Ray LaCroix: Proactive Leadership

To: Lance Walters

cc: AHA Board of Directors

Re: Proactive leadership and effective communication can provide our solutions.

Dear Mr. Walters,

As you have no doubt noticed, I have written two letters addressing the 2011 U.S. Nationals issues. The first one, “Enough is Enough,” contained my personal critiques of the Tulsa venue, the footing at the 2011 U.S. Nationals, and the disingenuous way that AHA treats its members. The letter, posted in a public forum, requested that all members who felt the same way electronically endorse it. The second letter addressed some of the comments that I had read from the members who endorsed, and some of the comments in the Arabian forums on the Internet. Truthfully, this second letter was expressly written for you, Mr. Walters, to see and read, as it offered ideas for better communication from AHA to its membership.

The first letter has now been endorsed by more than 675 people. The letter also initiated what could be called a month long “firestorm” of member activity on Facebook and various Arabian horse forums. In addition, a number of AHA volunteers who have worked tirelessly for AHA e-mailed me with their thanks for bringing these issues forward to a public forum where they may be addressed. A response from AHA to this letter is not a response to me, but to all the members of AHA who have directly participated by way of endorsement, letter writing, e-mails, or chat room activity, and to all the members who have read everything, but have chosen to remain silent.

To date, over a month has passed since you became aware of this situation, and we have received no communication from AHA. Perhaps it is your opinion that the letter written by some of the APAHA board members, at, I have been told, your request, suffices as an answer. In reality, the letter, “Progress is Being Made,” only added to the confusion by creating doubt. The fact that three of the APAHA board members refused to sign the letter, and that many of the APAHA’s own members have endorsed “Enough is Enough” has not gone unnoticed by those who are following this issue. The board of the APAHA is comprised of many fine people who have worked very hard for years on behalf of the professional and amateur community. They have added value to the lives of every professional Arabian horseman through the creation of the distress fund. However, as members of AHA, we pay AHA for services, not the APAHA. The APAHA is not responsible for selecting the Tulsa venue, putting on the U.S. National Championship horse show, preparing the footing, or communicating to the membership of AHA. Ultimately, as the president of AHA, you are. During this month, after reading all of the comments and thinking back through my 40-plus years of involvement with the Arabian horse, I have come to the conclusion that although the Tulsa venue is a problem, and the footing is a problem, the problem is the lack of communication to the membership. This issue has plagued IAHA/AHA for many years. This lack of communication was brought into focus by one of the comments that I read in a chat room coming from a member who was angry about the use of social networks in the discussion of the Tulsa venue issue. The member commented that the “established forum for communication to AHA is at the convention.” I’m afraid that the upper level decision makers within AHA buy in to this line of thinking as well. With all due respect, in this day and age of instant communication, demanding that members pay for airfare, food, and lodging for a chance to communicate with AHA during one time of the year, is an excellent strategy for a service organization to ensure its dysfunction and incompetence. Functional competency for a service organization demands, by definition, that the service organization communicate well enough with its members to know what they want. Plainly put, if the organization doesn’t know what its members want, how can there possibly be any solutions that satisfy the membership?

Other than the annual convention, the other established means that you have for communication are your letters from the President and Vice President in the Modern Arabian Horse magazine. Produced once every two months, this magazine is still far too slow to successfully function as a vehicle to facilitate timely communication to your members.

For example, I have heard through members of the APAHA and the AHA boards that since the publication of “Enough is Enough,” an AHA committee has been formed to handle the footing solutions for next year’s U.S. National Championship show. That is great news for our Arabian and Half-Arabian show horses and all of the people who attend the show, and if true, I applaud you for taking this step. Unfortunately I “heard it through the grapevine,” and I have no way of knowing if this is factual. Other members have no idea that anything has even happened. At this particular moment, wouldn’t it have been an excellent service to your members, and much to your benefit by way of putting an end to gossip, to have let every member know this news immediately? A web-blast with an announcement and a follow up questionnaire regarding the Tulsa venue would inspire this membership. By listening to the members, AHA would become aware of the exact direction for moving forward and gain the ability to plan for the future with the support of the membership, instead of in spite of the membership.

The letter “Enough is Enough” was posted on December 16. On December 18, I received a phone call from a well-known horse trainer who is a board member of the APAHA, who informed me that my letter had had “its effect,” and you, Mr. Walters, “wanted to know what I wanted.” I told the respected horse trainer that it wasn’t about what I wanted, it was about what the AHA members wanted. I went on to say that since AHA didn’t know what its members wanted, the letter was my way of doing some of the legwork for them. For your information, I have enclosed the comments written by those who endorsed the letter, “Enough is Enough.” I am sure that after you have read through them, you will agree that the gravity of the discontent among this pertinent group of members will warrant AHA’s own further fact-finding efforts before locking the members into another long-term agreement with the Tulsa venue. Additionally, and as you well know, some of our fine breeders have written letters to Bill Hughes expressing their concerns about Tulsa. Failing to acknowledge the letters of longterm friends and breeders of the Arabian horse such as the iconic Roger Lervick, Frank Chisolm, and Dan Atwood, is akin to turning your back on the back bone of this breed.

Presidents of businesses, and organizations are chosen for their leadership abilities, and are expected to be leaders. Great leaders have all been great communicators. To my knowledge, prior to this, no President of IAHA/AHA has broken club protocol and established any new line of communication from AHA directly to the members. “The grapevine” that I made reference to earlier has already informed me that they doubt that you will directly respond to the members who endorsed the letter in the manner I have suggested.

Please look at this situation not as a problem, but as an opportunity.

There are diverse passions among the many members that are driving this discourse. Every one of us, however, can agree that ultimately what we all want is for the Arabian horse to flourish with the style and panache that are the hallmarks and attraction of this breed, and most of all, with our protection for their health and well-being.

This controversial moment within our breed is not unlike other times of dissension or massive disagreement within businesses and organizations. The success or failure of the entity going through change depends upon the skill and effort of the person in charge.

Mr. Walters, you are in the unique position, at this moment, to begin the transformation of AHA into being truly functional, and responsive to its membership.

You have the ability to change the prevalent attitude of, “sweep it under the rug and it will go away.”

You are in a position to give your members the message that not only do you hear them, you value them.

You have, within your membership, a wealth of diverse knowledge and skill sets waiting to help you, all you have to do is ask. We are your solutions; let us help you.

Do something unique and bold, and I believe that you have a chance, at this moment, to bring everyone together, moving a step forward in the same direction. One step at a time, in unison, is all it takes for growth.

United we stand, divided we fall. Mr. Walters, take that step forward, establish effective communication with your membership, and lead.

The following people have contacted me personally to add their names to the list of endorsers to my original letter:

Dailene Christensen, Kaylan Herbst, John Henry Marquardt, Tawn Harshall, Jackie Moran, Stephanie Landvater, Shayla Heckman, Chris Wilson, Karrie Hubbard, Larrie Hakes, Jason Shuster, Pat Conaway, Joseph Gaffney, Daryljean B. Goebel, Jennifer Price, Michelle Bergren, Sandra Rondeau, Gary Roberts, Lisa East, Suzanne Sternberg, Chris Gillham, Kathy Bressi, Jennifer A. Sullivan, Quincy DeSpain, Johnny Downing, Dwane Hankins, Rob Langlois, Summer Chapman, Kimberly Christy, Rachel Corey, Katie Whetzel, Arielle Fisher, Tom Forrest, Leslie Forrest, Lorie Phelps, Wendel Petty, Cynthia Petty, Bill Rodgers

Respectfully,

Ray LaCroix