CEO'S MESSAGE
Become The Leader
You Are Meant To Be
We just finished up with the
2019 ORRA Leadership Elections
and now we’re looking
for people to step up for 2020.
Will you consider becoming a leader on
ORRA’s team?
I’ll be the first to admit that being a successful
leader at ORRA, or anywhere else,
can be tough. Leaders commit and serve
their organizations with all they’ve got.
And it takes more than fulfilling technical
criteria (like being on a committee or completing
the Leadership Institute); it requires
some special personal characteristics. You
don’t need to be born with these characteristics.
They can be learned by those who
are willing to lead with the best of intentions
and to the best of their ability.
There are tons of books and articles
written about the traits of a leader, with
genres available for corporate leaders, volunteer
leaders, students leaders, and even
association leaders. Personally, I believe
in five pillars of leadership and make daily
efforts to use them in my dealings with ORRA’s
members, volunteers, and even staff.
1. Love the people that you serve. “Love”
in this example means to maintain a
conscientious decision to take actions
that show you care about your constituents,
and to treat them with respect.
2. Find ways to make those you serve
feel important and valued. Grand
gestures are great, but not always
necessary; small actions can be just
as meaningful. For example, listening
attentively instead of texting while a
member makes a suggestion during
a committee meeting can be just as
effective as extending public kudos for
a project well done.
3. Value mistakes as well as successes.
The errors that you (and others) make
today contribute to the achievements
that you (and others) reach tomorrow.
4. Live up to the saying, “People won’t
care how much you know until they
know how much you care.” If others
feel cared about, then a strong connection
is made through which knowledge
can be transferred smoothly.
You can see why this philosophy is
so popular within volunteer association
leadership circles: The spread of
historical and organizational knowledge
of projects, programs, and even
problems is crucial to the success of
an organization that relies on rotating
volunteers.
5. Allow others to lead. Leaders are leaders,
not dictators. There is tremendous
value – not to mention development
for the future - in gracefully letting
those with an interest drive the bus for
a little bit.
I strongly encourage you to step up
here at ORRA and in life! There are plenty
of opportunities that lead toward leadership
at ORRA, for example by signing up to
serve on a committee. (Btw it’s not too late
to be on a 2019 committee, as we will be
accepting requests and making placements
throughout the year). And, of course,
it’s never too late to take these tips back to
your office, your family, or your friends and
become the leader you are meant to be.
Cliff Long
A major kudos goes out the
ORRA Budget & Finance
Committee (chaired by ORRA
Treasurer Reese Stewart)
for its work in managing
the association’s 2017-
2018 financial operations,
which have been recognized
with a stellar report from
our independent auditors.
It’s not easy to oversee a
complex, multi-million dollar
organization and have not one
penny of members’ dues out
of place or one account out of
reconciliation.
The ORRA Finance Department
and VP of Finance Robert
Muszynski deserve recognition
as well for their diligence and
care.
6 Orlando REALTOR® November/December 2018