June 2, 2025 • 40 mins
Join RWB Michael Arce as he answers the question, “What is Leadership?” Learn about John Maxwell’s "CLEAR" framework, emphasizing the significance of Communication, Leadership, Equipping, Attitude, and Relationships. We'll discuss how these principles are key factors in achieving personal and Masonic growth.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Commons. Opinions and views shared during this program are
of those individual Freemasons and do not reflect the official
position of a Grand Lodge, concordant Body, a pendant body,
a Masonic authority, or Craftsman Online dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome back to the Craftsman Online Podcast, the only Masonic
podcast endorsed by the Grand Lodge in New York. I'm
your host, right worship of Brother Michael Arse, and the
guest for this week's episode is me. Yeah. I think
this has happened one other time in the five years
that we've done this podcast, but I really wanted to
have this moment to talk about leadership and specifically answer
(00:54):
the question what is leadership and what are examples of
good leaders and how can we learn from them? I
recently was able to attend a John Maxwell luncheon where
he outlined his Clear cl Ear framework, which emphasizes the
significant of communication, leadership, equipping, attitude, and relationships. We're going
(01:16):
to cover all of this, don't worry, but mainly how
we don't talk about this a lot in Freemasonry, especially
in our lodges, and especially for those that have an
interest in Freemasonry. We talk a lot about like ritual,
we talk about tradition, we talk about history. We've mentioned
the phrase, and I'm sure as a listener you've heard
(01:37):
the making good men better before. But how can we
find those leadership skills and opportunities that people are seeking
and how can that become part of our masonic and
personal growth plan. So that's what this episode is all about.
So I want to start this conversation with a presentation
(01:59):
that was in one of my company's employee resource groups
where we had a discussion on the question of what
does a leader do? And specifically I approach us with
the idea of our leaders born, our leaders made, or
possibly is there a combination of both. I've had this discussion,
you know, with others before. I've often gone through this
(02:19):
in my own mind, where in my personal situation, I
was the oldest of four, so at a very young
age I kind of was forced into leadership roles. I
remember having to take care of my brother and younger
sisters when my mom went back to work. I remember
ironically being the youngest member of my four age clubs,
(02:40):
and later on when I got into high school as
a freshman, I was elected into officer positions in my
FFA chapter because of the idea that I acted quote
unquote more mature for my age. So I don't know
if that came with being the oldest brother. I would
say there could be some carryover on that, so maybe
there was some birth right into it. But I also
(03:01):
think that there's the idea that leaders can be made.
Leaders can be made in a number of ways. If
you've ever had a friend or family member, or even
yourself who have served in our nation's military gone through
any formalized service academies or training programs, you're probably shaking
your head right now if you walked in there without
(03:22):
the ability of having command, confidence, or presence in yourself
and being able to give orders to others. My guess
is by the time that that service ended, you certainly
did you were no shame to being able to tell
somebody what they had to do, what was expected of them,
and why they needed to do it. So I think
leaders can be a combination of both. I think there
(03:43):
are some natural traits that are inside of us, but
there's also things that we can learn. I've often told
people that the worst leaders are the best examples of
how to be a good leader. And why is that?
Because number one, as an observer, we get to see, honestly,
it doesn't work, treating people like their lesser, not being engaged,
(04:05):
not being able to create value. A lot of the
communication skills that we look for don't exist, not just
in interacting with others, but they can't tell you what
the vision is. They don't provide a realistic map. There
are no goals, strategies, objectives, checkpoints along the way. How
are we going to measure success? They can't answer any
(04:28):
of these questions. That tends to lead to a very
poor leader and bad outcomes. The other thing is when
we get to saddle up next to or observe a
poor leader in a position, you get to see those moments,
those key moments where the wrong decision was made, that
(04:50):
the leader was put there, they got whatever the information
is that they needed to make a decision, and the
choice that they made was not weighed, and the bad
outcome is what came, and hopefully it wasn't devastating. I
often think of a lot of professional examples where eye
witnessed managers or leaders make female coworkers cry because they
(05:16):
were overly critical and spoke to them in a derogatory fashion.
That as someone who was sitting in the room was
upset and disgusted and later on said something to this
person about how they treated a fellow human being and
how disgusting that was. I saw leaders who saw how
(05:39):
a situation or a moment personally would impact them, and
that's a scary thing. They're not thinking about the team,
They're not thinking about the company or the organization. They're
just thinking about themselves and making decisions in that lane
instead of what a real leader does, which is thinking
about others. And I also saw people who were just
(06:01):
poor leaders because they lacked all of those other skills
that we looked for. They couldn't communicate clearly, they were confusing,
they lacked confidence in themselves. So the only way that
they could feel better about their lack of having some
of these skills was to try to either suck your
(06:23):
energy or bring you down so that you were questioning
your own ability to do your job or serve on
this team. These are just a couple ideas of like
what bad leaders look like, so to the question of
like what does a leader do? Well, I know the
phrase has been used. Any motivational speaker you go to
is going to say leaders lead. I always tell people,
(06:46):
if I'm not out in front leading the group, I
am sure as hell are going to be somebody who's
running alongside those out in front and running with that team.
I Am not going to be just a follower. Inherently,
it's just not something that I can do. It's not
a control issue. It's just that when you know you know,
and when you have those feelings in that passion, you
(07:08):
want to be a part of the solution because you're
invested and you get it. You want to offer your talents,
your abilities to help lift everybody up to that place
that you know we could all achieve and get to.
We're going to touch more about this later on in
Maxwell's Clear Method, but these are our says methods here
that I'm sharing with you. So what changes what changes
(07:32):
when you get promoted or, in our case in masonically speaking,
are elected into leadership roles. When we talked about what
a leader does like, they should be out in front,
they should be motivating, they should be clearly communicating, they
should be the one that you feel comfortable turning to
for all of these things. But there's something that happens
to a leader, and this is really important because the
(07:56):
best way I could describe is for our brother listener
who is seeing some of this. First of all, there's
a transition masonically speaking, when you are appointed or elected
into the officer line of your lodge. We'll just start
there as a general example, what you wear and what
you're now responsible for the role that you have taken.
(08:17):
There's some things that signify that. So as a member
of the lodge, you know, as a master mason or
a brother in good standing, you come to the lodge,
you're supposed to be wearing whatever the dress code is
appropriately for your jurisdiction. In mine, it is a black suit,
a white dress shirt, a black necktie, black shoes, black socks.
(08:38):
It doesn't really change when you become an officer. You're
still expected to wear that. However, what do they wear
when they're in lodge? They wear the apron of the officer,
of the chair that they're sitting in, and most likely
they have the jewel and in some cases something else
that they may carry or hold while they are sitting
in that chair. So there's the physical transformation that's going
(09:00):
to happen. Nothing's changed about them. We do address them
differently in meetings. No longer do we just say brother Gary,
but we would say brother, what is the title of
their office? Brother senior deacon, brother junior warden, Brother so
and so, Brother so and so. Trust me, it gets
a little bit more fun when your secretary is also
a worshipful So it's worshipful brother secretary. But part of
(09:22):
that transition in not just how to be properly clothed
and attire, is also learning to understand your new role
and expectations. And this is what's interesting about freemasonry because
most lodges are going to practice some sort of progressive
line method. And we've talked about this enough on the podcast,
but just in a summary a couple sentences. Basically, you
get elected into a bottom opening role or a pointed
(09:46):
into it, and then every year you move up, you
move up. You move up with somewhat of an expectation,
although nothing is completely certain, that you'll go from the
bottom all the way to the top and eventually leading.
