Purple Heart Nov/Dec 2011 : Page4

National Commander’s Note by Bill Hutton Leadership, Accountability and Transparency INCE BEING ELECTED AS THE NATIONAL COMMANDER of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, I keep hearing one thing over and over again: “You are going to have to make some difﬁcult decisions.” In actuality, decisions do not have to be difﬁcult when you make them in the best interest of the membership and for the good of the organization. Decisions become difﬁcult when they are to promote self-interest and personal agendas and require you to ra-tionalize how and why you made the decision and what factors and conclusions were prevalent in the decision-making process. When I make a decision, I apply four factors: Is it the right thing to do? Is it feasible? Does it beneﬁt the majority of our members and their families? Does it beneﬁt the majority of all veterans and their families? At our ﬁrst 2011-2012 Management Team Leader-ship Training in early September, I made it very clear that those in the chain of command may report to the National Commander but they work for the membership that elected them. Therefore, we have a solemn respon-sibility to uphold the Constitution and By-Laws and be accountable to our membership on all fronts. One of the ﬁrst agenda items at the meeting was to have a 90-minute class on “ethics and leadership,” which was conducted by Mike McAndrews, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lieutenant and currently a law ﬁrm partner in Connecti-cut. Mr. McAndrews made many statements but the one that I found to be the most profound was this one: “We provide leadership and oversight not to keep bad people from going bad but to keep good people from going bad.” It is imperative that we provide the leadership necessary to maintain the integrity and the credibility of the Mili-tary Order of the Purple Heart. Our membership deserves and demands this from their elected ofﬁcers. Along the lines of accountability, I have implemented new procedures for National Ofﬁcer travel authorization and travel reimbursement. The ultimate responsibility 4 S for ofﬁcer travel now rests with the National Command-er. Travel authorization will be based on job description and beneﬁt to the Order. Further, if ofﬁcers travel for an approved event and arrive early or stay late for personal reasons, per diem will not be paid and accommodations will be the responsibil-ity of the ofﬁcer. This has “We have a been in effect and will con-solemn respon-tinue to be enforced. sibility to uphold Department and Chap-the Constitution ter Commanders, your and By-Laws and Region Commanders have be accountable to been tasked with evaluat-our membership ing the infrastructure of all chapters within their on all fronts.” respective regions. This will include assessing inactive chapters and verifying the status of members of active chapters. This will fall un-der the purview of the National Junior Vice Commander, Ron Siebels. In closing, to those who have lost loved ones or have illnesses in your family our prayers are with you. PURPLE HEART MAGAZINE November/December 2011

