All design and Graphic Work
Copyright:©Mastermason.com 1998
Web Design by:
Carl A. Davenport
Music:
The Thrill Is Gone
by B.B.King
Our Server is: Mastermason.com,
And yours should be too |
Join Freemasonry's Oldest And Most
Respected WebGuild
We're a lot more than just a fancy logo on your homepage
|
Often we hear, "Let's get to the nitty
gritty," or, "Let's get to the nuts and
bolts." Excellent advice. If two people are on the
same "wave length," there is no
problem in following this advice.
We must determine, though, what the "nitty" is
before we can get to the "gritty". We
can't fasten the bolt with the nut until it's put through
the hole. Finding the right hole
can take time, knowledge, searching, and often a lot of
fumbling. Putting on the nut
becomes fairly simple once the hole is found.
It takes communication, non-verbal, to find the proper
slot for the bolt. It can take
differing forms of communication to find the "nitty
gritty." With meaningful communication many difficult
problems can be solved and tasks performed efficiently.
Poor communication is responsible for many business
failures. It also accounts for much fraternal apathy and
lack of interest. One wonders how many lodges have had to
surrender their charters because of little or no
communication, or how many lodges have poor attendance
because of a lack of communication. Many Worshipful
Masters
deplore the small group of Masons who turn out for Masonic
funerals. Later they learn
that many members would have been present if they had
known about the funeral.
Recently I spoke in a lodge with fewer than fifty members.
Over two hundred were jammed into the lodge room. A couple
of weeks earlier I had spoken in a lodge with six hundred
members. Twenty-eight, including visitors, were lost in
the large room. What made the difference?
The small lodge had sent out an attractive bulletin. It
was worded in such a way that
everyone believed the greatest Masonic speaker would
address them. The bulletin was an
"attention-getter". The larger lodge had sent
out a postcard asking the members to attend a stated
meeting. But it didn't tell them why they should.
One of the former duties of the Tiler was to notify the
members of special meetings of the lodge. That was before
the days of the popularity of Brother Henry Ford's
horseless buggy. In those bygone days many country lodges
met on or close to the full moon. This enabled the men, or
their horses, to find their way safely over rural lanes.
Those were the days when the Masonic lodge was the center
of attraction for men fortunate enough to be Master
Masons.
Brother Ford and his Model T changed the life-style of
Americans. Man was no longer tied to a relatively small
area of the country. His world was enlarged. So was his
knowledge, his work habits, his friends, his neighbors,
and his leisure time. The Masonic lodge was no longer the
only center of attraction for its members.
We all know what the automobile has done for the world.
Without it and its by-products the economy would take a
nose dive. This truism is now understood and accepted by
most people. But it wasn't always so. People had to be
convinced that they should buy the early noisy
contraptions. Today, millions are spent to persuade buyers
that one car is better than another car.
A product that no one knows about is useless. An idea that
is not discussed is wasted. A program that the members
know nothing about is squandered. For the leadership not
to keep its followers fully informed about the
organization is a golden opportunity thrown away.
Many of our lodges have a large percentage of their
members living beyond commuting distance. But those
distant Brethren have a right to know what their lodge is
doing, plans on doing, and has done. They support their
lodge, even if it's only through paying their dues. They
cannot be present frequently, but they are still loyal
members. Their lodge should recognize this loyalty by not
ignoring them.
All this means that there must be written communication
between the lodge and its
members. Here's a partial list of the PURPOSES of a LODGE
PUBLICATION:
- To inform the members of the lodge's objectives, plans,
problems, and programs
- To show how the member is vital to the success of the
lodge
- To help create well-informed Master Masons
- To recognize the achievements of the members in
Freemasonry and the community
- To provide Masonic social intercourse for members and
their families
To accomplish the foregoing there are many techniques that
can be employed. The money available must be considered,
but it should not be the prime consideration. Every dollar
spent will be returned over and over again in renewed
interest in the lodge. This will be evidenced in numerous
ways. Dues will be paid more promptly, attendance will
increase, and out-of-town members will be heard from
frequently. And that will be only the beginning of the
benefits.
