OT: NAHA - What Should It Be??

[Guest guest]

Hey Butch,

 

To add my two cents worth to this ( or three or four... )

 

1. Having come from many years in a Management/Supervisory background - you're

right. No need to even go to the military for examples - go to

the business world! Who are the Managers? They are the people whose backgrounds

have proven track records of:

a. Getting things done through setting reasonable goals and then following

through on those goals. Any business, anywhere - business training

does provide this training. AT is no different.

 

b. Being available (sometimes 24/7; if needed), in the sense that this is what

they are being " paid " to be - things come up; need to be dealt

with... etc..etc - and of course the person should be paid and paid well.

 

c. Does a manager need to be an aromatherapist? Rephrase and

restart.........(bear with me a moment) Does a Manager of say.....(let's OVER

simplify) of even a Doctor's office or any other office also need to be a

Doctor, Nurse or Medical Assistant? Nope! And normally they aren't.

And all the better for it since they see a picture totally differently from the

Doctor's, Nurses or Medical assistants.......they see it from

the bigger picture - the good of all, not each individual. Going to each

individual creates favorites, which cannot be done while running any

effective company/cooperation.. etc. No exeptions.

 

d. Define the Managers' Goal - From my experience and training; it's - putting

it simply, the ability to work FOR and TOWARDS the good of the

industry they're managing - keeping in mind that not all will

agree.......setting down rules and keeping to them, keeping all members informed

of events taking place well ahead of when the event is going to happen and then

sending out reminders to all again and again, if need be. (this

can be assigned to someone else in the Organization, but " checked " before

they're sent by said Manager).

 

e. Being a good speaker and leader is essential (no pun intended here) as in

" any " Management position - I see this one to be no different in

basic theory than any other. Period. The Manager would be one who could 'see the

big picture' - assume responsibility and in no way can/could

this be done part-time and unpaid.

 

f. A Manger's job; or one of them is 'getting others within the organization,

company, coorporation, etc's to work under the guidelines set' -

if they can't or won't - steps should be already in place for getting them OUT

of there, as they're doing more harm than good. If the current

guidelines are non-definitive, redefine the guidelines. And stick to them.

Positive reinforcement works as well - those who choose to 'go by

the rules' as it were, will be most likely to be assets; those who don't will

not and are only wasting time/space.

 

 

Ummm.. I think I'll just stop here.. lol, nuf said?

 

Marilyn

 

Butch Owen wrote:

 

> Hi y'all,

>

> Since many of you are not members of the Aromatherapy List - you would

> not have seen this post. But if you are interested in aromatherapy or

> use of essential oils for therapeutic purposes, you need to be aware of

> what's going down with the ONLY organization in the USA that is supposed

> to be representing aromatherapy practitioners - basically, it is flat on

> it's ass and not likely to get up anytime soon unless they change the

> overall mentality - and the managment. This post was sent to the Idma

> AT List this date. Y'all keep smiling, Butch

> ---------

> Hi Marge .. y'all,

>

> > wouldn't the NAHA safety committee be the appropriate ones to take an

> > official stand on Raindrop Therapy, rather than one individual?

> >

> > Sylla? Tony????

> >

> > Your source for superb Essential Oils, Aromatherapy

> > Accessories, Information, Books and more!

> > Visit us at: <http://www.naturesgift.com>

>

> Seems to me that it is the boss who decides who does what - the monkey

> is always on the boss's back - it cannot be fed or tended by anyone but

> the boss. That's just the way it is when you are a manager or leader.

> In this case, it appears that the boss should assign the duties to

> whatever committee she feels is the appropriate point-of-contact and she

> should follow up and monitor those activities.

>

> But it also seems to me that NAHA is just hanging on by it's

> fingernails. I see no active movement in any direction except for the

> periodic planning of conferences and quarterly publications. And even

> the conferences are not well-publicized in advance, which results in

> many folks not attending because they have made other plans. For

> example, NAHA is planning one in May 2002 in Raleigh, North Carolina ..

> seven months from now that is. I make plans far in advance of seven

> months - but maybe I'm the only one who missed announcements on this ..

> maybe the rest of you are aware of this.

>

> > Seems to me they would be the ones, not the chairman, to deal with

> > this...it is, after all, an issue of safety.

>

> A chairperson, manager, leader must deal with and take responsibility

> for ALL matters in their organization. The buck stops ONLY at their

> desk! Committees, branches, and staff are there to support the

> chairperson, manager or leader in their performance of duty - and the

> primary duty of that chairperson, manager or leader is to ensure the job

> gets done!

