Saying Something Nice Can Go a Long Way
We often become entrenched with our day to day club business that we miss the big picture: are we providing our members with the best club experience? Are we showing that we care?
You can pour all your money into a stellar marketing plan to entice Joe Smith to your club’s event or your club’s social but once he’s in, how often do you express or say thanks to Joe for taking his time, his energy and his resources to ensuring the club’s success?
The article 10 Things Extraordinary People Say Every Day written by Jeff Haden includes 10 things you can say to Joe - your family, your friends, your coworkers and fellow volunteers - to make an impact on and encourage someone without costing a dime!
What do you say to let others know you are paying attention and care about them?
Mar 19, 2013
By Doug Freeland [Not logged in]
I agree that communicating a thoughtful and positive response can go a long way in retention of a new or long standing member of a club. Often, we rely on the past skills of a club member ro run a perpetual club project, never mining the available skills of someone new, and continuing to do what we have always done.
Often a fresh set of eyes or point of view can make a world of differance in the success of the club, or a project. We often fail to persue an alternative choice or option under the guise of " if it's not broke - don't fix it " and in doing so, so many really good members and healthy ideas fall by the wayside.
I have always been an advocate of mentoring. Expelling democracy and giving everyone a voice. And it works!!
As this years president ( again ) I will often challenge a new or " quiet " member to expound their views or thoughts on a topic of discussion as a way to include them and build their confidence. In doing so we have enjoyed some amazing feedback which many of our older members had not considered. Democracy is a wonderful thing when you take a moment to use it. It is also amazing when we lead with our ears rather than our voice. Take the time to include all of your membership as they are the lifeblood of our future. Thanking them is just the beginning.