Key Leadership Competencies

 I took a screenshot of this from a TikTok post because it made me go "hmmmm...."

(It's from a site called Brilliancebrief.com)

Honestly, I don't know.

In light of recent ExComm changes, many people have been asking me if I plan to throw my hat into the ring and run for Chair. Honestly, I don't know. 

We have to turn the ship upright, patch the holes in the hull, get it off the rocks, and mend the sails.

Until that's all done, there is no point in trying to decide which cabin I want to sleep in.

First things first.

Unintended Consequences

Whatever one’s opinion on the right or wrongness of the recent AML Hearings result, the consequences are starting to come to light:

The General Discussion group on Mensa Connect is essentially unmoderated, as are the regional groups of the 8 vacant RVCs. 

What happens when members figure that out?

Savannah was scheduled to hold a testing session—the first in 12 years. The RVC was supposed to conduct it and in the process further the  certification of a local Proctor. Now that won’t be happening.

It’s budget preparation time, but the voices from 8 regions and two specialties responsible for significant portions of the budget will not be heard.

The Communications Committee is dead.

The Membership Committee is dead.

The Strategic Planning Committee is dead.

The Technology Committee is dead.

The Gifted Youth Committee has no AMC liaison.

The Leadership Development Committee has no voting AMC members, so cannot act.

The Research Review Committee has only one voting AMC member, so cannot act.

The Bylaws Committee has only one voting AMC member, so cannot act.

Turn Over

Hmmm….. How are we doing at making our volunteers feel valued and supported?

Dues Increase

 So The December AMC meeting agenda has a motion for a dues increase. 

While I guess I can be convinced that it’s been a while and some increase in the dues rate is warranted, 35% seems excessive. I could get behind it if there were a clear list of additional benefits, programs, and improvements that will add value to our membership. I can note that last spring, the Executive Director did  initiate a small AMC working group (which included me as Comm Officer) to discuss ways to add value, but unfortunately those discussions were abandoned before any progress was made.

Does the AMC have a plan beyond “we need more money to keep up with the status quo?"

Oh My....

 Is it "vague booking" if I post this on my blog?

Reducing the Size of the AMC

I read RVC 4's October 2023 column with interest, since governance is a passion of mine. I have thoughts.

If the point of a Board of Directors is to guide and make decisions for the organization, then it follows that more wise voices participating in the process leads to better decisions. There is (always) talk of reducing the number on the AMC in order to streamline this or that. My question is: If you’re already having difficulty getting all 18 AMC members to actively engage in discussions, how would reducing that number lead to more wise input?

Imagine if the AMC comprised only the current ExComm. Yes, that would save money on meeting-travel. Now picture two or three of that five-person ExComm being utter outsiders with little or no Mensa leadership experience (it’s happened before and will happen again).

I don’t think I need to say more :-)

Double-edged Sword

Despite cries of secrecy and lack of Board transparency, executive sessions are essential. It is wise for the Board to be able to candidly talk about topics without worrying about having to censure themselves or politically posture for the public.

On the other hand, it does mean that those excluded from the executive session are free to imagine and react without the Board being able to deny those imaginings.

'Tis a tricky blade to balance on.

Crafting Policy

For the past year and a bit I’ve been working on a major revision to Appendix 10: National Publications Guidelines.

It got me thinking about what other major policies I’ve been largely responsible for crafting:

 

• Appendix 15: Information and Privacy Policy

• Appendix 23: Policy & Guidelines for Administrators of Internet Communications Services

• Appendix 25: Local Group Charter Template

• Mensa Connect TOS

I keep contributing to discussions, but...

 

Shower Thoughts: Resources and Strategic Priorities

It occurs to me that we spend ~50% of our staff resources on services that benefit maybe 5% of our membership.

Why does the AMC spend so much time pondering

What's the best term—Ombudsman, Ombuds, or Ombudsperson?

instead of

What percentage of our resources should be allocated to which of our strategic priorities?

Effective Leaders...and Servants

As an AMC person, I’m often labeled as a “leader” in Mensa. And while I do lead committees and discussions, most of my work is done as a servant to the members and organization.

