Professional Development Readings in Leadership and Management 4

The Hierarchy of Service: In my book, Leadership on the Line: A Guide for Front Line Supervisors, Business Owners, andEmerging Leaders, I stress that leaders must serve the needs of their constituencies, but not allconstituent needs have equal weight or importance.Representing the membership is the board – the smallest constituent group in numbers, buttheir needs are paramount. Why? Because they represent the members whose capital that hasbeen invested in the club and their need to protect all members’ investment in the club and its reputation in the community. If not profitable and self-supporting, if the club cannot gain credit based on the potential for future profitability, if it cannot meet its cash needs for payroll or to pay vendors, it will go out of business and the needs of all other constituencies will become irrelevant