To my readers

I came up with this idea when I realized that some members have a notion that those in our leadership roles spend little time working for STARFLEET.  My own experience as a former Compops Chief, a former VCS and a potential CS have had (and continue to have) me thinking about some aspect of STARFLEET on a nearly daily basis.  My blog was/is an idea that I presented to a few when I began considering my efforts at becoming the CS and an attempt to communicate in a manner that I wanted to try.   It was never meant to be more than a way tp share my "free-form" thoughts, whims and even feelings about  my role in STARFLEET's leadership.

Wow!  Did it spark some communications!?  I have received some criticism, some advice, some kudos, and some concerns from some of the members of this organization.  And you know what?  Once I applied certain "filters" so that I could understand some of the input, I realized that "it's all good".  But what I've learned most is that the hardest part of communication is simply hearing what the other person is saying.  But I also think that the other person should also try to listen and, perhaps apply a little bit of extrapolation to facilitate understanding, too.  Of course, I could be wrong; apparently, I have been before.

So, for now, I will continue to post to this blog, and will move it (or a link to it) in the CS page of the website when I can.   Actually, I believe that Peter is going to help me add a monthly video address there, too.  Now I just need to get into the habit of making announcements.  But, the pizza just arrived so I'm out of here!

I would like to ask everyone who participates in the comments to please keep it civil and avoid the personal attacks -- since it is my blog, I feel that I should be able to ask that much of the commenters.

Sal

Well, it appears that I have opened a can of worms with my decision to not use Chrissy as my Membership Processing person.  Interestingly enough, she (and others, probably) believe it was because she was opposed to me in this last election.  But I actually asked Matt ingles if he would manage Membership Processing for me when I first began thinking about running for the Commander STARFLEET position.   Back then, I felt that Chrissy needed to be replaced but I certainly was not in a position to remove her or even discuss her performance with her.  The simple truth was/is that I think that she needed to step down from the position because she was the Regional Coordinator for Region 4 and that Membership Processing suffered as a result.

Now I am the CS-elect and I am answering questions about why I "fired" her when I simply told her that I wouldn't be keeping her in that position when I took office.  Chrissy feels that it political but there are people that have agreed to serve in EC positions that were also opposed to me politically.  Heck, Peter Christian told me that he even offered Emmett Plant a position which was turned down.

To my knowledge, every CS has picked new staff members for when they take office but I have yet to recall them having to explain why they decided not to use someone already in place.  But it seems that I am expected to justify my choice.  And I am asked to justify my choice by defining "metrics" when in reality, I used something more personal -- my own judgement.  Was that a mistake?  I don't think so.  I was elected because enough members, who trust my judgement -- elected me over the other candidates.

Right now, as everyone knows, I am heavily involved in the Christmas season and I am also involved in the transition phase of replacing one Executive Committee with another.   Emmett says that everyone wants to see my plans.  What metric is he using for that statement?  How many members?  What percentage of the membership?  What percentage of them are people who supported him and/or are opposed to me?  

I have a different leadership and team-building style.  I, too, have been a real-life manager in the business and corporate world.  I said that I would do things different but I never promised that I wouldn't make a mistake.  If i made a mistake with Chrissy's dismissal, I apologize.  But I have made my decision and we need to move on.  Or do some of you really want to keep up this distraction during my busiest periods in my real-life job and my STARFLEET transition efforts.

By the way, this in not an official means of communications.  These are just my thoughts during the transition.  

As I was traveling about the various region al summits and speaking with the members, one of the more frequent questions was why the EC has so many vice-chief and other often vacant and unproductive positions. One of the problems that was brought up was that it causes confusion to the newer members and creates unneeded beauracracy. So I am trying to "streamline" the EC a bit by eliminating the "multiple vice-chiefs and the ill-defined "Chief of Staff" position where the department head already has a vice-chief. Needless to say, change among the EC is not well received by everyone but I really think it is necessary.

I had a discussion wit Peter, my choice for Chief of Communicationsm, concerning some rumors that are floating about that he will not be serving on the EC, I have decided to let Peter address the rumors, on the listserve so that there are no doubts among those who might choose to not believe me. It just seemed better for Peter to deflate them. Peter and I also had a discussion about creating an "official" listserve for STARFLEET. Members have asked for it and we think that the time is right, considering the new direction we want to go with regard to rules of conduct and holding posters accountable for any abuse that occurs.

I have heard back from two former chapter COs from Region 20 regarding their chapters and rebuilding the Region. I must give Mike Allen a call to see if he still wants to serve as the International Liaison for our administration. I was saddened to read Malcolm Tucker's account of "the fall of Region 20", There were a few lines from the email which are echoes of what I've heard around STARFLEET, time and again:

• "There is simply to much bad memories on the way we were all treated by [name deleted] and everyone who failed us in SFI, ...."
• "... and there was a huge cover up by certain members over there.."
• " ... was allowed to get alway with his actions scott free, he has even been allowed to keep his flag rank, ...."
• " ... I do not like to see fans treat other fans badly simply because they hold a higher position."
  
  

This is my first entry into my personal log as the Commander of STARFLEET.  I had actually planned to start this immediately upon hearing the election results but there were so many emails congradulating me and my team and i felt that those needed to be answered, personally.  Of course there were phone calls too.  People that I've known since my STARFLEET beginnings (over 15 years ago) contacted me, as did people whom I've never met.

Now I'm getting caught up.  A few days ago, I received a letter from a member who resides in Cuba.  He wants to start a chapter there and contacted Les over a year ago but hasn't heard anything since.  I contacted a member of Region 2 to see if she would like to work on contacting the State Department to find out whether or not we could have a chapter in Cuba considering our (the US's) relationship with them.

I also responded to a rumor that STARFLEET Region 20 (the UK) had lost all of its chapters and RC.  As I don't have access to the database, I looked up the chapters on the SFI website and sent out an email to each of the contacts in the four chapters isted there.  I heard back from one former Co already.  He has stated that he would like to rebuild his chapter and bring it back into STARFLEET,  He has also offerred to help rebuild the region strength and serve as the interim RC.  I have yet to hear from the other three but I am hopeful there, too. 

I also set up the teams transition listserve, today, so that we can discuss problems and plans regarding our installation as the Executivr Committee of STARFLEET.  I have also begin to set management expectations with my tram and to remind them that we are going to work for change in our organization and that we need to start with ourselves and how we manage STARFLEET.

All in all, it was a good day.