 

I recently read an interesting article about being an effective leader:

 

 

 MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK

 If you want something, ask for it . . . Go get it.

 

FOLLOW YOUR PASSION

Be passionate about the area you’re leading; how else can you empower and motivate teams around you?

 

IMPROVE YOUR PUBLIC SPEAKING

Without the confidence to speak in front of groups or even infront of a small team you’re leading, it’s tough to effectively.

 

BE A POSITIVE INFLUENCE

Habitual negativity is a slippery slope. Effective leaders shift their mindset to invoke positivity in those around them. Something that may have been an “issue” or “problem” can instead be an opportunity to improve. A positive influence is infectious—and makes the work more enjoyable for you and your employees.

 

BE HUMBLE

Let the work, results, and performance speak for themselves, rather than talking about how great you are. Leaders with big egos and self-centered behavior eventually hit a wall. 

 

BE WELL-ROUNDED

Effective leaders tend to be “good or better” in most or all categories of leadership, such as people management, the ability to sell and deliver or produce results, interpersonal skills, relationship-building skills, and more.

 

PRIORITIZE INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

Relationships are everything. That starts with being genuine, investing time in these relationships, respecting all opinions, and being mindful of how you treat people. 

 

COMMIT TO DEADLINES

Being committed to deadlines in addition to effort builds credibility and shows stakeholders that you are reliable and trustworthy, which often leads to additional responsibilities. 

 

 TAKE CARE OF YOU

Finding balance across mind, body, and spirit will keep effective leaders sharp, focused, and able to sustain their positive impact in the long term. 

 

KEEP RESKILLING 

Whether it’s training, reading, or side projects, even the most senior leaders never stop learning. Particularly now, in 2022, when technology is changing faster than most humans are capable of adapting, if you aren’t a continuous learner, you will eventually be left behind.

 

BE SELF-SUFFICIENT

Demonstrate that you can handle a role with minimal supervision. If you’re independently capable, a next obvious step will be to lead and guide others.

 

BECOME AN EXPERT IN SOMETHING

Covering many types of assignments and roles is useful to become well-rounded, but at some point, it helps to become a subject matter expert—the acknowledged go-to person.

 

You know what? All these steps make for better servants, too.

The Solution to Everything: Form a Task Force

There is a pattern where information is requested, but no action is taken once it’s provided. Why is that? 

My thoughts:

Mensa is a social organization. The people running it are therefore most invested and knowledgable about being social.

The Board is comprises people who are there because they like being involved, and who enjoy the social aspects of Mensa, and are thus well-known to voters. We get few AMC people who are genuinely skilled at being board members. Few who are there because they get a kick out of doing non glorious often tedious work out of the public eye. Nearly half this current AMC ran unopposed and were just declared elected because no one else felt like taking the roles.

We are all good at identifying areas that need improvement—funding allotments, governance structures, communication processes, making members happy and motivated, managing assholes, etc. So with the best of intentions, the AMC declares that they will address an issue by forming a task force to... um... to well do task force things and... um... well you know, address the problem. There. The Board is tackling the problem. Yay Board!

They assume “someone” will do the work of looking up ASIEs or crunching the numbers or writing the communication releases. No one wants to be that someone.

Some task forces return with a list of how to solve the problem. But then that list is handed over and no one knows how to drive the next fifty million steps to implement any solutions because we usually don’t have leaders and drivers- we have popular socialites. Additionally, often the recommended solutions require change that will make the AMC members uncomfortable— either because they’ll have to face howling members or they’ll have to give up some privilege.

Occasionally they will dig around for the quickest easiest solution so they feel like they did something. Need a better funding formula? Meh— just give everyone an extra dime and call it a day. Board struct too unwieldy and ineffective? Just toss the past and past past chairs, congratulate yourselves on decreasing the cost of their travel, and pat yourselves on the back.

But tear apart the funding structure, managing a brand new never-done process, explaining the nuances of how it really IS fair even though it might look like some Groups get more and some get less to members who want and hate change... too much work.

