Advice to the Next President of Your REALTOR Association

After serving as the President of my local association of REALTORS, I created a "Presidents Manual" for those who came after me.

Here is an excerpt:

To All who become the President of the San Diego Association of REALTORS®:

One year is not a long time. Your time as president will fly by and you will not have time to accomplish as much as you would like. Choose that which you want to achieve and accomplish, focus the bulk of your effort on it, and rely on your incredibly professional staff to carry out the day to day affairs of the Association. Do not attempt to micro-manage, that is what the E.O. gets paid to do. Always remember that there is a "body politic" and that many people will attempt to influence you, intentionally and unintentionally. Be on guard for personal agendas. Utilize the Officers, staff, and committee's (Chairs and Vice Chairs) time and expertise to accomplish your agenda for the Association for the year. Stick to the Strategic Plan.

This is the only known manual on becoming president of this organization. Even though we spend a year as President - Elect, the fact is that because there is no manual for that position, you will do a lot of "on the job training' as president. As early in your President-Elect year as possible, read:

1. Association By-laws

2. Primer on Robert's Rules of Order (don't be afraid to talk to our parliamentarian and to utilize his services)

3. Committee Formats - expectations of the president sometimes appear in these documents.

This job can be extremely time consuming, taking half of each working day (plus the 7 trips a year, 35 to 40 days of travel). Even then you will not be able to keep up with everything that goes on. Try to attend all committee meetings at least quarterly. The only volunteer who has the ACCESS to "everything" that is going on at the Association is you. You are also the inspirational leader so it is necessary that you read all the minutes to all the committee meetings and correspond with the chairs and vice chairs in writing at least quarterly. Also "well done" letters to as many people as possible as often as possible. You are SDAR and a letter from the president is a treat for most people. In addition to dealing with the volunteer side, you can also be very valuable to the association by taking a personal interest in the staff. Special commendations, birthdays just saying hi to as many of them as you can everyday will make them a happier and therefore a more productive resource (we do spend a large portion of our budget, appropriately so, on this resource). To summarize:

1. Attend each committee meeting at least once, quarterly is ideal. It shows a real interest in the work of the volunteers. Attend all Budget and Finance Committee Meetings.

2. Read the minutes to all the meetings. Check at least quarterly to see that committees are accomplishing their goals as delineated by the strategic plan.

3. Send letters to the committee chairs, vice chairs, directors, officers quarterly.

4. Send "well done" letters to members and staff who have been brought to your attention. A commendation from the President sometimes results in an association supporter for many years.

5. Be interested in the staff. Acknowledge, acknowledge, acknowledge.

6. Remember staff and directors on their birthday.

7. Make as many office visits as time allows. No more than 2 per day, about 20 minutes to 30 minutes in duration. You may take another officer, director, or member of staff with you who may have some important information to relay to the members. Examples would your Government Affairs Director, Education Director, Special Events Director, MLS, etc.

8. Send thank you letters to the office manager/broker/office contact that set up the appointment.

9. Remember and use as many names as possible. The most important word in anyone's vocabulary is his or her name.

10. Be responsive to the press. Remember, they have deadlines and SDAR wants the press. Visibility is important to the self-esteem of the members.