                    THE SUCCESS OF PROPER PLANNING
                    One Master's View From The East      

                         Wor. Stephen C. Cohn
                                                                      
                                             (c) 1995 "The Trowel"    
                                          Grand Lodge of Massachusetts


     To the Master-Elect, congratulations on being elected Worshipful
Master of your lodge.  It is a position of extreme responsibility,
respect, enjoyment, pride, satisfaction and a lot of hard work.  By
now you have heard some of the best ideas, suggestions and instruction
available to us, that will not only help you to properly organize and
plan for your year in the East, but will help you in your lives
outside Masonry as well.

     But just how prepared will you be when you are installed as
Master?  Will your line officers be completely informed with your
plans, or will they be left in the dark only having to be concerned
with their own station and performance, not knowing what is scheduled
until they read it in your monthly lodge notice?  Will your plans be
detailed enough so that any officer, or member for that matter, can
refer to it and implement it at any point if necessary?  Are you
regularly communicating with your line officers?  Communicating even
now as you plan for your year!  Are you really prepared for the
unexpected?  Lets look at the experiences of one recent Master as his
year unfolded, and ask yourselves if you are duly and truly prepared
to assume the Oriental Chair in your lodge.   

     This brother had spent the previous four years in the quarries
preparing for the time when he could be installed as the Worshipful
Master of his lodge.  He had attended three Wardens' Workshops and a
Masters' Leadership seminar.  The information imparted was to be
invaluable to him and his lodge.

     He had been employed with the same company for 12 years, the last
ten working days with weekends off.  His business operated 24 hours a
day, 365 days a year.  Five days after his installation as Master his
company laid off 1/3 of its staff, and although not laid off himself,
for two weeks he is unsure what his schedule will be or even if he'll
be able to realize his goal of being a Master.  But his plans for the
year were in place, and all that had to be done was to have someone do
the follow-ups.  Luck must have been with him this time, for he wound
up working nights, overnights, and weekends -- but his lodge met on
one of his days off.  One potential crisis averted!  Fortunately this
worked out OK, but lets continue.

     In the middle of December's meeting, a beeper sounds off twice. 
Its the Master's beeper wanting him to call home.  His son was
involved in an ice skating accident and was told "a skate
blade went through his wrist" and was being transported to a
hospital.  The Master left immediately and the Senior Warden took over
and the evening's program continued as scheduled.  Fortunately the
injury was not as serious as it was initially made out to be.  Lets go
on.

     In the middle of January's meeting, a beeper sounds off three
times.  This time its the Master's son saying his (Master's) wife just
fell down a flight of stairs.  She was able to get herself up to her
bed for the evening although a bit sore.  The Master was able to
remain in the lodge for the evening to continue the program, but his
mind was obviously elsewhere.  Hospital x-rays the next morning
confirmed a fractured vertebrae with a four to six week recovery. 
Lets go on.

     Starting in February and for the next four months the Master's
wife is hospitalized for eight weeks, and underwent three major
surgeries, one of which was extremely serious  (None were related to
the spill of January).  The Master now has almost no extra time to
devote to the lodge as his "spare" time is spent being "Mr. Mom, R.N."
taking care of her medical needs while at home, being her support
while hospitalized and at the same time taking care of the rest of the
family, working, and doing housework.  But the lodge events go on
without a hitch, as scheduled.

     Communications with the line officers was essential throughout
the year, although at times were quite brief.  The Wardens, Deacons
and Secretary were all kept well informed and up to date as to program
execution, as well as health updates.  Attendance of the Master was
always a last minute decision during the middle months of the year and
contingency plans were always in place.  All but two events went on as
scheduled and every one was very successful.  Some of these events
included an intervisitation with a lodge 40 miles away by 15 members
and a pilgrimage to the Masonic Home in Charlton for degree work by
nine members and four candidates -- in a snowstorm!

     Okay, so just what is the point of this scenario you say?  The
lessons to be learned here are quite simple.  A couple of months
before his installation, the then Master-Elect met with all his line
officers, other "movers and shakers" of his lodge, and their families
for a summer outing.  A substantial package of information was handed
out to every officer.  It included duties and responsibilities of
every office, lodge calendars, program plans for almost every meeting
during the year, and the plan to attempt the Grand Master's Award. 
All that was left to be done during the year was a quick confirmation
letter or telephone call to the speaker or group leader of an event. 
Almost all the events had originally been scheduled and confirmed long
before the Master was installed, and some were done, in part, early in
his year as Senior Warden.  

     None of this would have happened had his year not been planned as
well, and as early, as it was.  Lessons that were learned from these
various workshops.

     So how did the lodge do during this very stressful year? 
Stressful at least from that Master's viewpoint!  Seven candidates
were raised, two more than the previous year.  Blood donations were up
by well over 25% over the previous year.  Attendance was up by over
10%.  Masonic awareness events were held every month, 15 in total, to
stimulate the membership.  And as for the Grand Master's Award, well
the lodge missed it by a fraction, through no fault of the Master. 
The junior officers just couldn't take the necessary time away from
their businesses to attend the added meetings within the district.  It
was a valiant albeit losing effort for the lodge.  But the lodge is
certainly far better off for attempting such a lofty goal despite the
adversity it faced throughout the year.

     So my brethren, you can now decide if the above scenario is
indeed fact, or maybe fiction!  The key point is that your plans for
the year should be well thought out and detailed, committed to paper
and communicated to your line officers.  Detailed to the point of
including the goal of the event, speaker or group contact's name,
phone number, address if necessary and the schedule of the evening. 
Never hesitate to publish a synopsis of your schedule throughout the
year in your lodge notice for all the brethren to read.  Put to work
the excellent lessons you have just learned from today's seminar
leaders.  If you can get everything organized before your
installation, all that will be left for you to do is a simple
follow-up and implementation of your plans as each month nears.  This
should give you plenty of time to perfect your ritual and sit back and
hopefully enjoy your year as Worshipful Master.  You will then be
"duly and truly prepared" for any emergency that might arise. 

     As to fact or fiction, this story is absolutely pure..... fact. 
As for the Master's son, he's fine and playing just about every
sport.  His wife is almost totally recovered from her illness and
surgeries.  His lodge is probably at its strongest point in years, and
now he can finally sit back, kick his feet up, take a deeeep breath
and relax -- but not for too long, for he's now planning for another
year in the East in another lodge.  

     Proper Planning Positively Prevents Poor Performance!

                                   Wor. Stephen C. Cohn
                                   Past Master
                                   Garden City Lodge











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