[Businessmtg] LA Job and the illusion of control

[Anne]

Hi All,
 
I have been the webmaster since 5/06 and so a member of the steering
committee and business meeting for that long as well.  I have also been
a member of ASP for almost 10 yrs.  I have found that the current
meeting structure works well and have seen the group conscience work its
magic over time.  
 
It seems as though there is concern over the balance of
responsibility/power and tasks; even some "control" concerns.  Someone
has to take the lead and that is the LA who is our trusted servant.  Our
service structure is based on the traditions, in my humble opinion the
site and the format are very well designed and my thanks continue to go
to Steve the founder of this group.  This group could very easily become
a free for all; both in the recovery meeting and in the business
meeting.  The LA needs to be strong enough to manage order in the
meeting so that all can reap the benefits of this program, this may seem
like control but the longer you are with ASP the more you can see how
well this works.  The beauty of it all is that although the LA is tasked
with this duty, the LA has the steering committee to work through a
situation as needed.  The checks and balances are in place and all
members of the steering committee are approachable.
 
I have no idea how much time Dawn spends as LA, my guess is that the
bulk is managing member questions, issues and concerns.  The other
positions have other tasks listed as their primary responsibility and
then they are supported by the LA.   I think it has been mentioned that
is difficult to get folks willing to commit to service, breaking up
responsibilities even more could pose further problems.  As it is email
is a difficult way to manage business and steering committee meetings. I
look forward to Dawn's take on this, time invested, etc. I have been a
member of several F2F meetings and have served at the group level too.
I have witnessed all levels of service, personality types, etc. each
individual brings their own personality and style to the table.  Again,
in my humble opinion, the rotation and distribution of service keeps us
very well grounded.
 
I tried not to ramble but this is one of my personality traits (read:
character defect)
 
I am looking forward to more discussion and to seeing some resumes as
well.
 
Hugs..
 
Anne O