>

> I have always believed that NAHA needed to be managed/lead by a

> full-time person who is paid to do the job .. it cannot be a part-time

> job and the manager/leader DOES NOT (and in my opinion SHOULD NOT) have

> to be an AT practitioner.

[Guest guest]

are they still fighting like cats over there AND is nicole gone?

-

" Butch Owen " <butchbsi

>

> Since many of you are not members of the Aromatherapy List

[Guest guest]

how do I join the aromatherapy list?

 

Helaine

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

Since many of you are not members of the Aromatherapy List - you would

not have seen this post. But if you are interested in aromatherapy or

use of essential oils for therapeutic purposes, you need to be aware of

what's going down with the ONLY organization in the USA that is supposed

to be representing aromatherapy practitioners - basically, it is flat on

it's ass and not likely to get up anytime soon unless they change the

overall mentality - and the managment. This post was sent to the Idma

AT List this date. Y'all keep smiling, Butch

---------

Hi Marge .. y'all,

 

> wouldn't the NAHA safety committee be the appropriate ones to take an

> official stand on Raindrop Therapy, rather than one individual?

>

> Sylla? Tony????

>

> Your source for superb Essential Oils, Aromatherapy

> Accessories, Information, Books and more!

> Visit us at: <http://www.naturesgift.com>

 

Seems to me that it is the boss who decides who does what - the monkey

is always on the boss's back - it cannot be fed or tended by anyone but

the boss. That's just the way it is when you are a manager or leader.

In this case, it appears that the boss should assign the duties to

whatever committee she feels is the appropriate point-of-contact and she

should follow up and monitor those activities.

 

But it also seems to me that NAHA is just hanging on by it's

fingernails. I see no active movement in any direction except for the

periodic planning of conferences and quarterly publications. And even

the conferences are not well-publicized in advance, which results in

many folks not attending because they have made other plans. For

example, NAHA is planning one in May 2002 in Raleigh, North Carolina ..

seven months from now that is. I make plans far in advance of seven

months - but maybe I'm the only one who missed announcements on this ..

maybe the rest of you are aware of this.

 

> Seems to me they would be the ones, not the chairman, to deal with

> this...it is, after all, an issue of safety.

 

A chairperson, manager, leader must deal with and take responsibility

for ALL matters in their organization. The buck stops ONLY at their

desk! Committees, branches, and staff are there to support the

chairperson, manager or leader in their performance of duty - and the

primary duty of that chairperson, manager or leader is to ensure the job

gets done!

 

I have always believed that NAHA needed to be managed/lead by a

full-time person who is paid to do the job .. it cannot be a part-time

job and the manager/leader DOES NOT (and in my opinion SHOULD NOT) have

to be an AT practitioner. Being an AT practitioner is one thing - being

a manager of assets and ideas and a leader of people is another.

Managers can ensure sufficient assets are available to accomplish a

mission - leaders have the mission of inspiring their own people and

gaining support from those who are outside their organization. If one

cannot be an effective manager and leader at the same time, they will

surely fail.

 

Almost without exception, those who are chosen to command Support

Commands in the military services are not qualified in the specialities

of those who they will command. I have held this position twice and I

was in no way qualified as a doctor, preventive medicine specialist,

cook or chef, logistician, engineer, accountant or finance specialist,

transporter, vehicle maintenance and management, personnel management

specialist and/or and of the other technical specialities that are

required to do their own thing while being coordinated and supervised by

a generalist - a combat arms or combat support officer and his/her

operations/plans officer.

 

We do this - I think - to have a fresh perspective of what is going down

and not get wrapped up in the parochial attitudes of those specialists.

It's not unusual for them to think they are THE ones who everyone

depends on .. it takes someone who is not one of them to see that each

are just a small part of the whole and to coordinate their activities

with a broader view of the mission. And it is sometimes necessary to

fire one of them who thinks they are indispensable just to show the

others who might think the same that there are no indispensible people

in a team effort.

 

NAHA needs a professional, full-time, manager/leader who is paid enough

to incentivize them to do a good job, and to want to keep that job.

That manager/leader must understand that they'll be fired for

non-performance.

 

How do we get the funds to pay such a person? I can't tell you right

now but I damn sure betcha that a buncha smart folks together could come

up with some good ideas. We would have to know exactly how NAHA funds

are managed now - what is the income and what are the expenses. I

believe the number of paying NAHA members is small now compared to years

past - there is one loss of income. Sometimes it takes an outside eye

to clean up an organization .. those of you who have coveted emails in

your files know what I mean - its hard to zap them when we want to

reduce our files. ;-p One person's Sacred Cow will not be the next

persons's Sacred Cow.

