By Carl Smith
So, you’ve decided to dip your finger in the bucket and become a leader in your officiating association. It’s a big step. Without good leadership, associations will flounder, stagnate, or worse, cease to exist. How does that relate to you? Everyone goes in with the idea he or she will be a great leader, but you must make sure your eyes are wide open.
Do you know what’s in store for you? Is it really for you? Can you make a positive difference? Here are some important things to consider.
1. Time
Do you have the time to commit to the association? Family, faith and your “day job” always comes first. Officiating to most is an avocation, not a vocation. Unless you’re single and have no other responsibilities, you must consider the time factor. To do a good job and have a positive impact may require a lot of time, depending on the size of your association. You must have time for general membership meetings, board meetings, special committees or projects you may be assigned to, and observing or evaluating officials. Those are all very important duties. As a leader, you’re expected to be everywhere.
It is also helpful to have a spouse that supports your involvement. Do you have kids in the house? Are they involved in sports, maybe even the sports you officiate? Consider whether you want to miss their games for association meetings.
Are you involved in your local church, temple or synagogue? Are you involved in a Bible study group, a local rescue mission, charity or soup kitchen, or maybe involved with a youth outreach? How flexible is your day job? Of the 168 hours in a week, how many do you have to “give”?
2. Patience
Working on a board requires a lot of patience and a spirit of cooperation. You have a select number of individuals that need to work as a team to do what’s best for the association as a whole. Can you work with the people who are on your current board? If there’s a chance that you can’t, back away. It’ll only lead to frustration and block any positive outcome from your involvement.
When observing and evaluating officials, you also need to rely on patience. When you’re trying to help them, and either they’re ignoring you or just not “getting it,” you must exercise patience to continue to work with them. Remember, you signed up, got appointed or elected. To be a leader, you must lead. Sometimes you can do it by talking the talk, but many times you must walk the walk, too. Leading by example may be the most productive method of teaching. Sometimes you feel like you’re raising kids all over again, and in reality you are, but you can’t just tell them, “Do it because I said so.” You’re working with adults for the most part. If you can show them what you want them to try and tell them why it’ll work better for them in the long run, their perception of you will change dramatically.
3. Attitude
Your attitude as a leader can make or break you. If you appear to be disinterested, bored, distracted, or worse, above it all, you’ll have a hard time gaining traction as a leader. Being a leader involves politics. I know it’s a dirty word to many, but it’s a fact of life. You have to be able to play the game to be successful; you get better results with the carrot instead of the stick. If your other board members and general membership know that you care about their development as officials, you’ll have an open road to training them and molding them. Attitude can be positive or poison. You decide.
4. Aptitude
Once you’ve got the mental portion out of the way, do you have the aptitude or skill set to be a good leader? If you’re joining the board just to be involved in the decision making, that’ll only go so far. To have effective leadership, all members of the leadership team need to be involved in the thought process and implementation process. What do you have to offer your board that will make you an invaluable member?
5. Vision
Do you already have some ideas of positive changes you’d like to see incorporated into your association’s way of doing business? How is your association set up? Are your work practices modernized and viable? Can you see through the details and keep your eyes on the short- and long-term goals of your association. Unfortunately, many boards have multiple members, but they may only have one or two with true vision. How do you want to move ahead, making your association better for the members that will take over from you? That’s true vision.
6. Organizational skills
Are you a detail person? Can you keep track of reports, evaluations, financials, etc.? Are you competent with current technology? Does your association have an online assigning system, social media outlet, mass email list, audio/video equipment for training? Can you assist with any of those?
It is so important for every officiating association to have strong leadership. The associations that have strong leaders who exhibit the qualities listed above seem to flourish. The associations that do the bare minimum to get by flounder. Get involved in your local association. Weigh the cost, the options, but don’t lose sight of the benefits. There are many. It’s not money, but the knowledge of a job well done, of seeing officials succeed because of your positive influence. When all is said and done, that’s what matters most.
Carl Smith, Anchorage, Alaska, is a former treasurer and assigner for the Anchorage Sports Officials Association.
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