By Rolf Crocker

We work in a very unique industry.  Try to explain to your friends and family what you do and you’ll find it isn’t easy.  Our clients are responsible for running corporations that manage assets valued in the hundred of thousands, or millions of dollars on volunteer leadership in concert with a team of industry professionals.  Everything we do is predicated on trust.  You may be new at this or you may have been around the industry since dirt, but the following 5 points are my ‘Rules’ for building trust, maintaining your focus and keeping your sanity (that is, what you have left after joining this industry!).

1. Genuinely Care.  John Maxwell says, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.  People innately know when you care, or if it’s just lip service.  Recognize the burden that your Boards carry and seek to help lighten their load.

2. Get Their Eyes And Ears.  Remember, we don’t live there – they do!  Too often, our human drive to ‘do the right thing’ will cloud our judgment.   We may feel we are offering the best possible solution, quantified by our experience.  Board members have to live with their decisions day-in and day-out.  Seek to see things from their perspective.

3. Don’t Take It Personally.  A Board’s negative reaction to a perfectly good set of options is not a reflection on you, but often on their own insecurities over decisions.  General Colin Powell said, “Don’t let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.”  That’s good advice.

4. Recognize The Burden.  Boards are elected from among their peers and charged with the responsibility of conducting the affairs of a corporation with thousands, if not millions of dollars in assets, with no formal training.  They have to make decisions that will not only affect others, but themselves as well.  Couple that with the difficulty in having to make the best possible decisions with the least possible self-interest, and you have a requirement of Herculean proportions.  Help them see the forest through the trees by getting underneath and lifting them up.

5. It’s Not About Me.  Remember, Boards and Associations are our ‘raison d’etre’, our reason for being.  When our livelihood depends on such a fragile system, our own need to control and direct can override the needs of the people we serve.  It’s not about us – it’s about them.  Servant Leadership is the key.

These rules helped me not only survive, but thrive over an 18 year career in management.  It’s not rocket science, but it does require a higher degree ego-sacrifice than any other field I know of.  Community Associations are continuing to proliferate while those with the competency to manage them effectively are not.  Use these points to periodically ‘Sharpen the Saw’ and see how quickly you can cut through the challenges.