And what should be happening is that the brother in
the chair ahead of you is looking back and giving
(10:06):
you the wisdom and showing you an example of how
to serve in that role. Because there's a couple of
things you can go to. One. Yes, ar Masonic ritual
does outline all of the responsibilities of the officer chairs
of the office. You hear them during the opening and
the closing of the lodge. For the most part, there's
also the traditional roles that each lodge. It varies again
(10:30):
with whatever the title or the chair that you sit in,
and usually a brother who has sat there before will
come and share some wisdom and say oh. For example,
the stewards usually help the junior warden in setting up
the dining room and then cleaning up after our meals.
Other lodges have other unique roles and expectations for officers.
(10:51):
I've heard of somewhere the senior deacon is in charge
of planning the degrees and coordinating the degree teams. Certainly
did that and my fair share of it my mother
lodge and I first started out. Senior warden could be
doing more than just sitting there and observing the Worshipful Master.
He could be leading a lot of the committees for
the Worshipful Master as the senior warden, so that there
(11:12):
is this synergy that is starting to be created between
one year to the next year. I personally think that's
a pretty cool idea to get the senior warden more
engaged with all aspects of the lodge, not just the
programming or maybe the financial aspects. And I also like
the idea that was shared recently with worshipfel Brother Nathan
Saint Pierre and some of our other roles like Tyler
(11:33):
Marshall and chaplain and how he could be using them
more than just guarding the door, guiding people around the room,
leading the lodge in prayer, but assisting the worshipful Master
and some of the functions as far as outreach, membership,
engagement and fellowship outside of the lodge in more social settings.
These are some of the transitions that start to happen,
(11:55):
and we know as Master Mason's going into these roles
is going to be asked a little bit more of you.
You kind of become a volunteer within a volunteer organization.
Some of the other transitions that start to take place
is you start to hear things and you're involved with
things that are above the level of just the average member.
Hopefully you're out visiting lodges, maybe you're supporting your Grand
(12:17):
Lodge and activities or events representing your lodge, and you're
bringing back some of this information and sharing it to
your lodge and getting them engaged. A key thing though,
that happens with leaders, and part of the transition stage
is you start to learn about the people aspect of
the equation and hopefully this begins to address the idea
(12:38):
of being able to manage people by engaging people. And
I'm going to touch a lot more about this because
i think John Maxwell and his clear method really kind
of hits this point. But just keep in mind that
leaders equal people, not a person. Another key thing with
becoming a leader or more involved in your lodge are
(12:59):
the project the leader of a project, just like at work.
Their job is to keep the momentum moving forward. Hey,
here's the goal with the objectives and this strategy, and
here's the initiative, and how we're going to try to
accomplish all of this with some of the tactics or
the physical steps to make this happen. For those of
us that don't work in those business model settings, it
(13:21):
does apply at lodge when you break down simple things
like planning for dinners. Got to know how many people
to buy the dinner for, what's the budget that you
have is there something that the Worshipful Master or the
guests that will be speaking or being a part of
this event, is there something that they would like? What
caterers are available near me? How am I going to
(13:42):
share this information with the brothers of the lodge, And
most importantly, can I get them to actually email back
an RSVP so I know what the head count is,
so that there's enough food and it's warm for everybody
and we're having the optimal dinner experience. Good luck with that.
I was a junior warden of three lodges and comonly
can think of a handful of meals that kind of
(14:03):
delivered that way, so to speak. But a good leader
is able to manage a project, figure out what the
tasks are and isn't necessarily that kid in Little League
where you're out in center field the ball gets hit
to you, it hits the ground, you pick it up,
you scoop it, and you run all the way to
home plade to make the play at the plate. No,
(14:25):
a good leader knows where the cutoff people are, where
the play is going, and has trust in others to
get things done. I've said it before on this podcast
when I did an episode as a guest on leadership.
The number one rule for me in leadership is to delegate.
It's not that one person is a single keyholder and
is answering all of the problems. No, no, no, no,
(14:47):
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(15:51):
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(16:13):
Leaders also manage the performance of the project, the task
the lodge. Masonically speaking, I would think of your trestle board.
And later this year, we're hoping to have three worshipful
masters come on the Craftsman Online Podcast, but for a
discussion I want to have with them about how they
went about planning for success, because it's not just the
(16:35):
innovative programs or the cool events that they're doing at
their lodge, because they are and they're doing a great
job of engaging people and making them go, hey, I'd
rather come to lodge tonight than sit here and watch
Netflix at home. But you're able to set up like
what is success? That's a key thing that I always
ask in my professional settings as a consultant, as I
(16:56):
sit down and ask business leaders or decision makers, hey,
what's the goal of this project? Why are you doing this?
What does a win for you? Look like? A good
leader is able to figure out what the requirements are,
what the goals are, and manage the delivery to that
final outcome all of us and we don't live in
(17:17):
a perfect world and things change, and that's where good
leaders are able to quote unquote see around the corner
and be able to help either provide the information to
your lodge if that's the situation, or if you're working
on a committee for your lodge, or you're providing some
(17:37):
sort of special assistance or aid to the master or
a brand master perhaps of your jurisdiction, you're able to
give them that insight so that they are able to
make the decision that needs to be done. So you're
keeping an eye on the progress of things. You're not
just setting cruise control and kicking back and staring at
(17:57):
a ten thousand little dotted white lines into the future.
You're keeping an eye on how we do it on gas,
how are the people in the back, when do we
need to stop for another comfort break. You're doing all
of those things. So we've talked about what a leader
is some of the transition to prepare you for either
getting promoted or installed or elected into a new role.
(18:19):
Now we've kind of talked about some of those parts
the responsibilities that you're having. You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa
whoa whoa? What are the key elements you said managing people?
Go back to that. So earlier this year I attended
a John Maxwell leadership lunch and he talked about communication. Now,
I'm a marketing communications professional and I agree a little bias,
it is a very crucial skill. Warren Buffett, I believe,
(18:40):
is the one that said the most important skill a
person can learn is communication. I'm not going to argue
with that at all. Leadership entirely relies on effective communication
skills and the importance of being able to connect with people.
One of the things that Maxwell and I took this
note during his presentation I thought was interesting is we
(19:01):
often get into what is effective communicating? How can you
be an effective communicator? I always say, well, first you
got to know your audience. He gets into the point
that you're doing more than just talking, you're doing more
than just listening, but you're really connecting a message. And
there's this idea of as he outlines the best message
and the big message, and I never really heard this
(19:22):
broken down this way before. So I'll share what I've
learned here there's a distinction between the two. The best
message is like the immediate thing you want to share
with somebody. It's the best thing you can tell them
to do or get done right now, which is part
of the big message, which is the DNA or, as
(19:45):
I like to say, the vision. So I always feel
as a marketing communications professional, like my job is to
sit down with the head decision maker be it the
CEO of a company, understand what their vision is and
be able to artic that to the different levels of
leaders and management in an organization, and also across all
(20:06):
of the departments to again all of the different folks
that might be siloed or divided within that team. When
addressing the big message, which is the meatia one, that's
the exciting one, that's the vision right. That can also
change over time, and Maxwell says there's four parts you
need to be able to hit, which I thought was interesting.
(20:26):
The four parts are what do I want them to see?
That usually ties back into what the vision is of
your company or if you're listening this as a master mason,
the goal of your year as master of your lodge,
what is it that you want to achieve? Right? The
second part is what do you want your audience to know?
(20:48):
And it's not like, oh, well, the goal is this
and they need to know this. No, no, no. The
outcome or the lane or the mode of thinking that
you need to have here is you want them to
feel like they are a valued part of your vision.