National Commander's Note

Bill Hutton

Leadership, Accountability and Transparency SINCE BEING ELECTED AS THE NATIONAL COMMANDER of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, I keep hearing one thing over and over again: "You are going to have to make some difficult decisions." In actuality, decisions do not have to be difficult when you make them in the best interest of the membership and for the good of the organization. Decisions become difficult when they are to promote self-interest and personal agendas and require you to rationalize how and why you made the decision and what factors and conclusions were prevalent in the decision-making process. When I make a decision, I apply four factors: Is it the right thing to do? Is it feasible? Does it benefit the majority of our members and their families? Does it benefit the majority of all veterans and their families? At our first 2011-2012 Management Team Leadership Training in early September, I made it very clear that those in the chain of command may report to the National Commander but they work for the membership that elected them. Therefore, we have a solemn responsibility to uphold the Constitution and By-Laws and be accountable to our membership on all fronts. One of the first agenda items at the meeting was to have a 90-minute class on "ethics and leadership," which was conducted by Mike McAndrews, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lieutenant and currently a law firm partner in Connecticut. Mr. McAndrews made many statements but the one that I found to be the most profound was this one: "We provide leadership and oversight not to keep bad people from going bad but to keep good people from going bad." It is imperative that we provide the leadership necessary to maintain the integrity and the credibility of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Our membership deserves and demands this from their elected officers. Along the lines of accountability, I have implemented new procedures for National Officer travel authorization and travel reimbursement. The ultimate responsibility for officer travel now rests with the National Commander. Travel authorization will be based on job description and benefit to the Order. Further, if officers travel for an approved event and arrive early or stay late for personal reasons, per diem will not be paid and accommodations will be the responsibility of the officer. This has been in effect and will continue to be enforced. Department and Chapter Commanders, your Region Commanders have been tasked with evaluating the infrastructure of all chapters within their respective regions. This will include assessing inactive chapters and verifying the status of members of active chapters. This will fall under the purview of the National Junior Vice Commander, Ron Siebels. In closing, to those who have lost loved ones or have illnesses in your family our prayers are with you. "We have a solemn responsibility to uphold the Constitution and By-Laws and be accountable to our membership on all fronts." National Commander's Note by Bill Hutton Leadership, Accountability and Transparency SINCE BEING ELECTED AS THE NATIONAL COMMANDER of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, I keep hearing one thing over and over again: "You are going to have to make some difficult decisions." In actuality, decisions do not have to be difficult when you make them in the best interest of the membership and for the good of the organization. Decisions become difficult when they are to promote self-interest and personal agendas and require you to rationalize how and why you made the decision and what factors and conclusions were prevalent in the decision-making process. When I make a decision, I apply four factors: Is it the right thing to do? Is it feasible? Does it benefit the majority of our members and their families? Does it benefit the majority of all veterans and their families? At our first 2011-2012 Management Team Leadership Training in early September, I made it very clear that those in the chain of command may report to the National Commander but they work for the membership that elected them. Therefore, we have a solemn responsibility to uphold the Constitution and By-Laws and be accountable to our membership on all fronts. One of the first agenda items at the meeting was to have a 90-minute class on "ethics and leadership," which was conducted by Mike McAndrews, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lieutenant and currently a law firm partner in Connecticut. Mr. McAndrews made many statements but the one that I found to be the most profound was this one: "We provide leadership and oversight not to keep bad people from going bad but to keep good people from going bad." It is imperative that we provide the leadership necessary to maintain the integrity and the credibility of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Our membership deserves and demands this from their elected officers. Along the lines of accountability, I have implemented new procedures for National Officer travel authorization and travel reimbursement. The ultimate responsibility for officer travel now rests with the National Commander. Travel authorization will be based on job description and benefit to the Order. Further, if officers travel for an approved event and arrive early or stay late for personal reasons, per diem will not be paid and accommodations will be the responsibility of the officer. This has been in effect and will continue to be enforced. Department and Chapter Commanders, your Region Commanders have been tasked with evaluating the infrastructure of all chapters within their respective regions. This will include assessing inactive chapters and verifying the status of members of active chapters. This will fall under the purview of the National Junior Vice Commander, Ron Siebels. In closing, to those who have lost loved ones or have illnesses in your family our prayers are with you. "We have a solemn responsibility to uphold the Constitution and By-Laws and be accountable to our membership on all fronts." National Commander's Note by Bill Hutton Leadership, Accountability and Transparency SINCE BEING ELECTED AS THE NATIONAL COMMANDER of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, I keep hearing one thing over and over again: "You are going to have to make some difficult decisions." In actuality, decisions do not have to be difficult when you make them in the best interest of the membership and for the good of the organization. Decisions become difficult when they are to promote self-interest and personal agendas and require you to rationalize how and why you made the decision and what factors and conclusions were prevalent in the decision-making process. When I make a decision, I apply four factors: Is it the right thing to do? Is it feasible? Does it benefit the majority of our members and their families? Does it benefit the majority of all veterans and their families? At our first 2011-2012 Management Team Leadership Training in early September, I made it very clear that those in the chain of command may report to the National Commander but they work for the membership that elected them. Therefore, we have a solemn responsibility to uphold the Constitution and By-Laws and be accountable to our membership on all fronts. One of the first agenda items at the meeting was to have a 90-minute class on "ethics and leadership," which was conducted by Mike McAndrews, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lieutenant and currently a law firm partner in Connecticut. Mr. McAndrews made many statements but the one that I found to be the most profound was this one: "We provide leadership and oversight not to keep bad people from going bad but to keep good people from going bad." It is imperative that we provide the leadership necessary to maintain the integrity and the credibility of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Our membership deserves and demands this from their elected officers. Along the lines of accountability, I have implemented new procedures for National Officer travel authorization and travel reimbursement. The ultimate responsibility for officer travel now rests with the National Commander. Travel authorization will be based on job description and benefit to the Order. Further, if officers travel for an approved event and arrive early or stay late for personal reasons, per diem will not be paid and accommodations will be the responsibility of the officer. This has been in effect and will continue to be enforced. Department and Chapter Commanders, your Region Commanders have been tasked with evaluating the infrastructure of all chapters within their respective regions. This will include assessing inactive chapters and verifying the status of members of active chapters. This will fall under the purview of the National Junior Vice Commander, Ron Siebels. In closing, to those who have lost loved ones or have illnesses in your family our prayers are with you. "We have a solemn responsibility to uphold the Constitution and By-Laws and be accountable to our membership on all fronts."

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