How well do you perform your chapter role?

2/3/11

Every role in your chapter, be it the Chapter Director or the Events Coordinator, is uniquely responsible for the ultimate success of the chapter.

The Chapter Director needs to run a brilliant meeting, motivate the group, and ensure that the agenda is followed and meeting finished on time. The Membership Coordinator needs to run a strong committee, so that the polices are followed, for the benefit of all, and to plan the continued growth of the chapter. The Secretary/Treasurer needs to keep the group in profit and organise the speakers.

Then we have the Visitor Hosts, those members that are at the chapters bright and early, and make that vital first impression on our visitors. The committee members, who along with the Membership Coordinator, help and support the whole group. The Mentor Coordinator, and mentors, who help new members, and others, to feel welcome in the chapter and get the very best from their membership.

And, of course, the Education Coordinator who organises our education and the Events Coordination who arranges socials and gets us all to the workshops.

Every one of those people who does a great job will help the chapter grow and each of us in turn to earn more money.

But, have you, if you hold a role, ever thought about what happens if you do a bad job? Or, at least, not a very good one.

We talk a great deal about VCP in BNI. Visibility, credibility, profitability and assume that it is a good thing. As if by being visible, it will make us credible, and therefore profitable. But, I have news for you – it won’t. Visibility isn’t enough on its own. You also need to be very good.

And, I have two examples for you to prove my point. The first member had been a member of their chapter for some time and considered a pretty reasonable member, then they joined the Leadership Team. Every week they forgot something, so no-one had any idea what was going on. They were totally disorganised. Their referral rate dropped as members lost confidence in them.

The second member took over a role half way through a term because someone had left the chapter. They were a long term member and were considered to be, well to be honest, fairly average. But the way that they performed their role transformed how people thought about them. Their credibility soared and with it the other members' efforts to find them referrals.

So, my question to you is this. Is the way that you perform your chapter role making you look like a credible business person? If not, you could be getting a lot less referrals than you might if it did.