See again, we're connecting them to what the big leader
(21:08):
plan is. Then we want them to see something, We
want them to know something. The other thought is how
do I want them to feel? You want to empower
them somehow. So I'm going to tell you what the
big idea is. This is the vision. I'm going to
tell you how you're going to be a part of it.
I'm going to compel you to want to be in
(21:29):
this because you feel something. There's this connection here. And
then finally, now I'm going to tell you what I
want you to do, which is I want you to
take this message and I want you to apply it
to yourself and your lane, and I want you to
spread this to the others within the organization or in
the lodge. People like to hear what's possible and then
(21:51):
also look inside of themselves to feel like they're being
lifted up to get there. And that's the neat thing
about leaders is that they're able to take a vision.
And you've probably seen this a thousand times. And I
hate to point to politics, but sometimes it is a
really good example of a leader. I think of your
favorite political person or figure for whatever reason, or if
(22:13):
you don't want to think politics, think entertainment. Sports coaches
tend to be really good at this as well. Who
is this person, what was the goal? What was the
vision that they laid out for their team, for their nation,
for their audience, right, and how did they inspire you
or others to inject themselves to want a piece of
(22:36):
this and then share it with everybody else out in
the world. It's also the one thing that you can
read tons of books about. Heck, I even went to
college to get an MBA in it. There's thousands of
YouTube videos. I'm sure there's millions of podcast episodes just
like this one. And everyone's got their own version of
what the Golden rule is or what the secret sauce is.
(22:58):
And I'm going to tell you in a very answer
that the answer to this is what is the secret
to leadership? It depends It really does depend because it
depends on you. It depends on the situation. It depends
on the people that you're trying to lead, what the
problem is. I can give you every example in the
world and every possible outcome that could be tied to it,
(23:19):
but without knowing specific details about your exact situation, it
depends as really the best that I can give. I
can't tell you what good looks like in leadership to
where you know you're on the right path and what
the tools are that you have to getting there. So
obviously having objectives, having a strategy, having a well thought
(23:44):
out and researched plan. I think as a warden of
a lodge right now, if you've been elected, it's not
a bad idea, especially if you're the senior warden, to
start thinking about what your year is going to be like.
I mean, let's be honest. You sit across from the
worshipful master in your lodge. Your job is basically to
(24:04):
sit there and watch him do it and see yourself
in that chair. You probably realize you have a lot
more speaking parts this year, because next year you're asking
everybody else what their job is here to confirm that
they know what it is and then lead the lodge.
But right now, your job is to kind of learn
what all your resources are. And most importantly that's just
(24:26):
the ritual. The people part behind that, That very important
equation is what are the talents and the skills of
the brothers of your lodge? Have you taken that inventory?
Do you know who to go for to get help
with this, that or the other. The other key thing
about good in leadership is feedback. When I worked at Apple,
we would refer to it as fearless feedback. I love
(24:48):
that expression. I tell people all the time, Oh yes,
I want your fearless feedback. I want to be able
to hear how good and great everything is, because it's
awesome to hear that and why it's good. Like this podcast,
for example. Everybody loves he good news. But I'm one
of those weird people where I also like to get
the fearless feedback where you can give me the critical
as long as it's framed in a growing way of feedback.
(25:12):
Got to hear that too. I know. The first meeting
that I ran as master of the lodge was not
the best one. It was a little rough. Why because
it was the first time I ever did that and
I wasn't expecting it to be perfect. I was hoping
by the end it would be and I will tell
you the last meeting that I led, my ritual was
(25:33):
on point and everything was awesome. Unfortunately, only three people
got to hear it because we open the lodge before installation,
so a lot of the pressure was off for that point.
But what I will say is feedback is critical. It's
going to come in all different forms. Sometimes it's verbal,
sometimes it's just the body language or the way that
people react to things. And good leaders know they know
(25:57):
that they don't hold the singular answer to things. We
have an idea of how to get somewhere, but we
really do rely on all parts of our team, all
the people involved, to get there. And I also talked
about the inventory part, so developing your resources, being able
to know what you have, and the most important resource
(26:17):
you have in your lodge and your organization is your people.
I didn't come up with this, but it's something that
I repeat and a lot of meetings that I have.
Your competitors can steal your product, they can steal the
look and feel of what you do. They can even
higher away your best people, but they are never going
(26:37):
to be able to replicate your culture because that is
unique to you if you've ever visited another lodge and like, wow, man,
these guys really are on point. I love the way
they do. We should be doing this at our lodge
and ain't going to work that way. You already know
that you're going to have to modify that. There's parts
of why it works there that aren't going to work
for you, and you're going to have to find how
you can overcome that gap or that bridge an discussion,
(27:00):
but that's the whole point of understanding what your inventory
of talents and skills are. That's the leadership advantage I
feel right there, is that all leaders are able to
see more than others do what's possible, what the problems are,
and what are the options, What are the resources that
I have to get to the positive solution that I'm
(27:22):
trying to get to. I touched on this earlier as
(27:51):
part of the transition, as you change from being you're
still always going to be a member, but now you're
moved up to a higher level because you're also leading others.
See that a lot at work, and it's different in lodge.
All of a sudden, you know, we're reminded when you're
addressing this brother he has an honorific title. Maybe he
is a worshipful now a right worshipful, a most worshipful.
(28:12):
There's a reason why we do that. There's some development
that comes as part of being a leader. Because if
you think that you're it and it ends with you, man,
you got another thing coming. I always tell people there's
five steps of development, and Maxwell explains this as well,
that leaders are able to be competent. You've heard the
(28:33):
expression I wouldn't tell someone to do something that I
myself wouldn't do it. So what do you got to
be able to do? You have to be able to
go do it. I'm going to go do something. I'm
going to take the first step. I'm going to lead.
I'm going to demonstrate how to do this right. The
second step is as you get that mentorship involved here,
(28:53):
I'm going to do it and you are going to
come with me. I think the best example of this
is when we're opening and closing our lodges and you
have that back and forth exchange between the master and
the warden. And I've always joked with people, if you
sit there in that chair for twelve meetings out of
the year, there's no way that some of that has
(29:14):
not made its way into your brain of how to
do that, back and forth, back and forth. The next
step is in development, is coaching and guidance. You do it,
and I'm gonna gonna walk alongside of you to help you.
Think of it when your dad or whatever important male
figure or older member or family friend or loved one
(29:37):
helped you ride a bike, And I'm really hoping you
didn't have to learn to do it on your own.
But the bike example is the best one I can
come up with. Somebody had to run behind you, whether
it was a bigger brother or sister or cousin or someone,
and hold the back of that seat so that you
wouldn't fall off. And I remember when I taught my
son how to ride a bicycle. He was like thirteen
(29:57):
at the time, because he finally decided that he wanted
to learn how to ride a bike. That key moment,
that that wonderful moment where you are overcome with wow.
I showed someone how to do something, and they're never
going to forget it because it's as what, It's as
easy as riding a bike. Whether you've taught someone how
to hit a baseball, you've shown them you've been there
with them, you've given them tips, you do it. And
(30:19):
I'm with the last part of development is you should
be able to get someone to the point where you
can say you do this now. The best example I
can give for this one is and I wish we
could do a show it. Has anyone ever gotten tired
of being the first one to show up to lodge
and you're setting up everything, and you're like, why am
I still after all these years? And I like setting
(30:41):
up lodges. Don't get me wrong, but I found out
that none of the other guys are going to learn
how to do it if I keep doing it for them.