Large companies use magazine-type publications three to
one over newspaper and
bulletin types. They can charge the cost to profit and
loss for tax purposes; the lodge
must absorb the cost. It, too, should consider the profit
and loss aspect. It can
by determining whether or not the benefits derived (or
desired) exceed the unwanted
considerations. If they are greater, there is a profit; if
not, the project should be abandoned because there is a
loss.
A lodge publication doesn't have to be elaborate to be
effective. One of the better
ones that I have seen over the years was simply and
inexpensively done. It was a legal
sized piece of light blue paper ( 8 «" by 14"
), divided into eight columns (four on the
front and four on the back), and printed on an offset
press. It was typed by the editor's secretary on white
paper, then photocopied onto a metal master. The
photographs, cartoons, and other drawings were made to fit
a column, then pasted in before the plate was made. I say
this was one of "the better ones" because it was
neatly produced and contained more valuable Masonic
information than many publications of much greater cost
and size. The Worshipful Master had a column in which he
discussed his plans. The Educational Officer had as much
space as he needed to convey his message. There was always
a column headed: "In the Opinion of the Editor . .
." There were Masonic messages from outstanding
Masonic writers. There were news items about what other
members were doing. There were
occasional photographs and in almost every issue there was
a cartoon.
The "News" was mailed to every member and to
every lodge within a twenty-five mile radius.
Consequently, visitors at times were more plentiful than
members. This speaks well for the publication-the average
attendance of members was always over thirty percent! They
attended because they knew in advance it was worthwhile to
leave the reclining chair and television. They were going
to enjoy a Masonic experience.
Two contests were run by the "News" during its
first year. One invited the ladies to
write on "Why I'm Glad My Husband is a Mason."
The members could write on any
Masonic subject that struck their fancy. At the end of the
year, prizes were awarded
publicly to the winners. The contest was continued for
several years.
A publication must first attract the potential reader;
then it must hold his attention. Every lodge has men with
imagination, with creative ability, who will take the time
necessary to help an editor with a well-rounded
publication. Examples of excellent publications can be
found everywhere. A little initiative can make yours
different and better than any other Masonic publication.
Keep it Masonic in nature. Strive for clear, concise,
understandable writing. Use sharp photographs. Keep the
cartoon and humor
within Masonic bounds.
Comedy is an essential means of communication. Often we
can get our points across better with humor than any other
way. For several years the Grand Lodge of Virginia,
through its Education Committee, did this during its
Annual Communication. It presented a skit called "The
Lodge of Confusion." It portrayed the mistakes
commonly made in lodges throughout the Jurisdiction,
exaggerating them only slightly. Many an officer confessed
that he learned the right way to act from laughing with
the cast during Grand Lodge.
A danger signal should be hoisted here. Comedy should have
a serious purpose. Farces should be vehicles for sound
common sense. We rely upon clowns (like Brother Red
Skelton), cartoonists, and song writers to give us
insights that will help us form worth-while opinions. We
must use comedy wisely. An example of the judicious use of
comedy, or satire, to help form public opinion is that of
the great humorist, Brother Will Rogers, one of the most
influential voices of his day.
Surveys show that the lack of communication, or the wrong
kind, is the weakest link in
exemplifying "the principles of leadership". You
will recall that these are planning, goal
setting, organizing, staffing, communicating, and
controlling. Without meaningful communication no
goal can be reached, and probably won't even be set. There
can be
little or no planning without information being passed
along to those below or above
us. No organization can long prosper without effective
communication. In Key to Freemasonry's Growth (1) we read:
"Communication, to put it simply, is conveying
information from one person or group to another person or
group. It sounds easy, but in actual practice it has
proven one of the greatest barriers to the success of many
organizations. It is a difficult process. Communication
does fall apart and goals come tumbling down."
Conrad Hahn, in the film Breaking Barriers to
Communication (2) said: "Why does
communication fall apart? The behavioral scientists
believe they have the answer. They
believe that the greatest barrier to meaningful
communication is HUMAN NATURE."
Aristotle, born 384 B. C., believed the samething. He
declared that to communicate
effectively a person must be able to understand human
character and behavior in
their various forms; he must reason logically; he must
understand emotions.
