1. HEAD Notes
elite
Reflecting on 38 years of service to the North Carolina Bar Association
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4. January 2011
On December 1, 1973, having returned from serving four years with the U.S. Army in Europe, I
assumed my position as “Executive Secretary” with the North Carolina Bar Association. I was armed
with a Volkswagen squareback station wagon and an employment agreement that I hoped was good for at
least one year! (I was to make $15,000 per year, plus health insurance!) Surely, this was a dream come
true!
During the years that followed, I have served 38 different Bar Presidents and Boards. We have grown
from 6 employees to over 60, from less than 3,000 members to more than 16,000. I continue to learn
something new every day. Please allow me to share a few thoughts I have gathered along the way.
5. 1. everything seems to be going well – you
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have obviously overlooked something.
2. The positive person in the room always
trumps the negative.
3. Who does the right thing when no one is
looking?
4. Store up money when it’s plentiful; use it
when it’s scarce.
6. 5. Working yourself around the room before
meetings is helpful.
6. Fiscal is not pronounced physical.
7. Relationships are best built before you need
something.
8. They may forget what you said, but they will
never forget how you made them feel.
9. If you’re going to be candid – be right.
7. 10. Not making a decision is really a decision –
and usually not a good one.
11. Avoid analysis paralysis – get the
information you need and make a decision.
12. You don’t like surprises – and neither do
other managers.
13. Shoulder the blame, pass the credit, and
privately counsel.
8. 14. Hire above average people and expect above
average performance.
15. you want something to read the way you
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write, write it yourself.
16. Learn to write handwritten notes.
17. Not paying attention to the budget can
redirect your career.
9. 18. Invite the “old-timers” back for special
events.
19. phone call from a member is not an inter-
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ruption; it is another opportunity to serve.
20. When greeting folks you have not seen in a
while, give them your name ... they’ll say they
don’t need it, but they usually do.
21. Laugh at yourself more often ... you really are
not that great.
10. 22. Farming looks easy when you’re 1,000 miles
from the cornfield.
23. There is no known cure for stupidity.
24. we wait for the rain to start before we pitch
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our tent – everyone gets wet.
25. Non-profit is a tax term, not a business term.
26. not approve or sign your own
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reimbursement checks.
11. 27. the ship misses the harbor – it’s hardly
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ever the harbor’s fault.
28. Your receptionist is also your Director of
First Impressions.
29. I takes months to get a member – seconds
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to lose one.
30. Member service is not a department –
it’s an attitude.
12. 31. Things just don’t happen – people make
things happen.
32. If you chase two rabbits – both will escape.
33. Whenever possible: personalize, customize
and empathize.
34. Don’t make a five-alarm fire out of a
one-alarm fire.
35. Things that get measured, get done.
13. 36. Poor planning on your part does not
necessarily constitute an emergency for me.
37. good goal ... is to be known as an
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optimist.
38. player who helps to make a “great team”
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is etter than a great player.
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39. Celebrate what is right, and then find the
energy to fix what is wrong.
14. 40. Activity is not necessarily an accomplishment.
41. Anyone can steer the ship ... a leader charts
the course.
42. you can’t improve the silence – don’t say
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anything.
43. You have to be quiet to hear what people are
saying – you have to be very quiet to hear
what they are not saying.
15. 44. Employees don’t walk away from good
organizations – they walk away from poor
supervisors.
45. Life is too short to be in a job you don’t
enjoy.
46. you have been given the keys to the bus –
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it’s time to drive on.
47. person who is nice to you, but rude to the
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waiter, is not a nice person.
16. 48. Measure twice, cut once.
49. Answer the question first, and then elaborate.
50. “What can I do to help?” will endear you to
others.
51. Don’t forget how to “keep doing” what got
you where you are.
52. Do not come late and leave early.
17. 53. Don’t say no until you’ve exhausted all
means of saying yes.
54. Pick up a piece of trash on the way into the
building.
55. Learn people’s names and what they do
or did.
56. Times of most change hold the most
possibility.
18. 57. you’re taking your members for granted –
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don’t be surprised when they aren’t there.
58. The sign of a really great leader is not what
they accomplish, but rather what they enable
others to accomplish.
59. It’s what happens next that’s important.
60. The time to put on a new roof is when the
sun is shining.
19. 61. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
62. Leadership develops daily, not in a day.
63. Relationships are more important than tasks.
64. When people give you a compliment, just say
“Thank You.”
65. “MBWA” (Management By Walking Around) is
a good principle.
20. 66. Speak to everyone.
67. The problem is, sometimes you want more
for someone than they want for themselves.