So I always say, teach a brother so that they
can show a brother. I want to teach the stewards.
I want to teach whoever the new mason is, or
whoever the brother is that wants to learn how to
set up a lodge. And I want to impart upon
(31:02):
them what I know so that hopefully months or years later,
when someone else comes up to learn from them, I
can hear the instruction that I've just been given, that
I have given to this person now be passed along
to a new voice. I want to get to a
part of leadership that we don't talk a lot about.
(31:23):
As I mentioned, no one's really good at doing anything
the first time they did it. I don't know about you,
but the first time that I sat in the east
of my lodge, I was junior warden, and in my
mother lodge, and in my mother jurisdiction, the junior wardens
typically confer the entered Apprentice degree. I had been a
(31:45):
master mason for at least four years, attending lodge meetings
twice a month. Thought I had a pretty good grasp
of the ritual, could hear it going back and forth
in my head. But I was still wedding right through
the undershirt, dress shirt and hopefully not tuxedo jacket that
(32:05):
I was wearing that night in the east. I remember
taking off the master's hat and feeling really sorry that
I had to hand it back to them by the
end of the night because I had damn near sweat
through that thing. I was like, why don't they put
fans in these or a towel or something. God, it
was tough. Well, here's why, Because you're not good at
it the first time, and you're gonna make a lot
of mistakes again. I'm going back to the analogy of
when I taught my son how to ride a bike
(32:26):
at thirteen, and how many times I watched him fall
and just land in the grass, and like I would
have quit too, But we learned through failure. I always
tell people that there's two ways we learn. One is
by asking questions, because hopefully that helps you prevent some
level of failure. But failure no one's perfect on the
first time. Every inventor or innovator that you talked to
(32:49):
will give you examples of the thousands of times that
they tried to do something and all of the failures
that led up to somehow getting it right. We learn
from our mistakes, and here's how, and here's how we
should be learning. Mistakes are a part of the natural
process of learning. It's a problem if you're constantly repeating
the same mistake. A mistake is a learning opportunity because
(33:12):
it gives you that moment to question, how could I
be doing this better. This is what leaders are able
to process in microseconds in real time situations when real
time problems get put in front of them. A disagreement
between brothers and the lodge, a question about something that
is so off base they had no idea, no time
to mentally prepare for it. But they're moving in the moment.
(33:34):
They are going, Okay, possible mistakes, How can we do
this better? Let's try this. I think the most important part.
And we talked a lot about this earlier in the podcast,
and I'm going to close out on this because to me,
people are the most important part of any organization. As
a matter of fact, I will tell people all the time,
(33:54):
I don't worry about somebody breaking into my house and
stealing all of my stuff. I don't worry about all
the money in the bank that's saved up and that's
not going to be here someday. I'm not trying to
take all that stuff with me. The most important and
prize possession of my life are the meaningful relationships that
I have with the important people that are in it.
Everybody matters to me. Here's a way that I look
(34:18):
at this. Years ago, I watched a documentary about President
George W. Bush. It discussed the time in his life
that he was battling with addiction at alcohol and the
sobering moment that he had and the wisdom that he
was given by a mentor who basically told him is
(34:41):
to treat every person like it's the last time that
you're ever going to see them, and embrace every day
like it's the last time you'll ever wake up, or
some version of that I'm paraphrasing. So what you should
try to be thinking about is when you wake up
in the morning, is value? Right? What am I getting
aut of today's day? I know, dragging my ass out
(35:02):
of bed, I'm not looking forward to going to work today.
I've got this meeting. I've got this meeting, and then
later today I'm supposed to do this and that. Oh
my gosh, I can't forget to text my daughter about this.
My wife asked me to take this out of the
freezer so we can have this for dinner tonight. And then, oh,
in some instance, I'm going to visit a lodge, or
I have a lodge meeting or some sort of zoom
meeting or podcast recording later on tonight. I've got a
full plate. How am I going to get the most
(35:24):
out of this day? Who are the people that I
just by them knowing me? If it all ended, they'd
say that was the coolest guy I ever met. He
was meaningful, he cared, he was awesome. How can I
make moments matter? And I know this sounds really silly,
and I challenged myself on this one, and I thought
(35:45):
about some of the most important conversations I have every
day begin with this phrase, Hey, good morning, how's your
day going. It's at the coffee pot. That's when I'm
taking breaks and somebody's just in there, and I could
tell they're like me. They've been staring at their computer
screen all day and their eyes are starting to kill them,
(36:06):
or they've had their fair share of interesting conversations and
meetings and new challenges that are showing up in their
day and they just need a break. And that's when
they tell me something that has nothing to do with work,
because they're trying to get out of those mental gymnastics,
and they're like, well, this is the going of my life.
(36:27):
You know. I'm trying to teach my son how to drive,
or my car had this issue this morning, or my
dog can't stop digging holes in the back, or just something,
and we have a little conversation about that. Sometimes I
don't say very much. Sometimes it's just listening and knowing
about that. And then a couple days later or weeks later,
(36:48):
when I see them back at the coffee pot and
we have that moment to reconnect. I'm like, hey, so,
how's that thing going, And they're like, oh, wow, yeah, geez.
I forgot all about that because it seemed like it
was such a big deal at the time, but it
was really kind of small because something new and fresh
has come into their radar and now that memory seems
like a distant cloud, but it matters to them because
(37:08):
they're like, Wow, that person really listened to me. A
better example of that would be have you ever gone
to a concert before and you felt like that performer
was just singing to you. It's pretty freaking cool when
that happens. I'll never forget. It was nineteen ninety seven.
Garth Brooks was coming off of his international tour. I
(37:29):
was working at a radio station kim FM in Tucson, Arizona,
and he performed at the McCann Center. Is the first
time I had ever seen Garth Brooks in person. Here's
this person who'd been on Saturday Night Live and all
these talk shows, and I don't think he had done
the HBO concerts and all that stuff yet, but here
he was. All those things I had heard from the
music videos on CMT, swinging on the rope, running around
(37:52):
the stage. But it's those moments when he was singing
and I could have swore he looked up in the
section of the seats that I was sitting in in
a souldout arena and pointed directly to me and was
singing at that moment just to me. Those are the
people that I look to as how they communicate and connect.
(38:13):
He didn't get the benefit of having a conversation with
somebody at a coffee break and saying how is your
day today, or at the end of lodge when someone's
telling you about the highs and lows of their life. No,
he was able to do it through a song. So
that's the key thing that I think we need to
walk away from at the end of this episode, which again,
thanks for hanging with me. This is the first time
I've done one with just me and you. Usually I
(38:34):
have somebody else to talk to here. But I would
harken back to that portion of our ritual where we
talk about the great strength and support of all institutions,
and that's harmony. We always talk about let peace and
harmony prevail. At the end of this podcast, those are
more than just words. They're meaningful to me. I do
believe in that. I would hope that as a Master Mason,
(38:58):
you are living by that obligation and this series of
obligations that built on top of that, on how we're
supposed to meet, act and part and treat each other
not only in lodges, but in everyday life and really
embrace that value of harmony and working together for the
goal of the common good. And with that normally I
(39:20):
say I'd like to thank my guests this week, but
I think he knows that he appreciates coming on the podcast.
And yes, I do look forward to every Monday morning
for these discussions, and I promise the next one we're
going to have a guest speaker. But if you'd like
to hear more from me, give me something to talk about,
and I'm happy to meet you there. The email for
this podcast is simply podcast at Craftsman online dot com.
(39:44):
That's podcast at Craftsman online dot com. Until next time.