A modern day Professor of Communication Arts, David K.
Berlo, follows the Aristotelean theory in this not so
simple definition of the not so simple art of
communication: "Our basic purpose in communication is
to become an affecting agent, to affect others, our
physical environment, and ourselves; to become a
determining agent; to have a vote in how things are. In
short, we communicate to influence - to affect with
intent." "To make it even shorter," said
Brother Hahn, "we communicate to change, or affect,
human behavior. There is really no other reason for
communicating. And here we have the greatest barrier to
meaningful communication - HUMAN NATURE".
He went on to list these six BARRIERS TO
COMMUNICATION: - Human Nature
- Organizational Realities - Assumptions - Prejudice -
Fear - Low Trust. Each of these barriers is related
to human nature. So, it is most important to remember that
Freemasons are in the "people business".
About ORGANIZATIONAL REALITIES Brother Hahn said: "In
any organization where one man, or a small group of men,
runs the show, there will be little or no communication.
Ideas for improvement will be stifled, ignored, or
sometimes belittled. Consequently, ideas will not be
suggested. And without ideas no organization can grow.
`Take it or leave it' plans, iron-clad rules and
regulations, prevent creativity, because upward and
downward communication cannot function when freedom of
expression is discouraged."
This is the principal reason I strongly suggested in Part
IV of this series that Teamwork is important; that Teams
replace the traditional committee structure.
ASSUMPTIONS cause us to make mistakes in judgment, for we
assume that our words mean the same to others as they do
to us. We tend to forget that all of us look at life
through restricted windows. Our vision is narrowed by our
environment, our associates, our work, our
organizations.
PREJUDICE causes us to see things that don't exist. It
helps us to shrug off things we
don't like and to accept the things we do. The truth has
trouble existing where prejudice lives.
FEAR of reprisals, fear of sarcasm, fear of ridicule, fear
of criticism will keep ideas
locked in the mind of a timid person. No one who is afraid
can function effectively. Fear also breeds LOW TRUST. And
where there is low trust there are likely to be more
barriers to communication than have been discussed
here.
Brother Hahn tells us how to break barriers to
communication: "By putting ourselves in
the other fellow's shoes. By understanding and accepting
human nature. By understanding that the facts, actions,
thoughts, knowledge, and emotions of others differ from
ours. By realizing that no two human beings have
ever been exposed to and molded by exactly the same
experiences."
If we will take this into consideration, the major source
of difficulty in communicating
will be eliminated. If we will practice EMPATHY - this is
the art of putting ourselves in the other fellow's place -
we'll be able to communicate with anyone in a meaningful
way. The Constructive Leader will practice empathy. He'll
study human behavior and put his understanding t o work
for the good of the organization.
The film lists the following ways of BREAKING BARRIERS TO
COMMUNICATION:
- Discard the "Crutch"
- Talk About Ideas
- Utilize Non-verbal Communication
- Use Examples
- Danger - I Assumed!
- Don't Prejudge
- Learn to Listen
- Welcome Feedback
Too often we use "organizational realities" as a
"crutch" or an excuse to do nothing.
This is a favorite of the Obstructive Leader. The
Constructive Leader will see in the
policies and rules of the Lodge and Grand Lodge an
opportunity to use them as guides
rather than obstacles. The good leader won't lean on a
"crutch" of any kind.
Ideas that ace locked in the mind are of no value to
anyone. It is said that for every
idea that has been put into practice there have been ten
people who thought about it.
The trouble is, they only thought about it. So talk about
ideas. Discuss them with
others. Work with them. You'll be amazed at how much you
can accomplish.
Non-verbal communication is used hundreds of times daily.
At times this can work wonders. Brother Benjamin Franklin
proved it. He wanted to see the streets of Philadelphia
lighted, but he knew the city fathers would howl about the
expense. Instead of trying to persuade them verbally, he
simply hung a beautiful lantern on a long bracket in front
of his home. People carefully picking their way along the
streets at night came out of the dark into the
well-lighted area in front of Franklin's home. Soon most
of his neighbors placed lights in front of their homes. It
wasn't long before the entire city awoke to the value of
street lighting. Franklin achieved his goal. He had
overcome organizational realities through non-verbal
communication-and by using an example. Don't be afraid to
use examples.
