About NAHA - Or Any Other Organization

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

Since this is an AT list and many of you are interested in AT - and

there is but one organization in the USA that is " supposed " to be

representating AT, and is doing a lousy job representating AT .. you

might find this post I made today to the IDMA AT list to be of

interest.

The Idma has lately been discussing NAHA a lot but the discussion has

been much like a dog chasing his tail - going nowhere fast. I want to

see a viable NAHA or other type of organization to represent AT - I used

to support NAHA and I withdrew my support because of shenanagans I could

not abide with - I sent them a long letter stating what I thought they

should do to gain my support and the support of others in the industry.

 

I have refused to write for their journal. It bothers me cause I think

I have some messages that would be of interest to the AT community - I

was last week approached on speaking at their May/Jun 2002 Conference.

I'm not sure if I want to do that - even though I know I would present

info that the attendees would enjoy - not the esoteric tree-hugging,

aura seeking info they will get from some speakers nor the often boring

scientific pitches they will get from others - I pitch down where the

rubber meets the road and where folks who are into use of EOs can grasp

what I am laying out without having to keep notes and wonder what the

hell I said after I sit down. I might do it - we will see.

 

I think it is fair that you folks know that our AT representative

organization is on it's butt and not likely to get off it's butt until

the members of the industry demand they get off their butts. Below is

my post. I do not expect to get much disagreement on the Idma List!

-------------------------

One of the reasons we don't have a viable Aromatherapy Organization in

existence IN THE WORLD - that is, one that is working at least 9 to 5

and after hours as necessary - to represent the industry, seek ways and

means to bring credibility to the industry, plan/coordinate/execute the

activities needed to keep the organization alive, research, collect and

distribute information pertaining to the industry and promote their own

efforts with a goal toward bringing in the necessary funding to be able

to increase their value to the industry is - because there is not a damn

bit of incentive to being in the hot seat of the management/leadership

position. Aside from having your name in lights which could possibly

help you in your main line of work - there is no reason for one to give

their heart, mind and total dedicated effort to running an organization.

 

Another reason is because the membership of these organizations takes a

passive position and makes no demands of the organization. The pattern

of non-performance has become an acceptable pattern of behavior.

 

Before you start planning your counter-arguement - which I hope to see

here because we can either address this or just accept that it has been

tried and has failed - I recommend you put yourself in the position of or Operations/Planning Assistant or whatever and work up your

counter-arguement within that frame of reference.

 

One of the hats I wear is Director of International Operations for a

non-governmental organization (NGO) - a non-profit organization called

the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Agribusiness Group - headquarters in

Washington, D.C., Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey .. we work to influence

transfer of agribusiness technology from the USA to this area of the

world, with major emphasis on Turkey .. we also work to bring business

opportunities to small American agribusiness companies and arrange co-op

agreements to create agribusiness industry in areas of the USA. We've

been fairly successful in that nobody is dumb enough to think that since

we're an NGO and non-profit we're driven by some type of Mother Theresa

mentality - we are not martyrs or saints - we must make some money to

stay in business. We need incentive to go to that cocktail or luncheon

or dinner and rub elbows with those who might be of assistance to us.

 

No difference here - NAHA or any other organization you want to create

is NOT going to be successful unless you organize with a realistic and

credible mission. The mission statement must avoid terminology that

smacks of idealism or the esoteric and must have clear cut goals and a

time-phased plan to achieveing those goals. There must be a requirement

for leadership/management to periodically report progress to members in

some quantifiable or measureable manner. There must be incentive for

leadership/management to stay in their positions and perform well.

 

Allowing leadership/management to do shuffle-shuffle dances and sing

humma-humma songs sets a precedent that's guaranteed to lead to failure.

Comments like, " We continue to seek means to do so and so, " or " Study on

the humma-humma project continues, " are pure bovine excrement and the

correct translation of those statements is " We continue to sit on our

asses, draw our salaries and wait for crap to fall into our laps! "

 

The fact that one might be the most knowledgeable aromatherapy teacher

or practitioner, chemist/analyst, writer/lecturer/researcher, marketer,

grower, distiller, etc., says nothing about their leadership/management

skills - this is where most civilian organizations that are not required

to report quarterly profits or organizational improvements fall on their

asses - and NAHA has been no exception.