Improve finances? Slice the biggest expense and get rid of a staff or two.

Alter processes so that genuine skill instead of popularity at RGs is what gets you the delightful free travel and fame and glory... um... who wants to plot their own demise?

Get the ball rolling on a change that will take three or four years to come to fruition (because of the timelines of bylaw changes at AML or Mil level)? Why bother when this board won’t be here to get the credit and glory for it?

Have the battle with the IBD to change the constitution to enable easier removal of bad apples... waaaay too intimidating a prospect.

But form a task force... that’s an immediate thing to do that doesn’t require any actual doing.

Why Do I Even Bother?

“We need a new formula for better LG funding."
Robin researches, surveys, crunches numbers, researches more, develops fancy spreadsheets and graphs.

“Here you go—a better way to fund Groups.”

... crickets.


“We need to improve our governance structure and systems.”
Robin researches , surveys, crunches numbers, researches more, develops spreadsheets and graphs.

“Here you go—a whole list of ways to improve our governance.”

... crickets.


“We need a comprehensive Code of Conduct.”
Robin gathers everything we already have and puts it into readable form.

“Here you go—a CoC that doesn’t require any additional motions.”

... crickets.


“We need to improve the quantity and happiness of volunteers.”
Robin researches , surveys, crunches numbers, researches more, develops spreadsheets and graphs.

“Here you go—more than a hundred ways to increase volunteerism.”

...crikets. 

Appendix 15

I was just reminded that I was the mover back in 2011 of the motion to put a whole bunch of ASIEs regarding member information and privacy into one document which ultimately became Appendix 15.

I'd totally forgotten! I wonder what else on the books came from my pen that I don't remember doing.

What I Did Oct 23, 2021 – Feb 25, 2022

The official quarterly reports tend be summaries of highlights rather than a full list of all the this and that sorts of things I spent my time on. Here is where I list everything. Partly to give myself a pat on the back and partly for the next Communications Officer.

Communications Officer

• Asked CB to confirm that ACE Awards are no longer and to update the website accordingly.
  
• Asked past Comm Officers what they know about Com3
  
• Some back and forth with Tim V and staff about a couple members not being able to  have access to their regional MC community. Responded to the people who’d been suspended from the Region 8 MC—basically told them it’s not my bailiwick.
  
• Dug into whatever became of Com3, which is still listed in the TOS for MC.
  
• Reviewed Nov/Dec Bulletin
  
• Teleconference with staff and Vogt about MC issues and needs.
  
• Mucked around learning how to be an admin on MC.
  
• Long phone call with CommComm member about ideas and training materials.
  
• Drafted intro post to new MC community for admins. Learned that there is great need for manuals and training.
  
• Two hour zoom call with staff to learn how to be a super admin.
  
• Participated in a Meet the AMC session at HalloweeM.
  
• Consulted with Lead MC Moderator on improved wording for automated moderation messages.
  
• Sent a letter to LG communications people covering return addresses, communication preferences, and using MC for sharing content fodder.
  
• Curated library content of Pubs Officer MC community.
  
• Long productive video conf with IT and Comm staff regarding many topics: Mensa Connect use, training, & promotion; AML’s servers and PHP upgrade plans; Wordpress sites on and off the AML server, LG Editors’ software & content; how the NO can safeguard LGs’ Facebook presence if the member who created it stomps off in a huff; and Website organization.
  
• Checked back and closed out on suggestions made for onboarding email to editors.
  
• Nudged CB again for a few things on the September and October request list.
• Helped several editors find the library section of their MC community.
• Updated the MC TOS, but did not implement it yet.
• Attended AMC meeting in Charlotte & presented an LDW on Communications.
  