We can overcome the barrier of assumptions, even though
assumptions must always be with us. We can use them in the
right way. For instance: we must always assume that the
receiver won't get our message unless we make it clear.
We'll make it clear if we'll remember that MEANINGS ARE IN
PEOPLE - NOT IN WORDS. Then, too, we must stop
transferring OUR motives to the other fellow; we must not
draw conclusions until all the facts are in; we must avoid
making snap judgments. And we
must always remember that the two most dangerous words in
our language are - I
ASSUMED!
Prejudice will disappear if we'll stop prejudging, if
we'll remember that preconceived judgments are
caused by past experience or teachings. These are too
often based on insufficient knowledge. They probably don't
fit present circumstances anyway. We should give the other
fellow credit for having dreams and aspirations, and learn
what they are, because then we will learn to appreciate
him more.
Where there is fear there is always low trust. Where these
exist there can be no
growth. Both can be eliminated by bringing the causes out
into the open. Gossip
contributes to fear, low trust, and all the other barriers
to communication. Truth is the
only way to stop gossip. Truth is considered a
"divine attribute" in Freemasonry, so
gossip should be unknown among us.
Listening is one of the most difficult, yet most
important, skills in communication. It
is too often neglected. And we must learn to
"listen" with our eyes as well as our ears.
Meanings are frequently conveyed by actions rather than by
words, so the eyes can "hear" much that the ear
will miss.
To obtain feedback - information communicated upward,
downward, and sideways - to our superiors, our
subordinates, and our equals - we must learn to listen
well. Feedback is the only way to determine how
well, or badly, we are doing in accomplishing our
objectives or goals. The Constructive Leader seeks and
welcomes feedback; the Obstructive Leader wants no part of
it. The amount of feedback
present tells what kind of communication exists. Where the
atmosphere is trusting,
where men don't fear their superiors, where there are good
listeners, there is feedback
that accomplishes growth.
Obviously there can be no Constructive Leadership unless
there is meaningful
communication. Without such communication we cannot put
into practice the ideas in the first five Short Talks of
this series, nor those that will follow. Here we've merely
touched upon the subject, but the key points have been
covered. The "Leader's Guide" for the film,
Breaking Barriers to Communication, sums up the thoughts
brought out in the film and this series as follows:
"Leadership is an absolute necessity if Freemasonry
is to grow. To obtain this leadership, education and
dedication to the principles of Freemasonry are necessary.
Constructive Leaders must be able to recognize the
barriers to communication that
exist. Then they must practice removing those barriers.
They will then be able to grow men into the leaders that
the Organization must have.
"We must learn to empathize - to put ourselves in the
other fellow's shoes - to talk about ideas, to be
creative, to welcome feedback - constructive criticism. We
must
learn to be better listeners to make us better
communicators.
"We must remember that words are merely symbols and
mean only what WE think they mean. We must not assume that
they mean the same to the other fellow as they do to
us.
MEANINGS ARE IN PEOPLE. Those meanings have been put in
their minds through lifelong association, real and
imagined."
Communication - is it important? Yes! It's the most
important aspect of being an
excellent leader.
1. From the book for Masonic leaders, Key to Freemasonry's
Growth, by Allen E. Roberts, Macoy Publishing and Masonic
Supply Co., Richmond. Va.
2. Breaking Barriers to Communication, a Masonic
Leadership Training Film, featuring M. W. Conrad Hahn,
produced for Macoy. Quotations from the script have been
used in this Short Talk Bulletin by permission of Macoy.
I regard the Masonic institution as one of the means
ordained by
the Supreme Architect to enable mankind to work out the
problem
of destiny; to fight against, and overcome, the weaknesses
and
imperfections of his nature, and at last to attain to that
true life of
which death is the herald and the grave the portal.
- JOHN W. SIMONS.
|
This website does not speak for
the Grand Lodge of Illinois or Freemasonry
|
