Creating the Spirit by Ted Flickinger, Ph.D. IAPD Executive Director and Managing Editor

Even if a park and recreation agency is well structured but lacks a spirit of cooperation and dedication, it will bog down and lose public support. Spirit, morale, or esprit de corps doesn't occur by accident. To foster such a cooperative spirit:

1. Develop a unifying purpose. Then call attention to it, to the agency, to its achievements, and to the worth of these efforts.

2. Create a willingness to contribute and support park and recreation programs. Engender a positive attitude in the community. The board, through its own cooperative attitudes, its image, and its behavior, sets the tone. Develop generous, appreciative attitudes toward individuals, organizations, and community groups. Vindictiveness, pettiness, prejudice, or indifference should never be tolerated.

3. Develop a sense of camaraderie. Respect the worth of fellow board members. Recognize and commend efforts and talents of board members.

4. Be optimistic. Being "up" when others are up presents no great problem. Being "up" when no obstacles confront the board calls for very little force of character. Being "up" when everyone is with the board hardly puts you in line for any medals. But—how often is that the case? More times than not, you must reflect an optimism you may not feel when faced with what seem

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   ACROSS THE BOARD

   to be insurmountable problems or harsh decisions. This optimism, however, often prompts others to try one more time after a series of failures. Optimism doesn't mean wearing a phony smile as the roof caves in or believing that somehow everything will come out all right in the end—but knowing how to be realistically optimistic is a hallmark of leadership.

5. Be confident—confident in yourself; confident in your objectives; and confident in those for whom and with whom you work. Confidence provides you with the drive and fortitude necessary to see opportunities in problems, and the courage to capitalize on them, even if it means personal inconvenience.

6. Create opportunities. Seldom, if ever, do they emerge as if by magic. Opportunities are the result of listening, observing, analyzing, and planning. Opportunities appear only when you are familiar with every phase of the agency's operation.

7. Accept that there will be personal sacrifices involved with serving on the board. There's little need to dwell on the evenings you will spend in meetings rather than with your family.

   There's nothing new about incurring out-of-pocket expenses. Expect an important social engagement to be interrupted sometime because of an emergency. It is a part of the board's responsibility to the commnity it serves.

8. Constantly look for ways to improve. Unless there is a continual yearning—a burning desire—for better and better results, few improvements will occur. Don't be satisfied with yesterday's accomplishments, but build on them. Continually plan ahead.

9. Finally, do all things with integrity. In times when deception, dishonesty, and deceit are more common, integrity becomes an uncommon virtue. Fortunately, few organizations have exhibited such a high degree of sustained integrity as have park and recreation agencies, due largely to the integrity of the individuals who serve on their boards and the professionals who lead their agencies.

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