68. Other people have good ideas too.
69. When charging up the hill with an idea, make
sure someone is following.
70. People buy into the leader, then the vision.
21. 71. Don’t forget who invited you to the dance.
72. Surround yourself with positive people.
73. Don’t use the pronouns “I, me or my” ...
“we, us and our” sound so much better.
74. Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they
don’t have value, but because they are
priceless!
75. Marketing takes time; commit to the process.
22. 76. get paid for the tough days ... anyone can
We
do the job on an easy day.
77. add growth, lead followers – to multiply,
To
lead leaders.
78. When raising money, don’t forget to ask for
the money.
79. you need to back someone into a corner,
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make sure you leave them a way out.
23. 80. Those closest to a problem can usually
figure out the best way to solve it.
81. Practice what you preach, but don’t preach
much.
82. The impression people have of those who
work in your office is the impression people
have of you.
83. golf, and also in life, if someone says
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“that’s a gimmie” – take it.
24. 84. Small steps in the right direction will also get
you where you want to go.
85. You can progress, or you can regress – you
can’t just “gress.”
86. Wear your name badge on the RIGHT side.
87. Be thrifty but don’t be cheap!
88. Just say thank you when someone shares an
idea. You don’t have to tell them that you’ve
already thought of it.
25. 89. When tempted to argue your side further ask
yourself, “Is this the ditch I want to die in?”
90. You’re either on the way, or you’re in the way.
91. easy to make a buck – it’s a lot harder to
It’s
make a difference.
92. A “to be” list is better than a “to do” list.
93. f you’re not on the train, you may be on the
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track.
26. 94. The days may be long, but the years are
short.
95. “A goal” without “a plan” is just “a wish.”
96. you don’t talk about it, it must not be
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important.
97. Whoever said “sunshine brings happiness”
never danced in the rain.
27. 98. You can’t be sure how the race will end just
watching them come out of the second turn.
99. Believe it or not, somebody ran this place
before you got here and somebody will run
it after you’re gone.
100. es, you could make more somewhere else
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and work less hours.
101. On the finance report, brackets are bad.
28. 102. Within two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.
103. Leave the campsite better than you found it.
104. arketing is a contact sport – relationships,
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trust and face time.
105. mall moves, smartly made, can put big
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things in motion.
29. 106. t’s not what you gather, but rather what you
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scatter.
107. ood judgment comes from experience, and
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a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
108. trength that is overplayed becomes a
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weakness.
109. What got you here won’t get you there.
110. The last impression is a lasting impression.
30. 111. ood bar leaders steal good ideas, great bar
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leaders steal shamelessly.
112. ife is like a roll of toilet paper – the closer it
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gets to the end, the faster it goes.
113. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
114. elevance ... is something you earn by the
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importance others place on what you do for
them, and how well you do it.
31. 115. hen making presentations: it’s better to
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have it and not need it, than to need it and
not have it.
116. How will we know it’s us without our past?
117. f you always do what you always did, you
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will always get what you lways got.
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118. ulti-tasking: doing several things poorly at
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the same time.
32. 119. he highway is full of flat squirrels that
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couldn’t make up their mind.
120. e are warmed by the fires we did not build,
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and we drink from wells we did not dig.
121. f all you have is a hammer, everything
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begins to look like a nail.
122. pen your arms to change, but don’t
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sacrifice your values.
33. 123. othing is often a good thing to do, and
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frequently a good thing to say.
124. dispute is like a pancake – no matter how
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thin you pour it, it always has two sides.
125. f you tell a lie, it’s part of your past. If you
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tell the truth, it’s part of your future.
126. e don’t know what the future holds – but
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we have faith in the one who holds the future.
34. 127. onors may be individually bestowed, but
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often collectively earned.
128. Price is what you pay – value is what you get.
129. Run it like you own it.
130. he Chinese symbol for Crisis is Danger and
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Opportunity.
131. Just ask ... people like to be asked.
35. 132. onsider downstream consequences when
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making decisions.
133. eeting agendas are important, personal
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agendas are not.
134. hange is important; controlling change
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is more important; change for the sake of
change is dumb.
135. onstructive criticism is still criticism, be
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careful when being constructive.
36. 136. There is not a right way to do a wrong thing.
137. here will always be noise, paint fumes
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or some other distraction – learn to work
through it.
138. The harder I work, the luckier I get.
139. udgets, and even Strategic Plans, can be
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modified.
37. 140. ou are braver than you believe, stronger
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than you seem, and smarter than you think.
141. There is no “I” in TEAM.
142. The hardest part … is what to leave behind.
143. our character is the sum total of your
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habits.
