‘The question, “Who ought to be boss?” is like asking,
“Who ought to
Be the tenor in the quartet?” Obviously, the man who can sing tenor.’
- Henry Ford -
The timeshare or vacation ownership industry seems to bring out the worst in some individuals
who serve on the Boards for some of our Owner Associations. That worst, micro-management, is the subject of this
week’s column. I feel the buyer demographics has a lot to do with this tendency, the fact that to an owner of a
vacation, the work of resort management looks like child-play and a developing distrust of management because so
many management firms marched to the beat of the development entity drum rather than the association members. However,
the two things which are clearly present in these situations, are ego and the hunger for power. Typically the board
member intent on this activity will get themselves elected to an officer position like President or Treasurer so
they can manage under the cover of these offices.
Sal
Marino wrote the following in an article that was published on IndustryWeek.com in 1998.
“The
more I think about micro-managers, the less I think of them. They expect you to deliver successes,
but their interference assures failures. They approve your projects and then withhold the dollar and people resources
you need to accomplish them. They have a unique characteristic that stimulates their best people to seek employment
elsewhere.”
There
are always a few dead giveaways to a professional micro-manager. They refuse to accept personal responsibility
or accountability. They always have a scapegoat to blame. They rarely develop people; they exploit them. They rarely
hire people with the talent, experience, and know-how to challenge them. They don’t like competition. They prefer
to control results rather than inspire creativity. In situations where they exist they are the only one allowed
to think, nobody else would dare. To make things worse they create most of the problems they’re trying to micro-manage.
One
of the workshops at the most recent ARDA International Conference and Exposition was entitled Board Boot
Camp: Responsibilities. Relationships and Realities and my old friend Bob Jackson from the Board at Magic
Tree Resort in Kissimmee was one of the speakers. At the end gave a handout containing what Julie Adamen, President
of Adamen, Inc., considered The 8 pitfalls that Boards fall in to (in reverse order): they are...
It
was no surprise to me that micro-management topped the list.
Writing
for Help 4 Non Profits, Holdy Gottlieb listed her reasons that Boards or Individual Board Members micro-manage
and among those were 1] No clear sense of their role in the organization, 2] failure to delineate appropriate roles
for staff, 3] their other life’s work is management, 4] they think they were elected to do tasks, not to lead,
4] they perceive a crisis, and 5] they are fearful that the crisis will get out of hand.
In
order to get a sense of roles we can sometimes reference the legal documents associated with a resort. The Declaration
of Dedication is where the Developer stated his intent for the resort property and the improvements thereon. Typically
the developer established that an owners association would exist and quite often addressed this issue with something
similar to the following;
Declaration
- Article V Section 5.07 Maintenance and Operation. The Association shall have the sole authority, power,
responsibility and duty for the operation and management of XXXXX Resort, for the maintenance of all Residence
Units, Common Area and Furnishings, for the enforcement of the provisions of this Declaration and the Rules and
for collection of assessments provided herein. Maintenance, as used in this paragraph, shall include; (a) reconstruction,
restoration, remodeling, refurnishing, repair, maintenance and upkeep of Residence Units and Common Areas, including
landscaping; (b) repair and replacement of Furnishings; and (c) payment of all operating expenses including but
not limited to insurance, real estate and personal property taxes, utilities, cost of equipment, supplies and personnel,
and management fees.
Sections
like this one should make it easy for roles to have been established. However, the By-Laws of the Association may
contain something similar to the following;
By-Law
- Article IV Directors A. Powers. Subject to the limitations of the Articles, the By-Laws, the applicable
provisions of State laws or statutes as amended, and the provisions of the Declaration, all corporate powers shall
be exercised by or under the authority of and the business affairs of the Association shall be controlled by, the
Board of Directors.
So
this means that the true holders of the power are the Board of Directors. But wait;
By-Law
- Article V Officers. F. The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Association and shall,
subject to the control of the Board of Directors, have general supervision, direction and control of the business
and officers of the Association. He shall have the general powers and duties of management usually vested in the
Office of President of an Association, and shall have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by the
Board of Directors.
Now
we are getting down to it. The President clearly has been given the power. However, because no clear information
is given on how to exercise that power. Was that the way the Developer intended things to go? No...
Declaration
- Article V Section 5.08. Management Firm. The Association shall enter into a written agreement with a management
firm by which it delegates all the authority, powers and duties set forth in the preceding section.
By-Law
- Article VII Maintenance and Operation A. Agreement. The Board of Directors shall provide for the management
and operation of the XXXXX Resort by entering into a management agreement as provided in the declaration.
Declaration
- Article II Definitions (S) “Management Agreement” is an agreement entered into between the Association
and a management firm for the administration, management, housekeeping, improvement, repair, restoration, remodeling,
refurnishing, other maintenance and operation of the XXXXX Resort.
According
to these documents the President’s power is delegated to the management firm via a management agreement. Thus in
this instance no real confusion exists regarding the roles of the Association, the Board, the President or the
management firm. One would think that Holdy Gottlieb reasons 1 & 2 would be taken care of and the chances of
micro-management would be diminished.
There
will be nothing in a resort's legal documents which would prevent any board member from thinking they are a better
manager than the professionals of the management firm, or the resort staff. Management of day-to-day work is what
the board member knows from real life and in all probability his professional life. Micro-management is about the
absence of trust and this board member doesn’t trust that someone else will get the oil changed in the SUV or that
Sally is capable of completing the quarterly report without direct detailed instructions from himself. When the
member was first considered as a potential director it was because his resume indicated that he had a degree in
landscape design and you thought that knowledge would be useful. He was asked to serve on the Reserve Committee
and demonstrated exceptional skills when that committee reviewed the existing landscape maintenance program. Given
that, are you really surprised that he drives past the property everyday on his way to work and checks if all the
sprinkler heads are functioning properly.
There
are times when, due to no ones particular fault, a situation gets out of hand and it seems when this occurs those
situations tend to multiply and become crisis. During the period of Developer control, a few members failed to
pay their assessments and now that the Association is in control, several more have become delinquent and the subsidy
agreement no longer exist. A cash flow shortfall is about to occur and everyone becomes involved in a quick fix.
Once the crisis time is over, it will be very hard for some board members to revert back to their prior policy
making function. The board member is fearful that unless he remains intimately involved the situation will reoccur.
After all wasn’t it he who recommended the ‘quick fix’ solution and it’s his duty to find (and implement) the more
permanent fix because everyone else has gone back to dealing with day-to-day issues and acting like the crisis
never occurred!
FINAL THOUGHT
The
Board of Directors or an individual board member who has been elected to an office or appointed to serve on a committee
cannot possibly sing all the parts in the choir while holding and waving the baton. The Board (including all its
individual members) better serve their audience (the full membership of the association) by collectively writing
the music to be played at some future concert. If the board or a member gets stuck trying to sing tenor, bass,
baritone and lead all at the same time the absence of harmony will quickly become apparent. If the board or the
individual member persist with this action all the other voices will begin to dissipate, as will the audience.
The
micro-manager loves to hear their own voice and if allowed would want a full-length mirror in the shower stall.
That way they could hear and see themselves perform to the only audience that really matters to them.
In
order to overcome micro-management we must demonstrate to the offender that singing solo doesn’t produce harmony.
Micro-management is not ‘leadership’ it’s ‘gamesmanship’. In order to become successful the others involved must
be free to demonstrate their voices or even sing off key every once in a while.
Many voices singing in harmony make up the choir and with practice good music. The micro-manager more often
than not is making noise and no one is buying the CD.