This is right, worshipful brother Michael Arsa. I have sincerely
enjoyed our time together and remind you to let truth
and harmony prevail
The Commons. Opinions and views shared during this program are
of those individual Freemasons and do not reflect the official
position of a Grand Lodge, concordant Body, a pendant body,
a Masonic authority, or Craftsman Online dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome back to the Craftsman Online Podcast, the only Masonic
podcast endorsed by the Grand Lodge in New York. I'm
your host, right worship of Brother Michael Arse, and the
guest for this week's episode is me. Yeah. I think
this has happened one other time in the five years
that we've done this podcast, but I really wanted to
have this moment to talk about leadership and specifically answer
(00:54):
the question what is leadership and what are examples of
good leaders and how can we learn from them? I
recently was able to attend a John Maxwell luncheon where
he outlined his Clear cl Ear framework, which emphasizes the
significant of communication, leadership, equipping, attitude, and relationships. We're going
(01:16):
to cover all of this, don't worry, but mainly how
we don't talk about this a lot in Freemasonry, especially
in our lodges, and especially for those that have an
interest in Freemasonry. We talk a lot about like ritual,
we talk about tradition, we talk about history. We've mentioned
the phrase, and I'm sure as a listener you've heard
(01:37):
the making good men better before. But how can we
find those leadership skills and opportunities that people are seeking
and how can that become part of our masonic and
personal growth plan. So that's what this episode is all about.
So I want to start this conversation with a presentation
(01:59):
that was in one of my company's employee resource groups
where we had a discussion on the question of what
does a leader do? And specifically I approach us with
the idea of our leaders born, our leaders made, or
possibly is there a combination of both. I've had this discussion,
you know, with others before. I've often gone through this
(02:19):
in my own mind, where in my personal situation, I
was the oldest of four, so at a very young
age I kind of was forced into leadership roles. I
remember having to take care of my brother and younger
sisters when my mom went back to work. I remember
ironically being the youngest member of my four age clubs,
(02:40):
and later on when I got into high school as
a freshman, I was elected into officer positions in my
FFA chapter because of the idea that I acted quote
unquote more mature for my age. So I don't know
if that came with being the oldest brother. I would
say there could be some carryover on that, so maybe
there was some birth right into it. But I also
(03:01):
think that there's the idea that leaders can be made.
Leaders can be made in a number of ways. If
you've ever had a friend or family member, or even
yourself who have served in our nation's military gone through
any formalized service academies or training programs, you're probably shaking
your head right now if you walked in there without
(03:22):
the ability of having command, confidence, or presence in yourself
and being able to give orders to others. My guess
is by the time that that service ended, you certainly
did you were no shame to being able to tell
somebody what they had to do, what was expected of them,
and why they needed to do it. So I think
leaders can be a combination of both. I think there
(03:43):
are some natural traits that are inside of us, but
there's also things that we can learn. I've often told
people that the worst leaders are the best examples of
how to be a good leader. And why is that?
Because number one, as an observer, we get to see, honestly,
it doesn't work, treating people like their lesser, not being engaged,
(04:05):
not being able to create value. A lot of the
communication skills that we look for don't exist, not just
in interacting with others, but they can't tell you what
the vision is. They don't provide a realistic map. There
are no goals, strategies, objectives, checkpoints along the way. How
are we going to measure success? They can't answer any
(04:28):
of these questions. That tends to lead to a very
poor leader and bad outcomes. The other thing is when
we get to saddle up next to or observe a
poor leader in a position, you get to see those moments,
those key moments where the wrong decision was made, that
(04:50):
the leader was put there, they got whatever the information
is that they needed to make a decision, and the
choice that they made was not weighed, and the bad
outcome is what came, and hopefully it wasn't devastating. I
often think of a lot of professional examples where eye
witnessed managers or leaders make female coworkers cry because they
(05:16):
were overly critical and spoke to them in a derogatory fashion.
That as someone who was sitting in the room was
upset and disgusted and later on said something to this
person about how they treated a fellow human being and
how disgusting that was. I saw leaders who saw how
(05:39):
a situation or a moment personally would impact them, and
that's a scary thing. They're not thinking about the team,
They're not thinking about the company or the organization. They're
just thinking about themselves and making decisions in that lane
instead of what a real leader does, which is thinking
about others. And I also saw people who were just
(06:01):
poor leaders because they lacked all of those other skills
that we looked for. They couldn't communicate clearly, they were confusing,
they lacked confidence in themselves. So the only way that
they could feel better about their lack of having some
of these skills was to try to either suck your
(06:23):
energy or bring you down so that you were questioning
your own ability to do your job or serve on
this team. These are just a couple ideas of like
what bad leaders look like, so to the question of
like what does a leader do? Well, I know the
phrase has been used. Any motivational speaker you go to
is going to say leaders lead. I always tell people,
(06:46):
if I'm not out in front leading the group, I
am sure as hell are going to be somebody who's
running alongside those out in front and running with that team.
I Am not going to be just a follower. Inherently,
it's just not something that I can do. It's not
a control issue. It's just that when you know you know,
and when you have those feelings in that passion, you
(07:08):
want to be a part of the solution because you're
invested and you get it. You want to offer your talents,
your abilities to help lift everybody up to that place
that you know we could all achieve and get to.
We're going to touch more about this later on in
Maxwell's Clear Method, but these are our says methods here
that I'm sharing with you. So what changes what changes
(07:32):
when you get promoted or, in our case in masonically speaking,
are elected into leadership roles. When we talked about what
a leader does like, they should be out in front,
they should be motivating, they should be clearly communicating, they
should be the one that you feel comfortable turning to
for all of these things. But there's something that happens
to a leader, and this is really important because the
(07:56):
best way I could describe is for our brother listener
who is seeing some of this. First of all, there's
a transition masonically speaking, when you are appointed or elected
into the officer line of your lodge. We'll just start
there as a general example, what you wear and what
you're now responsible for the role that you have taken.
(08:17):
There's some things that signify that. So as a member
of the lodge, you know, as a master mason or
a brother in good standing, you come to the lodge,
you're supposed to be wearing whatever the dress code is
appropriately for your jurisdiction. In mine, it is a black suit,
a white dress shirt, a black necktie, black shoes, black socks.
(08:38):
It doesn't really change when you become an officer. You're
still expected to wear that. However, what do they wear
when they're in lodge? They wear the apron of the officer,
of the chair that they're sitting in, and most likely
they have the jewel and in some cases something else
that they may carry or hold while they are sitting
in that chair. So there's the physical transformation that's going
(09:00):
to happen. Nothing's changed about them. We do address them
differently in meetings. No longer do we just say brother Gary,
but we would say brother, what is the title of
their office? Brother senior deacon, brother junior warden, Brother so
and so, Brother so and so. Trust me, it gets
a little bit more fun when your secretary is also
a worshipful So it's worshipful brother secretary. But part of
(09:22):
that transition in not just how to be properly clothed
and attire, is also learning to understand your new role
and expectations. And this is what's interesting about freemasonry because
most lodges are going to practice some sort of progressive
line method. And we've talked about this enough on the podcast,
but just in a summary a couple sentences. Basically, you
get elected into a bottom opening role or a pointed
(09:46):
into it, and then every year you move up, you
move up. You move up with somewhat of an expectation,
although nothing is completely certain, that you'll go from the
bottom all the way to the top and eventually leading.
