1. Improve Communication by 1000%.
2. Improve Collaboration with community members who have the proven skills.
3. Improve Community Involvement and Participation.
4. Encourage Questions. Give Specific Answers. Provide The Facts.
So, here's the question: If it's that simple, why don't our LRA directors just apply these few simple things?
Who knows?
Perhaps it has something to do with the first 3 of the The Top Five Reasons Why Leaders Fail - by Paul Peterson:
1. They disconnect from the people they are leading.
2. They become proud and refuse to be questioned.
3. They are not authentic.
Or maybe Brian Jude has his finger on it in his latest seminar promotion - Mistakes That Managers Make - where he lists 20 of the most common mistakes made by managers, and looks at ways of preventing them in the future:
1. Not setting goals.
2. Poor communication.
3. Dictatorial, aggressive behaviour.
4. Wanting to be liked.
5. Poor hiring decisions.
6. Not motivating employees.
7. Criticism and negative discipline.
8. Creating a "them and us" culture.
9. Not managing conflict.
10. Resistance to change.
11. Not leading by example.
12. Not using the brain correctly.
13. Paying poorly.
14. A lack of training.
15. Not managing stress levels.
16. Unrealistic deadlines.
17. Prejudice.
18. Overlooking the wisdom of employees.
19. A lack of empathy.
20. Taking life too seriously.
To me, the Missing INGREDIENT seems to be an amalgam of much of the above which can perhaps be distilled down to a seeming lack of OPENNESS, MATURITY, and TRANSPARENCY on the part of our current LRA leadership.
Don't get me wrong, this is no criticism or denigration of the credit they deserve for moving us to GOOD status from the debacle of some two-plus years back.
I focus purely on what it now takes to move our community initiative from GOOD... to GREAT..!
Clearly, from the very limited information provided in the LRA AGM feedback and the lack of response to my request to view other resources used at the AGM (e.g. PowerPoint presentation) to find answers to specific questions asked in this forum or direct of the Chairman (a personal discussion thread that was not answered), we are being kept on a strict 'need-to-know' basis.
Hey, it's OUR community for goodness sake. We contribute. We make it happen. It is an OPEN COMMUNITY initiative. It is NOT an exclusive board initiative.
As discussed in the last post, 'Community Involvement and Participation' is critical to stimulating mass buy-in and support: 'Go all out to involve the community in EVERY aspect, fact and statistic of the initiative, warts and all, and the community will once again believe that it is THEIR project to enthusiastically participate in.'
On the same point in the above post, I discussed my view that: 'Top-down autocratic power and control of a few on a board directorate only results in community apathy. This has been the single biggest failing of board members in our recent past and the biggest failing of 'autocratic leadership' in most failed community initiatives.'
So let's get to test just how open, mature and transparent our current LRA leaders are by requesting some straight answers to the simple questions posed on this forum, which I will send to the Chairman and post the answers on this forum as soon as they arrive.
And hey, let's not beat around the bush, I do recognise that I am not the most popular individual (and that's putting it far too mildly.. ;-) with some past and present LRA board members for my straight talking views and opinions, but that's just tough for them. From the very first day of initiating this project, I have been a committed contributing member of this community initiative... and have done nothing less than I ask of them in this community.
Of course, I believe that there is so much more innovation that we can introduce and do... that we are not currently doing as a community... to make a radical departure from the mediocrity that besets average community initiatives. That falls into the realm of my personal business experience and vested interest as always declared openly on this forum. And, even that appears not to be a concern any more given the AGM's strange unquestioning acceptance of the Chair's own vested interest position as paid G.M.
Here is the first list of questions to go immediately after this forum article posting:
For attn:
The Chairman: Rob Gillespie
Lonehill Residents Association
Dear Rob
For the purposes of posting answers to our Lonehill Community Stakeholders forum - http://www.lonehillaction.blogspot.com/ - please be kind enough to provide answers to the following questions that were apparently not covered as per reading of the feedback provided from the recent LRA AGM (treat questions as at date of AGM).
- What are the biggest challenges facing our initiative in the coming year?
- What plans are in place to resolve those challenges and what innovations will we see?
- Who is accountable for deliverables on these resolutions (what are their KPI's)?
- What finances are required for the coming year and future... and where will it be sourced from?
- What are the critical numbers we should be watching to assess future success of the project?
- What is being done to reduce the burden of current contributors?
- Why do we only have +- 300 voting members on the LRA from +- 6000 householders?
- Are there any expected major budget allocations (in excess of R50 000 in total) that may be paid to individuals in the coming year and for what?
- Should a new budget allocation limit be imposed on the Board requiring referral back to Members for approval?
- What added-value does each paid individual on the LRA add to our initiative (e.g if paid +- R250K, did individual add another +-R250K and more to the initiative)?
- How can stakeholders benefit from and use the LRA community centre facilities which they have funded?
Trevor Nel - Lonehill Resident
011 - 705-2790
