A district commander’s 10-point guide to success

Mark Shreve knows a thing or two about what it takes to be a successful American Legion district commander. The Georgia Legionnaire is a two-time American Legion Race to the Top winner for achieving 100 percent of his districts assigned membership goal. He’s also a two-time Gold Brigade winner for recruiting 50 or more new members into the Legion.

"The district commander is the hardest job in The American Legion," said Shreve, a member of Post 189 in Ellerslie. "It says it in the manual; I read it. And never a truer statement was said."

Before Shreve left his role as Georgia’s Third District commander to become a department junior vice commander, he wanted to leave behind something that would "make a difference in this organization and my role as district commander," he said. His answer – a district commander’s 10-point guide to success.

The following is Shreve's guide:

1. Don't expect what you don't inspect. Review meeting minutes, tax forms, finance reports, membership activities and programs from each post within the district. "If you’re not assessing the posts (in your district), or providing guidance to the posts, don’t expect anything other than what they do."

2. Build relationships with the post. Know who the post officers are, add value when you visit, communicate regularly and reinforce what the post is doing well.

3. Cast a district vision. Set realistic goals for each post, understand the individual posts priorities and align your priorities with theirs.

4. Plan, evaluate and plan again. Communicate and execute the department’s five year strategic membership plan. "We were an early adopter of the plan, and we are seeing the success; to the tune of 800 new members (in the Third District). We customized the plan, we documented the plan, we communicated the plan, and we executed on the plan. We have had to readjust."

5. Share information. "If it’s a good idea for one post, it’s probably a good idea for multiple posts." For 6 cents per phone call, Shreve used www.callingpost.org to alert members about things going on in the district.

6. Participate in community events. Take time to attend important events, have the post commander identify role at event, and praise the post in front of the community.

7. Train, educate. Update and train district officers, identify post weaknesses and provide training in that area, recognize potential leaders, and teach the history of The American Legion. During revitalizations, Shreve shared the history of the Legion.

8. Remove barriers. Listen to what’s causing posts from meeting their vision, allow post to come up with a solutions, provide the post with your solution, and follow up to see if the issue was resolved. "When you help solve problems at the post level, you’ve created confidence in post leadership."

9. Program implementation. Select program committee chairs based on skillsets and motivation. "Not only do we have to recruit new members, we have to recruit leaders. The district is on the front line to do that because we are the ones that are moving the bar for the state level." Help posts build their infrastructure, and recognize posts and members for their program participation. "If you recognize what they do for children and youth with programs, they will continue to do it."

10. Membership engagement. Become fluent on why veterans should become members, revitalize yearly, ensure posts are using mylegion.org, help posts secure recruiting materials and membership applications, recognize new members and have fun. "Being a district commander is the most difficult, but the most rewarding, job and you have to have fun doing it."