And what should be happening is that the brother in
the chair ahead of you is looking back and giving
(10:06):
you the wisdom and showing you an example of how
to serve in that role. Because there's a couple of
things you can go to. One. Yes, ar Masonic ritual
does outline all of the responsibilities of the officer chairs
of the office. You hear them during the opening and
the closing of the lodge. For the most part, there's
also the traditional roles that each lodge. It varies again
(10:30):
with whatever the title or the chair that you sit in,
and usually a brother who has sat there before will
come and share some wisdom and say oh. For example,
the stewards usually help the junior warden in setting up
the dining room and then cleaning up after our meals.
Other lodges have other unique roles and expectations for officers.
(10:51):
I've heard of somewhere the senior deacon is in charge
of planning the degrees and coordinating the degree teams. Certainly
did that and my fair share of it my mother
lodge and I first started out. Senior warden could be
doing more than just sitting there and observing the Worshipful Master.
He could be leading a lot of the committees for
the Worshipful Master as the senior warden, so that there
(11:12):
is this synergy that is starting to be created between
one year to the next year. I personally think that's
a pretty cool idea to get the senior warden more
engaged with all aspects of the lodge, not just the
programming or maybe the financial aspects. And I also like
the idea that was shared recently with worshipfel Brother Nathan
Saint Pierre and some of our other roles like Tyler
(11:33):
Marshall and chaplain and how he could be using them
more than just guarding the door, guiding people around the room,
leading the lodge in prayer, but assisting the worshipful Master
and some of the functions as far as outreach, membership,
engagement and fellowship outside of the lodge in more social settings.
These are some of the transitions that start to happen,
(11:55):
and we know as Master Mason's going into these roles
is going to be asked a little bit more of you.
You kind of become a volunteer within a volunteer organization.
Some of the other transitions that start to take place
is you start to hear things and you're involved with
things that are above the level of just the average member.
Hopefully you're out visiting lodges, maybe you're supporting your Grand
(12:17):
Lodge and activities or events representing your lodge, and you're
bringing back some of this information and sharing it to
your lodge and getting them engaged. A key thing though,
that happens with leaders, and part of the transition stage
is you start to learn about the people aspect of
the equation and hopefully this begins to address the idea
(12:38):
of being able to manage people by engaging people. And
I'm going to touch a lot more about this because
i think John Maxwell and his clear method really kind
of hits this point. But just keep in mind that
leaders equal people, not a person. Another key thing with
becoming a leader or more involved in your lodge are
(12:59):
the project the leader of a project, just like at work.
Their job is to keep the momentum moving forward. Hey,
here's the goal with the objectives and this strategy, and
here's the initiative, and how we're going to try to
accomplish all of this with some of the tactics or
the physical steps to make this happen. For those of
us that don't work in those business model settings, it
(13:21):
does apply at lodge when you break down simple things
like planning for dinners. Got to know how many people
to buy the dinner for, what's the budget that you
have is there something that the Worshipful Master or the
guests that will be speaking or being a part of
this event, is there something that they would like? What
caterers are available near me? How am I going to
(13:42):
share this information with the brothers of the lodge, And
most importantly, can I get them to actually email back
an RSVP so I know what the head count is,
so that there's enough food and it's warm for everybody
and we're having the optimal dinner experience. Good luck with that.
I was a junior warden of three lodges and comonly
can think of a handful of meals that kind of
(14:03):
delivered that way, so to speak. But a good leader
is able to manage a project, figure out what the
tasks are and isn't necessarily that kid in Little League
where you're out in center field the ball gets hit
to you, it hits the ground, you pick it up,
you scoop it, and you run all the way to
home plade to make the play at the plate. No,
(14:25):
a good leader knows where the cutoff people are, where
the play is going, and has trust in others to
get things done. I've said it before on this podcast
when I did an episode as a guest on leadership.
The number one rule for me in leadership is to delegate.
It's not that one person is a single keyholder and
is answering all of the problems. No, no, no, no,
(14:47):
no no no. You can find the Craftsmen Online Podcast
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I've even had guys say I've listened to all five
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(15:10):
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(15:30):
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(15:51):
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(16:13):
Leaders also manage the performance of the project, the task
the lodge. Masonically speaking, I would think of your trestle board.
And later this year, we're hoping to have three worshipful
masters come on the Craftsman Online Podcast, but for a
discussion I want to have with them about how they
went about planning for success, because it's not just the
(16:35):
innovative programs or the cool events that they're doing at
their lodge, because they are and they're doing a great
job of engaging people and making them go, hey, I'd
rather come to lodge tonight than sit here and watch
Netflix at home. But you're able to set up like
what is success? That's a key thing that I always
ask in my professional settings as a consultant, as I
(16:56):
sit down and ask business leaders or decision makers, hey,
what's the goal of this project? Why are you doing this?
What does a win for you? Look like? A good
leader is able to figure out what the requirements are,
what the goals are, and manage the delivery to that
final outcome all of us and we don't live in
(17:17):
a perfect world and things change, and that's where good
leaders are able to quote unquote see around the corner
and be able to help either provide the information to
your lodge if that's the situation, or if you're working
on a committee for your lodge, or you're providing some
(17:37):
sort of special assistance or aid to the master or
a brand master perhaps of your jurisdiction, you're able to
give them that insight so that they are able to
make the decision that needs to be done. So you're
keeping an eye on the progress of things. You're not
just setting cruise control and kicking back and staring at
(17:57):
a ten thousand little dotted white lines into the future.
You're keeping an eye on how we do it on gas,
how are the people in the back, when do we
need to stop for another comfort break. You're doing all
of those things. So we've talked about what a leader
is some of the transition to prepare you for either
getting promoted or installed or elected into a new role.
(18:19):
Now we've kind of talked about some of those parts
the responsibilities that you're having. You're like, whoa, whoa, whoa
whoa whoa? What are the key elements you said managing people?
Go back to that. So earlier this year I attended
a John Maxwell leadership lunch and he talked about communication. Now,
I'm a marketing communications professional and I agree a little bias,
it is a very crucial skill. Warren Buffett, I believe,
(18:40):
is the one that said the most important skill a
person can learn is communication. I'm not going to argue
with that at all. Leadership entirely relies on effective communication
skills and the importance of being able to connect with people.
One of the things that Maxwell and I took this
note during his presentation I thought was interesting is we
(19:01):
often get into what is effective communicating? How can you
be an effective communicator? I always say, well, first you
got to know your audience. He gets into the point
that you're doing more than just talking, you're doing more
than just listening, but you're really connecting a message. And
there's this idea of as he outlines the best message
and the big message, and I never really heard this
(19:22):
broken down this way before. So I'll share what I've
learned here there's a distinction between the two. The best
message is like the immediate thing you want to share
with somebody. It's the best thing you can tell them
to do or get done right now, which is part
of the big message, which is the DNA or, as
(19:45):
I like to say, the vision. So I always feel
as a marketing communications professional, like my job is to
sit down with the head decision maker be it the
CEO of a company, understand what their vision is and
be able to artic that to the different levels of
leaders and management in an organization, and also across all
(20:06):
of the departments to again all of the different folks
that might be siloed or divided within that team. When
addressing the big message, which is the meatia one, that's
the exciting one, that's the vision right. That can also
change over time, and Maxwell says there's four parts you
need to be able to hit, which I thought was interesting.
(20:26):
The four parts are what do I want them to see?
That usually ties back into what the vision is of
your company or if you're listening this as a master mason,
the goal of your year as master of your lodge,
what is it that you want to achieve? Right? The
second part is what do you want your audience to know?
(20:48):
And it's not like, oh, well, the goal is this
and they need to know this. No, no, no. The
outcome or the lane or the mode of thinking that
you need to have here is you want them to
feel like they are a valued part of your vision.