• Created graphic explanation of Comm Pref options.
• Asked Writer’s SIG for contributions to the Editors' library.
• Worked with RVC2 to draft a document of members’ rights & responsibilities.
• Responded to more inquiries about Oral History Project communications.
• Filled out form to do a M&G session at the 2022 AG.
• Clarified newsletter indicia information and LG membership directory rules for LG Editors.
• Wrote article about Mensa Connect for Bulletin.
• Began clarifying regulations about Known Office of Publication for LG newsletters using periodicals permits.
• Discussed policy on advertising in the Bulletin with Marketing Officer and Bulletin editor. Upon discovering that there IS no formal policy for advertising in the Bulletin, directed the Editor: "Going forward from any current contractual advertising obligations, limit the Bulletin space sold to any other High IQ society to no more than a half page.” (and then added “Create Bulletin Advertising Policy” to my to-do list.)
• Drafted advertising policy for national publications.
• Attended Webinar on using WordPress.
• Discussed with RVC2 ways to prevent negative behavior in Mensa instead of just punishing after the fact .
• Checked in on pubs officers MC community.
• Worked with Marketing and Membership Officers to resolve and clarify processes for advertising RGs while still respecting members’ communications preferences.
• Call with CB about CAN-SPAM,member directories, process for informing LGs of policy changes, and preparing to review Appendix 10 (Publications Policy)
• Reviewed Jan Bulletin
• Drafted notice of TOS change for MC to be sent to everyone in January but this got postponed.
• Discussed with Marketing Officer logistics of a repository for training videos.
• Conferenced with Membership and Marketing Officers regarding development of a college-outreach program.
  
• Responded to member asking data privacy questions.
• Reviewed and commented on Bulletin Survey formatting. Reviewed Bulletin survey results. 
• Attended AMC virtual meeting in January.
• Reviewed February Bulletin.
• Consulted on a potential PR issue resulting from a LG newsletter article.
• Began revising Publications Policy (Appendix 10). Decided to postpone working on it until next term.
• Prepped and presented housekeeping motions for Appendix 15 (Info Privacy). and ASIE 2006-019. 
• Worked with Membership and Marketing Officers to revise wording of motions from November regarding member privacy preferences and to develop processes for keeping members informed about  how to update their preferences.
• Emailed CB to check in because I haven’t heard from him in a while. Then a long catch-up phone call.
• Shuttled some members’ complains about moderation Region 8 back and forth between relevant parties.
• Presented report to AMC about the Bulletin Survey results.
• Alerted GY Comm chair to a pertinent thread in Community Admins.
• Arranged travel for March AMC meeting.
• Wrote a long detailed email to the new Utah Webmaster about musts and should and resources. 
• Nudged AMC motions along.
• Began working on updating the Editors’ Handbook.
• Facilitated solving a member’s strong request for NO paper ever from Mensa.
• Reviewed March Bulletin.
• Advised an RVC on moderating issues.
• Participated in or at least monitored discussions on many MC communities.
• Dashed off a few ideas and  descriptions for LDWs to give at the AG.
• Participated as a member of the Strategic Planning and SIGs Advisory committees.

Communications Committee

• Added Michael F,
  
• Tweaked draft of Editors Survey
  
• Michael conducted a 4 question PHONE survey of all 124 LocSecs to find out what software is used for newsletters, what SM venues are used, and a bit about LG websites. Results are interesting and generating many items on the growing To-Do list.
  
• Created a training video on the basics of using Mensa Connect.
• Created training videos on the basics of Administrating/Moderating Mensa Connect.
• Reviewed and  updated  Appendix 23: Policy And Guidelines For Administrators Of Internet Communication Services (this was a massive project to update a 17 year old policy). After almost 3 months of work, there was barely enough support from the committee members to send this on to the AMC for consideration.
• Tried one last time to get committee members to contribute edit suggestions.
• Presented draft motion to the AMC for comments before submitting as a formal motion. Received very little discussion.
• Discussed draft illustration of what content can go out via which LG communication venue.

Volunteerism Task Force

• Reviewed an old LDWs on the topic.
  
• Reframed some questions topics and posted to get everyone back on task. Bumped a few times.
  
• Looked at massive data pull staff did to correlate each groups’ geographical square milage and general population density.
  
• Generated and refined a list of volunteer role categories in Mensa.
  
• Reviewed and re-posted questions the TF wants to answer.
  
• Drafted Vol MP ad for a spreadsheet wizard.
  
