Theos-Talk Archives (May 2009 Message tt00540)

Revisiting the December 2008 GC Meeting.

One of the less noticed facts in the December 2008 General Council meeting
proceedings, is the deep division that is reflected in the votes cast for
the nominated members/officials, which led to the president having to break
a tie in one or more cases.
.
Traditionally, nominated individuals are elected unanimously and a group
consistently voting against all nominations is perhaps the first time in the
history of the TS. Of course, we should remember that the election of 2008
was rather unusual in the tactics used to unsuccessfully defeat a sitting
president.
.
The group of those who voted against all nominations have not  come forward
identifying themselves and their justifications for their votes. It is to be
noted that nominations are always done with greatest care and the nominees
are always long term dedicated members of TS and for anyone to vote against
them says more about the voting GC members than the nominees. It looks like
this group feels safe in hiding behind the anonymity for now. We have no
reason not to suspect that this group is the one which tried to defeat the
sitting president and their votes may be a reaction to their unsuccessful
attempt in getting their candidate elected.
.
The membership growth and retention outside India is in a sorry situation.
In the Internet Age, where organizational leaders no longer control the
medium of communication with their members and followers, when potential
members and newbees, learn about the above situation in conjunction with the
events surrounding the election and the aftermath including the secret
attempt to disenfranchise members world-wide, they will be left confused
when they see the big chasm between the main Object and Motto of TS and the
actions of the leaders.
.
For any effective leader to lead an organization such as TS, where there is
full autonomy at the Section and Lodge levels, the level of trust members
have and public see, are very critical. IMHO, all of the above seems to have
left many members to hold their leaders at a low level of trust and every
possible step should be taken to rebuild it, before TS can start growing. It
is a pipe dream to think that somehow, given time, things will improve.
.
Another issue that is also the perception of many members is that most
leaders are not seen as wise Elders but seen as Old people who should get
out of the way and not cause trouble to the TS with their impractical ideas.
Looking at the past history, all organizations which have grown, are all
lead by people who dedicated prime of their life, full time for the cause.
.
Let us all pray for good luck to save the TS from the present man/woman made
crisis.
.
.
MKR


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]