent.

If a task falls solely on the shoulders of one person then it will go on until the one person wearies, quits or burns out. The same rule applies if a handful of folks do a task. But if there is a constant stream of new talent being recruited and groomed then the process can be indefinite.

So many clubs are busy doing the task they take no time to find others to help.

It should be a central and continuing goal of clubs to find and develop future leaders. But as mentioned elsewhere, with workload the authority comes along. So a leader has to give up some control in the nurturing process.

For any leader unwilling to give away some of the authority it needs to be understood that their influence and much of their club may die with them.

[Jay and [e-mail]]

This seem to be the issues with our old club not the one that is presently forming...The one that I'm trying to help build now is based on team work and recognizing all those that do their part...It takes many people to run a proper one i think... In our case no one else stepped up and it just feel apart...

[Jay and [e-mail]]

Mark Stephens said:

So, I did this year was try to empower some of the people that were on the outside that I thought would be as asset to what I like to call "the team". So, this year I let other people handle the club nights (we have 3). I rarely even went as a matter of fact since we were running so many tournaments in 2008. At first people did not quite know what to do. I was always there running the weekly events and when I did show up I took no responsibility for what was going on. By mid-season those people that I had hoped to set up, did step up, and ran the weekly events pretty well. This year these people will have an actual title (they don't know this yet) of Course Captains or Club Night Captains.

This year in 2009, I going to be passing off the TD responsibility to some other members in the club. It will just be the smaller unsanctioned events but, this way they can get their feet wet and get a feel for what goes on behind the table. Running that many events (5 of them C-tiers) plus club events is pretty taxing on me, my game, and my family. So, I need to get other people out there active in this part as well.

Trust me I understand what you wrote in the end. I truly feel like I forged this club. There were groups of people out there who were running doubles but, I took that and made it to a 100 member club with 14 tournaments in 2 years. Handing over the reigns of power was tough but, I realized that it was something that I had to do...

Right on!!

[Jonny Roc]

Bravo!!!!!!! This is so true. Thank you for the wisdom. I too realize this as a major problem here locally. And we are working to establish a community wide effort to engage players, and reward them with responsibilities!!! The ownership factor is a huge enabler for people to be committed and follow things through!

Mr. Ellis if you are ever in Oregon hits us up!!!!!

Peace
Jonny Roc

[Pure Disc Golf dot Com]

As a 23 year old aspiring coordinator I fall into the category with a pretty select few. Most the people I have worked with in the past are my parents age. Needless to say that this "effect" has been true in our area for a while now. The guys who hold all the chips have done so for so long sometimes they don't know how to hand over the reins. It's a touchy subject when your takling about people you know well and respect. However, if they aren't fully developing a region fresh ideas must step in. It is the duty of all the officers of a club to take constructive crtiticism, fulfill there position in the club, and function transparently. In my opinon, this is the best way to train other members. Make them aware of the steps while there being taken. The ones with aspirations to run things in the future should take some lessons from this. Nice thread, I'll be back to check up on it.

Andrew Rich
Team Innova
Roots Roc Reggae
www.purediscgolf.com

[Jay and [e-mail]]

Pure Disc Golf dot Com said:

It is the duty of all the officers of a club to take constructive crtiticism, fulfill there position in the club, and function transparently.

Andrew Rich
Team Innova
Roots Roc Reggae
www.purediscgolf.com

I may borrow this n some form for our club website...cheers