See again, we're connecting them to what the big leader
(21:08):
plan is. Then we want them to see something, We
want them to know something. The other thought is how
do I want them to feel? You want to empower
them somehow. So I'm going to tell you what the
big idea is. This is the vision. I'm going to
tell you how you're going to be a part of it.
I'm going to compel you to want to be in
(21:29):
this because you feel something. There's this connection here. And
then finally, now I'm going to tell you what I
want you to do, which is I want you to
take this message and I want you to apply it
to yourself and your lane, and I want you to
spread this to the others within the organization or in
the lodge. People like to hear what's possible and then
(21:51):
also look inside of themselves to feel like they're being
lifted up to get there. And that's the neat thing
about leaders is that they're able to take a vision.
And you've probably seen this a thousand times. And I
hate to point to politics, but sometimes it is a
really good example of a leader. I think of your
favorite political person or figure for whatever reason, or if
(22:13):
you don't want to think politics, think entertainment. Sports coaches
tend to be really good at this as well. Who
is this person, what was the goal? What was the
vision that they laid out for their team, for their nation,
for their audience, right, and how did they inspire you
or others to inject themselves to want a piece of
(22:36):
this and then share it with everybody else out in
the world. It's also the one thing that you can
read tons of books about. Heck, I even went to
college to get an MBA in it. There's thousands of
YouTube videos. I'm sure there's millions of podcast episodes just
like this one. And everyone's got their own version of
what the Golden rule is or what the secret sauce is.
(22:58):
And I'm going to tell you in a very answer
that the answer to this is what is the secret
to leadership? It depends It really does depend because it
depends on you. It depends on the situation. It depends
on the people that you're trying to lead, what the
problem is. I can give you every example in the
world and every possible outcome that could be tied to it,
(23:19):
but without knowing specific details about your exact situation, it
depends as really the best that I can give. I
can't tell you what good looks like in leadership to
where you know you're on the right path and what
the tools are that you have to getting there. So
obviously having objectives, having a strategy, having a well thought
(23:44):
out and researched plan. I think as a warden of
a lodge right now, if you've been elected, it's not
a bad idea, especially if you're the senior warden, to
start thinking about what your year is going to be like.
I mean, let's be honest. You sit across from the
worshipful master in your lodge. Your job is basically to
(24:04):
sit there and watch him do it and see yourself
in that chair. You probably realize you have a lot
more speaking parts this year, because next year you're asking
everybody else what their job is here to confirm that
they know what it is and then lead the lodge.
But right now, your job is to kind of learn
what all your resources are. And most importantly that's just
(24:26):
the ritual. The people part behind that, That very important
equation is what are the talents and the skills of
the brothers of your lodge? Have you taken that inventory?
Do you know who to go for to get help
with this, that or the other. The other key thing
about good in leadership is feedback. When I worked at Apple,
we would refer to it as fearless feedback. I love
(24:48):
that expression. I tell people all the time, Oh yes,
I want your fearless feedback. I want to be able
to hear how good and great everything is, because it's
awesome to hear that and why it's good. Like this podcast,
for example. Everybody loves he good news. But I'm one
of those weird people where I also like to get
the fearless feedback where you can give me the critical
as long as it's framed in a growing way of feedback.
(25:12):
Got to hear that too. I know. The first meeting
that I ran as master of the lodge was not
the best one. It was a little rough. Why because
it was the first time I ever did that and
I wasn't expecting it to be perfect. I was hoping
by the end it would be and I will tell
you the last meeting that I led, my ritual was
(25:33):
on point and everything was awesome. Unfortunately, only three people
got to hear it because we open the lodge before installation,
so a lot of the pressure was off for that point.
But what I will say is feedback is critical. It's
going to come in all different forms. Sometimes it's verbal,
sometimes it's just the body language or the way that
people react to things. And good leaders know they know
(25:57):
that they don't hold the singular answer to things. We
have an idea of how to get somewhere, but we
really do rely on all parts of our team, all
the people involved, to get there. And I also talked
about the inventory part, so developing your resources, being able
to know what you have, and the most important resource
(26:17):
you have in your lodge and your organization is your people.
I didn't come up with this, but it's something that
I repeat and a lot of meetings that I have.
Your competitors can steal your product, they can steal the
look and feel of what you do. They can even
higher away your best people, but they are never going
(26:37):
to be able to replicate your culture because that is
unique to you if you've ever visited another lodge and like, wow, man,
these guys really are on point. I love the way
they do. We should be doing this at our lodge
and ain't going to work that way. You already know
that you're going to have to modify that. There's parts
of why it works there that aren't going to work
for you, and you're going to have to find how
you can overcome that gap or that bridge an discussion,
(27:00):
but that's the whole point of understanding what your inventory
of talents and skills are. That's the leadership advantage I
feel right there, is that all leaders are able to
see more than others do what's possible, what the problems are,
and what are the options, What are the resources that
I have to get to the positive solution that I'm
(27:22):
trying to get to. I touched on this earlier as
(27:51):
part of the transition, as you change from being you're
still always going to be a member, but now you're
moved up to a higher level because you're also leading others.
See that a lot at work, and it's different in lodge.
All of a sudden, you know, we're reminded when you're
addressing this brother he has an honorific title. Maybe he
is a worshipful now a right worshipful, a most worshipful.
(28:12):
There's a reason why we do that. There's some development
that comes as part of being a leader. Because if
you think that you're it and it ends with you, man,
you got another thing coming. I always tell people there's
five steps of development, and Maxwell explains this as well,
that leaders are able to be competent. You've heard the
(28:33):
expression I wouldn't tell someone to do something that I
myself wouldn't do it. So what do you got to
be able to do? You have to be able to
go do it. I'm going to go do something. I'm
going to take the first step. I'm going to lead.
I'm going to demonstrate how to do this right. The
second step is as you get that mentorship involved here,
(28:53):
I'm going to do it and you are going to
come with me. I think the best example of this
is when we're opening and closing our lodges and you
have that back and forth exchange between the master and
the warden. And I've always joked with people, if you
sit there in that chair for twelve meetings out of
the year, there's no way that some of that has
(29:14):
not made its way into your brain of how to
do that, back and forth, back and forth. The next
step is in development, is coaching and guidance. You do it,
and I'm gonna gonna walk alongside of you to help you.
Think of it when your dad or whatever important male
figure or older member or family friend or loved one
(29:37):
helped you ride a bike, And I'm really hoping you
didn't have to learn to do it on your own.
But the bike example is the best one I can
come up with. Somebody had to run behind you, whether
it was a bigger brother or sister or cousin or someone,
and hold the back of that seat so that you
wouldn't fall off. And I remember when I taught my
son how to ride a bicycle. He was like thirteen
(29:57):
at the time, because he finally decided that he wanted
to learn how to ride a bike. That key moment,
that that wonderful moment where you are overcome with wow.
I showed someone how to do something, and they're never
going to forget it because it's as what, It's as
easy as riding a bike. Whether you've taught someone how
to hit a baseball, you've shown them you've been there
with them, you've given them tips, you do it. And
(30:19):
I'm with the last part of development is you should
be able to get someone to the point where you
can say you do this now. The best example I
can give for this one is and I wish we
could do a show it. Has anyone ever gotten tired
of being the first one to show up to lodge
and you're setting up everything, and you're like, why am
I still after all these years? And I like setting
(30:41):
up lodges. Don't get me wrong, but I found out
that none of the other guys are going to learn
how to do it if I keep doing it for them.
So I always say, teach a brother so that they
can show a brother. I want to teach the stewards.
