Imagine the following scenario…
A concerned staff member reports to the major city planner, “We need to find new ways to get people from the airport to the city.”
The planner asks, “How do you know?”
“People have told us they won’t come to our town because they don’t want to drive from the airport to downtown.”
The city planner panics and announces a new task force to determine alternative ways to get people from the airport to the city.
They work for months.
Finally they decide to simply build a new airport on the other side of the city and a closer drive in.
The city planner prepares a slick presentation for city council and starts to put out feelers for ways to find the millions it will take to build the new airport.
Let’s stop for a moment and consider another point of view…
The drive from the airport to the city is a rough one. The road is pitted with major chuckholes that remain unfilled due to a tight city budget.
Stories fly all over the Internet about:
- How expensive it is to pay for the repairs to rental cars due to chuckholes
- Long waits for taxis since very few are willing to risk the drive.
- Missed meetings due to taxis breaking down en route due to chuckholes.
No one complains about the length of the 10-mile drive to the city center.
It’s all about the experience of the ride.
Let’s shift our focus to chapters…
If your chapter is not overflowing with volunteers, it may have nothing to do with:
- Younger people not volunteering.
- Chapters being outdated and needing to be replaced by something new.
- People not willing to get involved.
All of these issues can disappear if you take care of the chuckholes in your chapter.
What’s causing the chuckholes?
Just like with the ride from the airport to the city (involvement), it’s the quality of the experience that makes members become active – or not.
Your leadership matters.
What are you doing to prevent chuckholes in your chapter experiences?