Shaping Club Culture

1. What Do You Mean, Culture?

This course has covered a lot of "mechanics" involved in making your club better. These are essential fundamentals, but behind them is your club's "culture" - the sum of attitudes regarding your club, your club's "norms" (things that are considered "normal" for the club; for example, if your club usually starts late, that becomes a norm), and values. It's very possible to have good mechanics yet have a bad culture; for example: the "core" members may be experienced and running the show, picking up the slack for the rest of the club. However, what happens when these core members drop out (for whatever reasons)? Does anyone slide into the vacuum that's created? Likely not, because the norm was that if you weren't part of the "core", the administrative tasks weren't for you. Even if some of the "outsiders" do make it in, they don't get the benefit of being mentored by the experienced members, as those members have taken their knowledge with them.

This is just one example of how club culture can affect the quality of your club. This lesson will touch on some more examples as well as give you some factors to look for, so you can be aware of both your club's positive and negative qualities.