Grand Master II

The current Grand Lodge desires to change the term of office of the Grand Master to two years..........hmmmmm............okay I agree with the reasons given and the logic behind it.  I am an engineer by trade and logic appeals to me.  In addition I served as Master of my home lodge for two years and as well as I was prepared going into my first year, I found my second year much more enjoyable already knowing the ins and outs of the position after my first year.  I had only planned on being Master one year but necessity arose where I needed to serve the second year.  I then went on to serve as Master of my first affiliate lodge for two years.  This was necessary since I needed to build and develop an officer line behind me so that the lodge could be self sufficient after I was out of office. They are now in their third year of new Masters for the first time in nearly thirty years, mission accomplished.  So now I am in my first year as Master of my second affiliate lodge and like my first affiliate lodge it will probably be necessary that I serve for two years in order to properly develop their officer line for future success.  So I know from experience what it is like to serve as Master for two years and yes it can be more effective than a one year term.

So........I would hope that if voted into effect and unfortunately the path being taken to get there makes it doubtful, but that is another blog......that the craft would have the right to vote to re-elect the Grand Master to a second term and that the Grand Master would have the right to only serve one term if so desired.  Basically the same way we do the President, both decide if it is appropriate to serve a second term.

Back In The East

2013 finds me back in the East for my fifth term as Master in my third lodge. A rare achievement in the craft or one that most brothers would simply not want to try.....  I however like to remain challenged by the unique issues that each lodge faces. My new lodge faces financial challenges like many lodges across the state but one I have not faced before in my other two lodges. One of my goals for the upcoming year is to increase membership to generate more dues to fund the lodge. My track record shows that I am capable of doing this having added twenty two new members to my home lodge during my two years in office. I was always proud of this and yet I was recently told by a Grand Lodge officer that I had failed as Master since now five years later, seven have been dropped NPD. First if I had been in charge for the last five years he would have a valid statistic but lodges ebb and flow with the change of each new Master and you can only really judge a Master by his term in office. I received the Masters Achievement award by the Grand Lodge each of my years in office so by their standards.......I looked at the seven brothers dropped and I my conclusion was typical of what all lodges see: one joined for the wrong reason, three were a father and his sons who once the father unfortunately took ill their priorities shifted, the three others were co-workers who joined but could not attend because of the shift nature of their work changed.  So basically life has a tendency to shift peoples priorities. 

My home lodge rarely has repeat Masters so management changes on a frequent basis as a lot of lodges do. All new Masters have their strengths and weaknesses as we are all individuals. We all gasp at the compensation packages given to top notch CEO's but history has shown great leadership usually gives great results.  Yet we change leaders like socks and expect great results from some men who have never managed in their lives.  Yes we can set up customs and structure to support these brothers but the Master is still "the man in charge".  So back to the NPD issue, you can't judge a manager but what a team does years after he no longer manages. It does beg the question, does our system of management still work.....or is it as old as the fraternity and needs to change.