I want to teach whoever the new mason is, or
whoever the brother is that wants to learn how to
set up a lodge. And I want to impart upon
(31:02):
them what I know so that hopefully months or years later,
when someone else comes up to learn from them, I
can hear the instruction that I've just been given, that
I have given to this person now be passed along
to a new voice. I want to get to a
part of leadership that we don't talk a lot about.
(31:23):
As I mentioned, no one's really good at doing anything
the first time they did it. I don't know about you,
but the first time that I sat in the east
of my lodge, I was junior warden, and in my
mother lodge, and in my mother jurisdiction, the junior wardens
typically confer the entered Apprentice degree. I had been a
(31:45):
master mason for at least four years, attending lodge meetings
twice a month. Thought I had a pretty good grasp
of the ritual, could hear it going back and forth
in my head. But I was still wedding right through
the undershirt, dress shirt and hopefully not tuxedo jacket that
(32:05):
I was wearing that night in the east. I remember
taking off the master's hat and feeling really sorry that
I had to hand it back to them by the
end of the night because I had damn near sweat
through that thing. I was like, why don't they put
fans in these or a towel or something. God, it
was tough. Well, here's why, Because you're not good at
it the first time, and you're gonna make a lot
of mistakes again. I'm going back to the analogy of
when I taught my son how to ride a bike
(32:26):
at thirteen, and how many times I watched him fall
and just land in the grass, and like I would
have quit too, But we learned through failure. I always
tell people that there's two ways we learn. One is
by asking questions, because hopefully that helps you prevent some
level of failure. But failure no one's perfect on the
first time. Every inventor or innovator that you talked to
(32:49):
will give you examples of the thousands of times that
they tried to do something and all of the failures
that led up to somehow getting it right. We learn
from our mistakes, and here's how, and here's how we
should be learning. Mistakes are a part of the natural
process of learning. It's a problem if you're constantly repeating
the same mistake. A mistake is a learning opportunity because
(33:12):
it gives you that moment to question, how could I
be doing this better. This is what leaders are able
to process in microseconds in real time situations when real
time problems get put in front of them. A disagreement
between brothers and the lodge, a question about something that
is so off base they had no idea, no time
to mentally prepare for it. But they're moving in the moment.
(33:34):
They are going, Okay, possible mistakes, How can we do
this better? Let's try this. I think the most important part.
And we talked a lot about this earlier in the podcast,
and I'm going to close out on this because to me,
people are the most important part of any organization. As
a matter of fact, I will tell people all the time,
(33:54):
I don't worry about somebody breaking into my house and
stealing all of my stuff. I don't worry about all
the money in the bank that's saved up and that's
not going to be here someday. I'm not trying to
take all that stuff with me. The most important and
prize possession of my life are the meaningful relationships that
I have with the important people that are in it.
Everybody matters to me. Here's a way that I look
(34:18):
at this. Years ago, I watched a documentary about President
George W. Bush. It discussed the time in his life
that he was battling with addiction at alcohol and the
sobering moment that he had and the wisdom that he
was given by a mentor who basically told him is
(34:41):
to treat every person like it's the last time that
you're ever going to see them, and embrace every day
like it's the last time you'll ever wake up, or
some version of that I'm paraphrasing. So what you should
try to be thinking about is when you wake up
in the morning, is value? Right? What am I getting
aut of today's day? I know, dragging my ass out
(35:02):
of bed, I'm not looking forward to going to work today.
I've got this meeting. I've got this meeting, and then
later today I'm supposed to do this and that. Oh
my gosh, I can't forget to text my daughter about this.
My wife asked me to take this out of the
freezer so we can have this for dinner tonight. And then, oh,
in some instance, I'm going to visit a lodge, or
I have a lodge meeting or some sort of zoom
meeting or podcast recording later on tonight. I've got a
full plate. How am I going to get the most
(35:24):
out of this day? Who are the people that I
just by them knowing me? If it all ended, they'd
say that was the coolest guy I ever met. He
was meaningful, he cared, he was awesome. How can I
make moments matter? And I know this sounds really silly,
and I challenged myself on this one, and I thought
(35:45):
about some of the most important conversations I have every
day begin with this phrase, Hey, good morning, how's your
day going. It's at the coffee pot. That's when I'm
taking breaks and somebody's just in there, and I could
tell they're like me. They've been staring at their computer
screen all day and their eyes are starting to kill them,
(36:06):
or they've had their fair share of interesting conversations and
meetings and new challenges that are showing up in their
day and they just need a break. And that's when
they tell me something that has nothing to do with work,
because they're trying to get out of those mental gymnastics,
and they're like, well, this is the going of my life.
(36:27):
You know. I'm trying to teach my son how to drive,
or my car had this issue this morning, or my
dog can't stop digging holes in the back, or just something,
and we have a little conversation about that. Sometimes I
don't say very much. Sometimes it's just listening and knowing
about that. And then a couple days later or weeks later,
(36:48):
when I see them back at the coffee pot and
we have that moment to reconnect. I'm like, hey, so,
how's that thing going, And they're like, oh, wow, yeah, geez.
I forgot all about that because it seemed like it
was such a big deal at the time, but it
was really kind of small because something new and fresh
has come into their radar and now that memory seems
like a distant cloud, but it matters to them because
(37:08):
they're like, Wow, that person really listened to me. A
better example of that would be have you ever gone
to a concert before and you felt like that performer
was just singing to you. It's pretty freaking cool when
that happens. I'll never forget. It was nineteen ninety seven.
Garth Brooks was coming off of his international tour. I
(37:29):
was working at a radio station kim FM in Tucson, Arizona,
and he performed at the McCann Center. Is the first
time I had ever seen Garth Brooks in person. Here's
this person who'd been on Saturday Night Live and all
these talk shows, and I don't think he had done
the HBO concerts and all that stuff yet, but here
he was. All those things I had heard from the
music videos on CMT, swinging on the rope, running around
(37:52):
the stage. But it's those moments when he was singing
and I could have swore he looked up in the
section of the seats that I was sitting in in
a souldout arena and pointed directly to me and was
singing at that moment just to me. Those are the
people that I look to as how they communicate and connect.
(38:13):
He didn't get the benefit of having a conversation with
somebody at a coffee break and saying how is your
day today, or at the end of lodge when someone's
telling you about the highs and lows of their life. No,
he was able to do it through a song. So
that's the key thing that I think we need to
walk away from at the end of this episode, which again,
thanks for hanging with me. This is the first time
I've done one with just me and you. Usually I
(38:34):
have somebody else to talk to here. But I would
harken back to that portion of our ritual where we
talk about the great strength and support of all institutions,
and that's harmony. We always talk about let peace and
harmony prevail. At the end of this podcast, those are
more than just words. They're meaningful to me. I do
believe in that. I would hope that as a Master Mason,
(38:58):
you are living by that obligation and this series of
obligations that built on top of that, on how we're
supposed to meet, act and part and treat each other
not only in lodges, but in everyday life and really
embrace that value of harmony and working together for the
goal of the common good. And with that normally I
(39:20):
say I'd like to thank my guests this week, but
I think he knows that he appreciates coming on the podcast.
And yes, I do look forward to every Monday morning
for these discussions, and I promise the next one we're
going to have a guest speaker. But if you'd like
to hear more from me, give me something to talk about,
and I'm happy to meet you there. The email for
this podcast is simply podcast at Craftsman online dot com.
(39:44):
That's podcast at Craftsman online dot com. Until next time.
This is right, worshipful brother Michael Arsa. I have sincerely
enjoyed our time together and remind you to let truth
and harmony prevail
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