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REALTOR® ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE
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|  Teamwork Training: Leaders’ Bootcamp By Shane T. Johnson It was my third Finance Committee meeting after becoming an association executive, and I noticed something I couldn’t believe was true. The committee members, most of whom were members of the board of directors and seasoned association volunteers, had no grasp of financial statements. They didn’t understand how to interpret balance sheets, profit and loss statements, or cash flow statements. Instead of spending their time conducting an in-depth analysis of the association’s overall financial health, which is the primary mandate of the Finance Committee, they spent the meeting dissecting the association’s checkbook. They scrutinized $75 expenditures for office supplies and $25 reimbursement checks. This pattern of focusing attention on the in-significant repeated itself from one committee to the next. I began to realize that many volunteer leaders didn’t have the basic “how-to” tools for association management. And it wasn’t because they weren’t dedicated volunteers or savvy professionals in their own businesses; they simply had never received the training. It was clear that the association was going no-where unless this critical problem was solved. I began work on a two-day training program to replace the existing, ineffective two-hour annual new director orientation. The Director Empower-ment Institute teaches association management skills that allow each participant to successfully fulfill the legal, financial, and leadership duties of a nonprofit director. The goal behind developing DEI was to mold an entirely new crop of empowered leaders to eventually saturate the board and committees. DEI is now in its second year. Last year, leaders from five Realtor® organizations attended; this year more than a dozen area nonprofit organizations, including the St. Charles Chamber of Com-merce, Home Builders Association of St. Louis, Habitat for Humanity, and Newton-McDonald Counties Board of Realtors®, enrolled. Although the program initially was budgeted as a development expense for the St. Charles County Assoc-iation, fees from other nonprofit organizations now cover the costs of the program. Training in 2003 began with “Making the Most of the Year as a Leader and Leaving a Positive Footprint” presented by Billie Bright, vice president of Dale Carnegie Training of St. Louis. Energized with a positive start, participants then heard “Creating a National Impact as a Result of Local Activism” delivered by Gar Anderson, NAR’s vice president of AE and Leadership Development. The program included presentations on: • Legal responsibilities, fiduciary duties, and personal liability of directors • Organizational planning: tools to help plan for the future • Understanding interim financial documents • 501(c)6 and 501(c)3 organizations • The association’s governance roles and the separation of executive and volunteer duties • How to run effective meetings, including a discussion of “Robert’s Rules of Order” • Building local leaders into national leaders • How to boost member benefits with community partnerships • The Realtor® brand and how to strengthen it • How to avoid pitfalls of sexual harassment and discrimination The result of this information-packed, high-energy program has been dramatic, both inside and outside the association. Our volunteer leaders have a much higher level of competency and have the tools to make better informed decisions about the association’s future. The St. Charles County Assoc-iation is also earning a reputation for innovation and leadership both locally and regionally. Director Empowerment Institute St. Charles County Association of Realtors®’ Date: Nov. 3 & 4 Attendees: 47 Cost for attendees: $15 per day, which includes lunch. Costs to association: $0. Fees paid by attendees also allowed St. Charles County Association directors to attend for free. The program will have a sponsor this year to make it profitable. Download a copy of the DEI program at the Realtor® Association Resource Exchange at REALTOR.org/RARE, search DEI. If you have a successful program, initiative, or policy to share with RAE readers, send it, along with your contact information, to Carolyn Schwaar, cschwaar@realtors.org. Shane T. Johnson, CEO, St. Charles County Association of Realtors®, Mo., can be reached him at CEO@StCharlesRealtors.com. Winter 2004 Click here to Send feedback on this article. |
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