 

I believe that a good manager/leader who would give constant attention

to the mission would find ways to legitimately raise funds .. and to

even get grants and other source funds for some of the things an

organization like NAHA should be concerned with - like research or being

a central point for collection of aromatherapy/EO information that can

help to legitimize this cottage-industry. There are many such

organizations out and about - we can easily review the charters of these

organizations - there's no need to recreate the wheel. But a problem we

will run into is the good ol' boys and good ol' gals network that has

long held onto the management of NAHA - they will not want to relinquish

their hold on the organization. Without fresh blood, we are destined to

see a repeat of the same performance we have seen for MANY years.

 

I believe that we would have to watch that manager/leader person

carefully to ensure they did not get wrapped up in some of the vested

interests that are floating around this cottage-industry .. some of the

old hands in AT think that AT belongs to them and they know how to work

the system. This should not come as a shock to anyone - it is the way

of human critters. I won't say those who want to hold on are unethical

... I will say they have become accustomed to a certain way of doing

things and they, like most other folks, will resist change .. but change

is inevitable if one is to see progress .. again, I fall back on the

military (and some corporations) in that we routinely move even the best

commanders every two years - it is the best way to improve any

organization.

 

I believe that we need a viable, functional, rational and efficient NAHA

- a NAHA that represents the best interests of the AT community. A NAHA

that is managed/lead by a full-time person who is a good speaker, a good

planner and one who can properly supervise the execution of plans. This

person would not get wrapped up into the Namaste mentality because that

would not be a part of their job description - it would not be a part of

what they are paid to accomplish - they are to give the organization 40

hours a week (minimum) and not lose sight of the reason they are there -

to manage and lead and improve the organization.

 

That person would have to submit an operations plan that included all

the things they intended to do - a basic timeline of when they intended

to hit each milestone along the way - and a list of assets

(financial/personnel) they would need to accomplish their plans. This

too is similar to plans made in corporations and the military .. we

determine our goals/missions and we submit an admin/logistics/funds plan

that is necessary in order to achieve our mission. Often, we find that

the admin/log/funds plan must be shaved a bit .. when that happens, we

then shave the mission a bit too but we do not say we can't get there

from here without proving it to someone who will ask real tough

questions - who will that be? Not the old gang~!

 

I'm gonna stop now .. if I said all I wanted to say this message would

have to be in Parts 1 though forty-eleven .. you folks know what I am

talking about. And don't get the idea that I am trying to set myself up

to run NAHA because that is not in my Operations Plan - hell, if I do

anything else besides what I am doing now, it will be going back to some

the things I wish I were doing - like semi-pro bass fishing. And I

don't think the person selected to be at the helm of NAHA should have a

business related to aromatherapy - that would create too damn much

opportunity for conflict of interest - this would happen even if one

tried to avoid it.

 

If we are satisfied with the way things are now - then lets leave it the

hell alone and move on to other things. If we are not satisfied, then

we gotta realize that the way things are done now is not the right way

and we should not expect changes as long as things continue as they are

now. The third option - I think - is to not give a damn one way or the

other and I sorta think that is where many folks are right now.

 

If we do care, we will not get where we want to be if we don't talk

about it and I don't mean playing Who Shot John last year .. we must

decide what we want NAHA to be and how it can get to where we want it to

be. We must remember that NAHA does not belong to any one person or

group of persons - it belongs to the members. Unfortunately, the

members have relinquished control of their ownership and as a result,

maybe most have NO RIGHT to criticise how it is run now.

 

If folks do want to criticize, they can do it with recommendations (on

this list) on how we can change NAHA and make it be what we want it to

be. These recommendations must be well-thought out and we must avoid

sarcasim and knee-jerk comments .. we must be prepared to accept

criticism of some recommendations - hopefully criticism that is not

bad-hearted. We must be prepared to DEMAND answers to our questions and

to respect the person giving the answers when we disagree or make

counter recommendations, even if we think they are the most flaky

answers we have ever heard - remember, there will be levels of

management/leadership experience that clash and that does not mean one

person is better than the other .. just means they have experience in a

different area.

 

If none of this comes about - if NAHA continues to be run as it is now,

it will either die on the vine or will hang on just enough that 3-4

years from now, folks will still be discussing the same crap we are now.

 

If this post dies on the vine, then the above will be the case. If that

is the case, I don't think I wanna be the only one who gives a damn so I

will just shut the frig up and go about my work.

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com