• Wrote up more reviews of LDWs.
• Drafted scale for RVCs to use to rank their groups’ volunteerism levels. Nudged a few times.
• Wrote up summaries of two more articles.
• Discussed AML’s current “Volunteer management system” with Trevor.
• Asked RVCs to rank their groups volunteerism levels.
• Created second draft of formal report so far.
• Nudged.
• Input RVC rankings so far into the spreadsheet and nudged the rest to get their data to me. Nudged again a month later. Nudged again a few weeks after that. Eventually got them all to respond.
• Drafted a motion for establishment of this TF since apparently that never got formally done.
• Reached out to Gen X and Gen Y SIGs to find a spreadsheet person—was inundated with offers.
• Added two more members to the TF to help with data analysis and began diving deeper into correlations.
• Nudged on several topics to get the group going again.
• Read and summarized more articles.
• Facilitated discussions of topics. Nudged.
• Dug into how the replacement of the old PDQ is used.
• Began brainstorming recommendations.
• Did a quick survey of LocSecs on MC about using the member interests and areas of expertise reports to find volunteers.
• Asked in M-Hospitality for someone with a background in sociology to help me understand the concept of "social capital" (after getting no responses from TF members for over a month).

Strategic Planning Committee

• Participated in discussions about projects and who should “own” them in the next year or two.
  
• Participated in discussions  about a new quarterly report form.
  

Marketing Committee

• Nada- I think they do all their discussions on Facebook and I haven't been added to that group . 

SIGs Advisory Committee

• I voted to approve a couple of new SIGs.

Name & Logo Committee

• I'm supposed to be on this per ASIE, but have not been added yet.

Beasts in the Room

Maybe we should back up and talk about the real elephants in the room— the AMC hierarchy, respect given to each other’s roles, and general trust of each other to do what is best for Mensa.

As Communications Officer, my very job description includes Oversees the AML website; Oversees social media; Provides guidance, training, and policy interpretation for the social media administrators and moderators; and Is authorized to make policy decisions on electronic and written communications.

I was appointed for a reason. It would be nice to be allowed to do my job.

Elephant in the Mud

Well the Elephant got bogged down in committee. Although officially the vote on CommComm was 4 to 3 in favor of it, I decided that with such support, it probably couldn't go to the AMC. The "no" votes were based on criticism of a section implying that the CO could overturn an RVC's moderation decision or based on a vague "it's not ready yet." Despite my repeated requests, there were no concrete wording suggestions offered.

After talking to some AMC ExComm members, I went ahead and presented it to the AMC as a whole as a potential motion to gauge support and get input. After some discussion, I presented an amended section covering rescission of administrator decisions.

I do not like my amended section, but better to compromise on this point in order to get the overall policy update through. I still think it's going to bite the AMC in the ass at some point.

Here are some illustrative scenarios (note- Ralph and Dave are based on actual former RVCs I’ve served with):

Scenario 1
Gilda is a cantankerous member of Region 11, and has a history of being a bit of a troll online, though usually clever enough to stay one millimeter back from crossing the line. Ralph is the RVC for Region 11. He was elected on a platform of “All AMC members are power-hungry idiots who want to squash free speech.” Ralph is close friends with Gilda.

In the Region 11 community, Gilda gets into a conflict with Rosa. At one point, Gilda posts “Oh come on, @Rosa, everyone should know the REAL reason you are such a fan of tacos at events. You’d better lick those juices carefully--one of these times, you may find yourself choking on a razor blade.”

Other members complain to Ralph that Gilda’s post was outing Rosa as a lesbian and making a veiled threat. Ralph decides to let it stay, either because he’s oblivious, because he’s buddies with Gilda, because of that awkward result when he tried to “flirt” with Rosa back in an Asilomar hot tub, or because of his strong belief in being completely hands-off as an administrator.

In this instance, when members shift the complaints upwards to the Comm Officer, it is entirely possible that the CO, after talking to plenty of people, will determine that the Minimum Standards were violated (Gilda revealed confidential personal information about Rosa’s sexual orientation and made an implied threat of violence). The CO goes back to Ralph, who refuses to take the post down or sanction Gilda in any way.

