Editor's Note

He joined the club with great enthusiasm and excitement.  He volunteered to be a Coordinator and even the Newsletter Editor.  Now, he sounds like the perfect new Member right?  Someone who is willing to jump in with both feet and to volunteer right from the beginning!  He said he had been ready and willing to learn immediately, and he felt he even had a few things to offer the Club!

But then, he said, one day it all started to change.  The club "cliques" started to take over, and his new ideas and suggested activities were  flatly turned down.  Slowly, bit by bit, his enthusiasm and excitement started to fade.  The people in the club were not as friendly as the person who had recruited him into the club.  It seemed the more he wanted to do, the more he got pushed away.  He began to feel that the Club family wasn't open to new ideas, and that all they wanted was for everything to stay the same.  The end result?  Our once-enthusiastic new Member is now no longer a part of the club.

Perhaps there is a personality conflict, or perhaps somebody's excitement gets misinterpreted as him or her "wanting to take over".

But here's the thing: We need to not be afraid of our enthusiastic , excited new Members.  Instead, let's channel their energy and accept their new ideas.  After all, if Clubs don't evolve and change, eventually they will die.  The most successful Clubs are those that consistently continue to grow and embrace change.

This article was taken from the Wing World motorcycle magazine.  I have belonged to many clubs including the National Gold Wing Club and the local Chapter and the above magazine is published by the National Gold Wing Club.  It is amazing that no matter what type of club we belong to the same old problems seem to exist. Interesting, I thought.

Don Hungerford