FROM THE PRESIDENT

Happy September:

What makes a viable and vibrant organization? There are many factors that go into this mix, and I contend that a very important one is communication, top to bottom, one to another and no fear of repercussions for voicing your opinion. In my previous life I worked with and for many Type A personalities and possibly am one of them. One of my many supervisors over the years that I had the most respect for was one that I argued with the most. We got mad at each other, screamed at each other at times, but when it was all over, he listened to what I had to say and respected my point of view and we arrived at a solution through this verbal intercourse.

It is important that we not be fearful of bringing forth a new thought or idea and we as a group should not stifle this process. One of man's biggest fears is speaking in public and we must realize that when others are getting up to speak to us and give them our undivided attention.

Another area of great concern regarding communications is that of surprise. With e-mail,
telephones, cell phones, text messaging and all of the other ways that we have to communicate, there should be no surprises when it comes to meeting time. If you as a member have something that you which to talk about at a meeting, please communicate that to either myself or a member of the board so that we can get it on the agenda and allot the proper time for it to be properly aired. We are a great organization and with a little work on communications internally we will become even better.