Cheers to Commitment! Avoiding 'Hold My Beer' Leadership

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Welcome back to another episode of the Membership IQ, where you go to get smart about membership. 

Cheers! I am joining you today with a beer in hand, because the topic of this episode is based around the phrase "hold my beer”. 

If you are from another country, or just not sure what the phrase is referring to, it’s an expression that's used to say "I'm going to be distracted for a moment. Please hold my beer while I'm gone, I’ll be right back.” After all, nobody wants a warm beer. 

The phrase "Hold my beer" is relevant to the way we approach leadership, particularly in associations.

A few years ago, I met a CEO who was new to his role. His approach to his inexperience is that this was his "hold my beer moment". He hoped to take time to learn something that he had no expertise in, and eventually apply his newfound knowledge to growing his company. 

Basically approaching association leadership as “I’m just going to dive in and spend time on this. It could end poorly but we’ll see how it goes!” 

Well, a few years later, I learned this mentality didn't go well for him. The company is struggling and this CEO has been replaced. 

In some cases, this "hold my beer" mentality can be unavoidable in our work as associations and membership organizations. I've worked with CEOs of associations that will say, "I took this job but I don't know what I'm doing. I worked for an entirely different industry, but they saw something in me, so I'll be here for a few years”. 

However, “hold my beer" can have a very non-committal connotation, almost like an excuse. It implies that you really don't know what you’re doing, but are going to dive in and give it some effort anyway. It says “this is not incredibly important to me, but here I am”. 

Should we be entrusting leaders of our organizations with those types of attitudes? 

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said they're working with someone on a board of directors and the board isn't very involved. They're negligent, they don't show up, or they just don't seem to care. 

Same with staff, volunteers, or other leaders. 

Sometimes in association cultures we foster that "hold my beer" mentality, the idea that, "we just need a warm body, we've got to fill this seat with someone". Someone who showed up a couple times, or doesn't have a whole lot on their plate right now, they could fill this role. 

Associations are not strategic about who is filling their roles. They don't have job descriptions or criteria of what their volunteers need to be doing. They don't demand those on their staff to have a background in membership. The most common answer to this is that associations can train their volunteers, but membership is a very specific area of expertise, and it takes time to learn. 

“Hold my beer” is a very lackadaisical, noncommittal, "we'll see what happens" approach to leadership. 

This mentality doesn't tap into the types of expertise that associations need to have in today's ever changing marketplace. Associations need different expectations for their board, their staff, and their volunteers. 

They need leaders and volunteers who are committed to leading an organization through a very difficult and disruptive time. They need people who want to be a part of leading their organization forward, instead of focusing on tradition. People who will be passionate, excited, enthused, motivated. 

They need people who are comfortable not knowing the answers. People who don't have that ego - that they know everything and can do everything. People who want to learn. People who are willing to jump in and problem solve, to be innovative, are willing to collaborate.

If you don’t have these types of individuals leading your organization, it’s time to pump the brakes, bring an end to it, and to rethink who you have in those roles. 

Any time you have a "hold my beer" mentality, chances are really high that you're going to lead the organization in a way that’s putting your organization at risk of some sort of loss - either financially, or through turnover, disengagement, and decline. 

Your leadership is not going to engage people, because people want to be engaged with leaders who truly care. 

Your people should want to be part of things that make a meaningful difference. They should want to know their contributions are valued, that they’re important. They should want to know that they’re aligning themselves to something that they can actually move forward, and make it better. 

So, let’s commit to avoiding the "Hold my beer" approach. Don't have that lackadaisical mentality in your organization. 

Instead, embrace leadership that is strategic, engaged, and driven by genuine passion. 

Cheers to leading with purpose and making a real impact!

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