In this scenario, the CO should rescind Ralph’s decision to let Gilda’s taunt to Rosa stand and take action—Gilda’s actions were against the governing documents of AML.


Scenario 2
Gilda and Rosa get into an online tussle. Rosa posts something about Gilda being a member of MidState Mensa, which is widely known as a hotbed of anti-microchip fanatics. Gilda complains that Rosa violated the Minimum Standards by outing her as a member of that particular Local Group. Ralph takes the post down and suspends Rosa from posting for a month because she posted confidential information.

Rosa complains to the CO, who looks into it and determines that which LG a member belongs to is NOT confidential information and Ralph’s decision, based on Rosa violating the Minimum Standards, was incorrect. The CO contacts Ralph, who simply responds with “butt out.” In this scenario, depending on many factors, the CO should consider rescinding Ralph’s decision and reinstate Rosa.

Scenario 3
Region 12’s RVC, Dave, is a nice guy but very quiet. So quiet, in fact, that he doesn’t participate in AMC discussions, has excuses for not attending AMC meetings, never visits his Groups, and hasn’t sent his editors an RVC column all year. Basically, he’s gone AWOL. He never appointed an assistant or moderators for his Mensa Connect community. The whole situation is weird and the AMC has started to look into maybe replacing him, but that process is long and arduous.

In the Region 12 Mensa Connect community, a couple members dust it up pretty obnoxiously. Members complain, but the RVC doesn’t answer, so the concerns get kicked up to the CO. In this scenario, the CO should probably rescind Dave’s “decision” to ignore his responsibility to tend to his community.

Seventeen Years Later...

 And I'm back to working on....

The Relationship between a BoD and Staff

Members (and some AMCers) are complaining about the lack of input/review/approval the AMC had over the Oral History Project. We were informed that it was happening, and the general timetable and expectations, but that’s it. 

This is a good time for a quick lesson on the relationship between a Board of Directors and the paid staff.

 

The BoD handles the big picture stuff. Visions, goals, general values and direction of the organization. They hire an Executive Director to “make it so.” The Board communicates their big goals to the ED and approves a budget. From there, The ED is responsible for hiring and supervising other staff to get stuff done. The Board is apprised of things, consulted when there are problems, but generally stays hands off on the details. This is a good thing—the Board comprises members who may or may not be diligent and skilled, and the turnover rate is high. 

 

If the Board doesn’t like how the ED is or isn’t getting stuff done, they replace the ED.

 

So as an illustration, let’s say the AMC has as a grand goal “make it easier for members to gather in person” and after much discussion, determines that it would be really super awesome to have physical Mensa clubhouses. The AMC would then tell the ED “we want clubhouses for members, and we’re authorizing $1,000,000 towards that goal.”

 

The ED can then decide to make one big clubhouse in the most populated city, or three smaller clubhouses in cities where the groups are wobbling. They might decide, after research, that the best way to allocate the million dollars is to rent rooms on Thursdays in 500 park districts across the country. The ED would apprise the AMC of this decision, and at this point, the AMC could say "gosh no, we want to own buildings, even if it’s only two." The ED would change course or lay out the case for renting in many cities instead of buying in one or two.

 

The AMC does NOT get consulted on furniture, which internet company to contract with, or what color the carpeting will be.

 

Back to the situation at hand—somewhere along the way, The AMC said, among other goals, “preserve our history” and "increase membership." The ED, or more likely the staff responsible for marketing and increasing membership, thought "personal anecdotes and stories are effective tools for bringing in members," heard about this history publishing company, cut a deal with them that seemed good, and made it happen. The AMC was informed of this deal in a general sense, and for whatever reason, didn’t say “gosh no!” The AMC was NOT informed of the specifics and certainly not the wording of each communication, any more than they’d be consulted on the decision to paint the clubhouse walls griege with puce accents or which direction the refrigerator door should swing.

 

What we’re learning, or at least I am, is that there needs to be some tweaking of the “hands-off; don’t micromanage” division. 

 

The next AMC meeting is going to be interesting.