OR MANY YEARS the
Auxiliary, both at the National and District levels have created and conducted numerous leadership courses for all levels of elected leaders. These courses have provided our elected leadership with the tools, knowledge and training to do their jobs.
From the Flotilla Commanders , Division Commanders, District Captains, District Chiefs of Staff and Commodores we have been given the opportunity to use these courses to our advantage to advance and become successful. These leader- ship training courses have been an asset to the Auxiliary and the members involved. However, we have missed the boat, so to speak with our appointed staff officers. Many members are appointed to staff positions with little or no training and have no idea what they are supposed to do or how to do it. Very often staff appointments are made to fill a position with little regard for the member’s background, training or career potential. In many cases members serve in multiple staff positions knowing little of each or how to work with members in those specific disciplines.
Over the past four or so years I have worked to establish a like kind of training for our staff officers based somewhat on our District’s highly successful and high caliber Leadership and Development Academy. Upon being selected as Commodore I worked with our Chief of Staff Mark Stone to form a staff and instructors to create a Staff Officers College. Mark put together an outstanding team that developed, wrote, and produced a product that was beyond anything I had imagined. This would be the culmination of something I had wanted to see for years. Something that would give our staff officers and potential staff officers the ability to succeed and provide them the tools needed to do their jobs. Mark took this as a high priority and set to work building a team and a program. Some would say, “The rest is history.” I prefer, “The rest is the future!”
From the Desk of the
District Commodore
F
COMO Bill Bowen