 

There are no born leaders or managers - they are developed and they are

a breed that doesn't fit in well with the huggy-huggy, kissy-kissy, love

thy neighbor, Namaste mentality many in this industry try to portray as

being their personality type. Sometimes you just gotta tell your folks,

" Don't give me that crap - just get it done and have it on my desk come

Monday morning! " Being tough as nails and fair as a Spring Maiden are

positive traits of a leader/manager .. many other positive traits that

are standards for success are not normally found in those who consider

themselves as care-givers/healers. A good leader/manager knows that a

part of their responsibility is bringing out the best in their people

and that is sometimes done by pushing them to achieve more than they're

used to achieving - which is very easy to do since most folks hum along

at 40-50% of their maximum capability - and this cannot be done without

being firm and fair. It produces results and amongst those who do gain

more self-confidence for learning their 8-cylinder engine was operating

on 4 cylinders, it creates loyalty and respect.

 

What I'm getting at is that any organization we create is going to fail

unless we can install the right leaders/managers, pay them a salary that

will incentivize them to perform to the max, demand performance reports

from them on a routine basis and be prepared to kick their asses out of

the position is they fail to deliver! Until this happens, I guarantee

there will be no credible representative organization for aromatherpy.

 

I can think of many folks who are leaders in this industry who would

fail within 90 days if you put such demands on them. In truth, dancing

the shuffle-shuffle and singing the humma-humma song is the routine in

aromatherapy and it's not likly to change during my lifetime. There is

a well-established good ol' boys/girls network in AT - these folks think

that they're Kings/Queens of the Mountain because their participation in

AT goes back to when Jesus was a corporal. Watch closely and you will

find these members being the ones overseeing their fellow good ol' boys

and girls in organizations like NAHA. It's not different I think than

the failures in the Turkish Parliament system - musical chairs it is -

no new blood - no new ideas - no progress but a helluva lotta marketing,

self-concern and ego-boosting. Oh yea .. and little stone throwing

cause they live in houses constructed of similar materials.

 

The cottage-industry of Aromatherapy deserves no more or less than what

the cottage-industry of Aromatherapy is willing to provide for itself.

The cottage-industry of Aromatherapy is not going to move beyond being

the cottage-industry of Aromatherapy until it is willing to organize to

some degree and demand proper administration and representation.

 

Nobody is gonna spoon-feed anybody .. there are tough decisions to be

made and I think one of those decisions is - do we want an organization

that will represent AT - increase the credibility of AT - act as some

form of clearing house for information about AT/EOs and come up with the

proper plans and programs to allow it to increase the scope of activity

to a point that it will be recognized as the indisputable and official

representative of AT? It's not impossible to achieve such a level of

credibility but considering the nature of our cottage-industry, and the

so-called leaders within our cottage-industry, it's not likely to occur.

 

Can anyone here - including present or past leaders/managers of NAHA,

give us a list of say three .. OK .. two .. things NAHA has done to

improve the image or knowledge of aromatherapy? Please do so. We argue

points of whether this or that is so - absorption, facts on what if any

chemical additives make it through a steam-distillation process, what

EOs are contraindicated for this or that, and forty-eleven dozen other

issues we get sixteen opinions on when we ask 8 people the question!

 

Any progress is better than no progress. Peppermint is a good example.

Everybody has an idea of what Mentha piperita can do for their clients

but peppermint is an untested oil. Why is it an untested oil? Because

it hasn't been dermally tested .... ;-p Why has it not been dermally

tested? It's one of the most popular EOs - take it away and half the

claims aromatherapy practitioners make go down the drain. Would not a

simple project like this make an organization appear to be credible? I

bet you I can get the damn tests conducted by qualified dermatologists,

in a proper and acceptable manner, and have them published in Contact

Dermatitis, Food and Chemical Toxicology and many other professional

publications. Why haven't I contracted for such tests? Because there

is no more or less benefit to me to pay for this than there would be for

the millions of other folks who would then use the information after

completion of the testing - the information I had paid to obtain. But I

am not an Aromatherapy organization either - if I were the leader of an

Aromatherapy organization, I would consider it a worthwhile project. I

also would think it would increase the credibility of the organization,

which would draw a larger membership which would increase availability

of funds which would allow for more worthwhile projects which would draw

a larger membership and the beat goes on.

 

Publishing a quarterly magazine and conducting a conference every two

years is not much representation. Not being available or having someone

knowledgeable appointed to be available to answer the questions of the

ONLY persons who such an organization could ever hope to draw as members

is unbelieveably incompetent! But the aromatherapy community has never

made demands on their organization so they're getting what they deserve!

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch