The STAMP of a President

When I asked the group I was ‘facilitating’, yes, ‘facilitating’ and not ‘training’: “What according to you is the most important quality a Leader or a President should have?” I got a wide variety of responses that mightily impressed me. These ranged from – Able to Lead, Achieve goals, Inspire, Coordinate, Empower, Role Model, Motivator, Communicator, Make others comfortable, Able to Create more, Solution Finder and many more. It was after this that I shared with them the one slide that I had added to the prescribed pre-existing content. And this slide had just one word – STAMP. How do you leave your STAMP as a President? How do you leave an indelible STAMP and create a legacy? The STAMP can be left only when there is Sincerity, Team-orientation, Action-orientation, Member-orientation and Passion. Brief insights on each of these below.

Sincerity

Why are you doing this? Only you know the answer. Power should not be the reason. Love should be. Service should be. ‘Yours sincerely’ it should be! (and never ‘Yours powerfully!) It was Jimi Hendrix, I think, who said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” How sincere are you to the values? Only you know! There are no external litmus papers to test the values of Integrity, Respect, Service and Excellence. Only you know how sincere you are. And when you know, it will show.

Team Orientation

President is the ‘CEO’ of the Executive Committee. Chief Executive Officer? Well…perhaps, yes. What if I change the ‘E’ in the CEO to make it Chief Enablement Officer, Chief Empowerment Officer, Chief Everything Officer – yes! Yes! Yes! A resounding, emphatic ‘Yes’ to these.

Action Orientation

Presidents tend to be in the Advisory role…been there, done that, right? If you have seen this happen, you would know, the precise the reason why self-help books don’t work. They don’t work because they are to be worked upon. Action orientation is what separates the great leader from the not-so-great one.

Member Orientation

The organization, or the club in this case, exists for the members. The officers exist for the members. So, every single thought, decision and action have to be driven by the single-minded member-orientation which in turn will ensure quality, loyalty, longevity, sustenance, commitment, camaraderie and a whole bunch of other good to have words.

Passion

At the core of everything that we do must reside this one quality which needs no elaboration. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can replace this foundation. If you are not passionate about what you are doing, don’t do it. Just get out.

Leaving you with one thought, do you have the right STAMP? You will leave a legacy if you do. Signed and Stamped! Yours sincerely!