The 11,000 Foot Perspective
Click here to read the complete article
By Pilar Kuhn
This past summer, my husband and I took our first vacation with no work and no dogs in five years. Much needed, we met up with my family in Breckenridge, Colorado. Each and every day we spent time out in nature hiking, zip lining, taking in breath-taking vistas, fly fishing, and enjoying our environment. It also gave us time to reflect on everything we have as a couple and with our dogs. We had just finished an exhilarating whitewater rafting trip when my husband’s phone rang. Emails were flying fast and furious and there was some dire “emergency” involving one of our parent clubs and our regional club. Shame on my husband (a club officer) for answering the calls. More shame on the few individuals that caused such a ruckus and also disrespected our vacation time.
One thing about being atop mountains that are 11,000 feet or higher is that it gave us a whole new perspective and enabled us to re-focus. Quite often, the week-in and week-out displays of our dogs at all breed shows, specialties, performance events, or club involvement becomes an individual’s identity. The positions held in clubs morph into badges of self-serving agendas instead of badges of volunteerism for the overall betterment of the breed. Encouraging existing and new members to get involved seems to get tossed to the wayside.
Instead, it seems to be about getting one side or the other stacked with “minions” to push the agenda of one or two people to best serve them and their dogs and has very little to do with what’s best for the dogs and the membership overall. Over the last few years, we chose to back away from our involvement for several personal reasons.
There are many challenges to being involved as an officer or a board member with our breed clubs and quite often the same handful of people are in one position or another. The plight heard consistently is that we don’t have enough members truly involved giving of their time to keep the clubs going. It’s not because of the lack of members wanting to get more involved. It’s the lack of members wanting to be involved when they perceive their volunteerism is unappreciated, is part of someone’s bigger personal agenda, and they are only allowed do things one way. What good is it to ask someone to help if you don’t actually let them help? Regardless, we both started to put our feet back in the volunteer pool of our clubs earlier in the year and mid-vacation we were swiftly wondering why.
We are involved in two different breeds and that allows us to have insights as to how several clubs function. I am constantly amazed at how small things get blown out of proportion or become misconstrued as a personal affront to an individual or group of individuals. I’m also amazed when we provide insight as to how another club may handle a similar situation successfully, we are met with eye rolls, disdain, and rude statements slamming the other clubs. But what bothers me the most is when apparent personal agendas take precedence over what is truly best for a club and its members.
Most members of clubs do not fully understand the amount of time and effort that goes into keeping a non-profit “hobby club” functioning. Club positions are volunteer positions, but they can take up as much, if not more, time than a regular, full-time job. It is a fact that participation in clubs all around has dwindled. Needing a body to merely fill a position for the sake of filing paperwork with the AKC is no way to keep a group of supposed like-minded individuals continuing for the sake of the breeds we love. And one person cannot successfully do all the tasks required to keep a club functioning. If new membership applications, renewals, and participation in your club are dwindling, you all need to ask yourselves why. Is the person or group of people “in charge” truly doing what is best for the club and its members? Are there things the club has done in the past that used to work, but now needs to shift or change?
Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Any time an officer says, “Our club doesn’t or can’t do that,” ask yourself if that person is truly serving the club as best they can. We all need people who actually work. Those who volunteer and actually work have a vision for what is best for the breed, its members, and pulls together teams of like-minded individuals to do what is best for the dogs. And if clubs don’t embrace change, they will go by the wayside. You’d be surprised at how many members may have a great insight to how things can be done differently and successfully if they are listened to and allowed to try. What is the median age of your club and how can you get younger members to join and get involved; those that have a fresh perspective on how today’s society works with technology and communication tactics and trust them to move your club forward?
I originally joined my first regional club because I appreciated the collective mind-share of club members involved at the time and their love and support of my original breed and those that bred and owned them. Some of them are still involved. The most concerning conversations we’ve had over the past few years have been trying to get puppy buyers to apply for membership or getting new members involved in both breed clubs. The recurring question we hear? “Why should I join? I don’t want to be involved with petty in-fighting and back-stabbing. I just want to love my dog and enjoy doing things with him/her. My involvement won’t matter.”
The next time you look over a list of individuals who have offered to volunteer their time and actually work for the betterment of the club and its members, think two or three times before you cast a vote against, push to have someone run against them, or criticize the effort they are truly making. Taking a spiteful stance against someone who says they are willing to give up time for the sake of a breed they love when no one else would just because you may have a personal dislike for them does not help a club and its members. True leaders are hard to come by. And if you criticize them or help get them pushed out of that volunteer position, you had better be willing to step into that position and lead. If not, you should take your mother’s advice, bite your tongue, and mind your own business. Goodness knows your dog would rather have you at home with them than gone all day at a club meeting without them.
Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=100176
Posted by ralbee
on Mar 18 2016. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Comments are closed
