November - Club Victoria Inc.

Club Member as
Good Citizen
By Julia Camm
Julia Camm shares a new way to think about your role as a member
of an industry association. Your Club, like Clubs Victoria, relies on
its members, but whose responsible for success
Citizenship is a very old concept that holds true today. Let’s have a look
how it applies to your Club and you, as a member of Club Victoria.
When citizens are excited by and believe in the goals, culture and
practices of a particular community, they want to join it and be part of
it. In your case, this is your Club, a mini-community. Clubs Victoria
and any other membership organisation is the same.
Communities grow and evolve when individuals come together to
share ideas, determine solutions and build innovations. As a result,
current practices are strengthened and new ways of doing better, being
better are explored. These ideas and innovations are tried, tested,
understood and continually renegotiated by everyone. It is this cycle of
challenging ideas and practices that makes a strong Club.
Creating great Clubs and membership associations is all about its
members. When your members decided to join your Club, they chose
to accept the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen of that
community.
Citizens as members of a community that:
• have the right to participate,
• expect that certain behaviours will be upheld,
• are accountable to doing the right thing, and
• have the right to share in the spoils and rewards of that
community.
Citizens work towards the betterment of the community through
participation. They understand, accept and become involved in the
standards of conduct and processes of the Club or membership
association. The concept of citizenship influences the way we behave
and interact as everyone has accepted rights and responsibilities.
Every member has rights. These rights give you freedom to act in
certain ways, yet every member is responsible for obeying the rules
and balancing the interests of the Club or club sector with their own.
In accepting rights and responsibilities, citizens choose to behave
by a set of rules and accept that there will be consequences if they
choose otherwise. Constitutions, Codes of Conduct and other guides
are the starting points of rational and orderly communities. Rules tell
us there is a system, how it works and what is expected of us. Rules
need to be known and understood to be effective, for there can be no
consequences otherwise!
Bitching and moaning for change, or because of it, does not create
great Clubs or membership associations. Ultimately, good citizenship
is about choice.
Good member citizens choose to be aligned. In doing so, they accept
responsibility that they have a role to play in choosing to do the right
thing and maintain standards to further promote the reputation of the
Club and the sector as a whole.
22 CLUBConnect October 2011
Good member citizens choose to participate and collaborate. The
more you engage with everything a Club or membership association
has to offer, the quicker you are going to realise a massive return on
investment because you are gaining more to allow you to do more,
be more than passive members.
Good citizens choose to listen and respond. Everyone has good
ideas. While you might not agree, understand or even like the
person sharing feedback or ideas with you … but you will profit if
you listen, reflect and learn.
Ultimately, your members choose what kind of citizen they want to
be in your Club in much the same way you choose to behave and
engage in your membership association.
Our experience has shown that great member citizens of
membership associations:
• Actively seek other people’s opinions.
• Attend events and engage with association communications
with the aim to learn, connect and contribute.
• Follow rules and aim to do the right thing every day.
• Operate great businesses based on sound governance, fiscal
responsibility, ethical people management and membership
value.
• Regularly monitor compliance with all legal and regulatory
requirements beyond the association’s standards of conduct.
• Share their thoughts and ideas constructively with other
members.
• Ask for help.
• Willingly work with the association to create real value for
everyone.
Ask yourself this question – how can I become a better citizen
Good Clubs:
• Ensure their product and service offering is relevant to
members.
• Strive towards ongoing financial sustainability and ethical
governance.
• Spend time with members, to understand what they want to
achieve.
• Provide members with clear, written standards of conduct to
achieve.
• Share the features and benefits of membership.
• Outline how often member standards and conduct will be
assessed.
• Provide details on how unacceptable member behaviour
will be addressed.
About the author: Julia Camm is a consulting academic in the field
of workplace learning and how power and control impact business
relevance, reputation and revenue.
Call: 1800 65 15 45
Email: julia@corven.com.au
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