A Message from the Deputy Grand Master

As I sat Thanksgiving Day, surrounded by family and friends all waiting for the Thanksgiving feast, I was particularly struck at how we as Brothers and friends are so very fortunate to live in the United States of America. We can disagree with each other, but at the end of the day we are all Brothers and friends with a set of common beliefs, goals, and concepts to guide us on our way.

The luxury we enjoy is due in large part to our Brothers such as George Washington and other Masons who paved the way for us. What these Brothers brought us was LEADERSHIP.

Leadership is not a new concept. Brother Washington knew that with effective Leadership the rag tag colonists could defeat one of the mightiest military organizations in history. Our forefathers defeated the Army and Navy of England who were at the time the greatest power on earth.

This experience was such a powerful influence on our Brothers that as part of creating a new country they also created institutions within the Army and Navy to educate and grow leaders for our military organizations. The concepts taught to these men and women are just as useful to our organizations as they are for leaders of the United States military.

One of the benefits of advancing age is the ability and time to look back at the people and events that shaped who we are. Personally, I have had the opportunity to observe good leaders and very poor ones and probably learned more from the poor ones.  While there certainly are differences leading a larger organization than a smaller one, there are basic truths to all. As the new year arrives, I intend to use these pages to introduce some concepts that I believe will benefit all of us and develop Leadership.

Leadership is not a trait that we are all born with, but natural or learned, leadership can be improved for all of us over time.

The first concept for improving leadership that I want to share with you is:

“Trust is Vital”

The Master of the Lodge must be able to TRUST his subordinates, the Tyler thru the Senior Warden. Trust is difficult for some Masters who want to direct every aspect of their Lodge. These Masters cannot find their way clear to trust their people and as a result they do not nurture subleaders or give them the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from the experience.

I look back on the year I was Master of W.H Booth #380 and now see that I was a poor excuse for a leader. I tried to do everyone’s job and only accomplished despising my year as Master. I learned, after the fact, that the Master is there to lead, but he has a responsibility to trust and delegate to those Brothers coming up much of the responsibility of running the Lodge. Not only will the Master’s year be more rewarding, but he is setting up the incoming Masters for success for a number of years in the future.

An effective Leader delegates responsibility and gives them the chance to succeed or fail. Sounds like our opening and closing rituals doesn’t it? How many times have we seen a new Junior Deacon struggle through his part, how our Leader (Master) and others (especially Past Masters) handle this learning process determines whether or not the Junior Deacon learns and progresses to become an asset or is ridiculed and doesn’t darken our doorway again.

Without Trust, delegation, and mutual Respect among leaders and subordinate leaders, our organizations will suffer a combination of low performance and poor morale.

I challenge all of us to improve our Leadership to the great benefit of our lodges, ourselves, and our Brothers.

R:W: John F. Knox, Jr., D.G.M.