One of the core discussions that has taken place on this site over the past couple of weeks has been: Where does the buck stop?
In this instance, the buck has stopped with the CEO. In most companies, that's actually the case. Boards are almost always relatively stable while CEOs come and go. Board tenure tends to end quickly as a result of long-term degradation of performance and multiple poor executive hires or a complete breakdown in governance. As such, some believe that in the Foran shamozzle, the buck stops at the board.
However, I would go a step further and suggests the buck actually stops with the members. Ultimately, what is unique about Parramatta is that it is a member-run organisation. In fact, I would suggest it has no peer in terms of how influential its membership is in terms of impacting the performance of the organisation.
The members vote the board, the board appoints the CEO and the CEO manages the team. That entire process starts with the membership. The members fund the club. We do it through our patronage, our attendance of games, our buying of merchandise, and the money we put through the Leagues Club in gaming and other services.
So, before any supporter complains. First, ask yourself this: Before I lay off the blame on any one else, what have I done to contribute to making my club the place I want it to be?
Now, if you want to be a supporter that has no interest in the club other than to watch our games, then it is fine for you to simply do that, buy a bit of merchandise and you're doing your part.
HOWEVER, if you want to start pointing fingers and laying blame and asking for more or asking for change, then first ask yourself the question above.
And the first question is: Are you a member of both the Leagues club and the football club?
One of the models that sometimes gets brought up when people discuss the ownership of Parramatta is a member-owned organisation. Except, fundamentally that's what we have. You can buy a perpetual membership to the Parramatta Leagues club for $100 or $150 or whatever it is now and you have the right to have a say in its future for perpetuity or at least until the constitution decides otherwise. Now consider that only 1000 people generally bother to vote. Essentially, your perpetual membership buys you a .1 per cent share of influence in the Eels.
That is the deal of a lifetime, yet such a small percentage of Eels supporters who proclaim to live and breathe their club bother to take out this membership.
So realise this, ultimately it's the members who decide who runs our clubs. We have a relatively fair and democratic process. And if you want to be a part of the club and have a say in its futures, just get your membership and then once every two years have your say. Or if you really want to have a say and you think you have the credentials, then run. However, if you're not invested enough in the Eels that you can't bother to take up the membership offer and then turn up to vote, then I'm sorry but I really don't think you've got cause to complain.
And to every member of this site, I'm specifically referring to you. 5000 people visit this site every day. That's five times more than bother to vote in an election. It's why after the last election, I declared it perhaps the first to be decided by the "educated member" and by that I'm referring to a member who bothers to get online, read, weigh up the various arguments and then truly make an informed decision. I truly believe that this site now represents the single, largest point of influence on Parramatta's board and subsequently it's future. And so this is another call to every one of you to go and get a perpetual membership and then keep your football club membership current too so that you're protected against constitutional change and continue to keep yourself educated. Continue to be demanding, continue to expect accountability and continue to be heard.
Replies
Good post Phil. A board shouldn't live or die on the performance of a single CEO. They should have the opportunity to rectify a poor performing CEO by replacing him with a more effective one. Only then should the board's performance begin to be judged.
This is why the Parramatta Eels board faces elections far too often. Members who think they are setting high standards when they shrilly demand instant success on the field don't understand that some boats just take time to turn around. Changing the captain every five minutes doesn't make it turn any quicker. In fact it can stop the boat turning at all as each new boss comes in, gets used to the controls, and then has to pick a new direction to justify the change.
Thanks 1ee.
I think what you are saying is very well thought out. You are right, if you don't like the board then get active and we only get what we vote for.
I am member Eels member which I assume is the member of the football club.
Are you saying I should be a member of the leagues club as well. I used to be but that was 30 years ago when I lived in the district.
Is the board, Chair person etc the board of the football club?
What advantage being a member of the leagues club (perputual membership) give you?
Pardon my ignorance
Yes, right now, your football club membership doesn't mean anything as the representative body of that football club has been liquidated (or is in process - I don't know we haven't been updated).
The good news is Leagues Club membership is ridiculously cheap. It's like $10 for one year, but people should just get the perpetual membership and you never have to worry about it again. But as things stand right now, you've got to be a Leagues Club member.
Very good blog Phil, i hope a few buy membership after reading it, and as you say it, 'become owners'' or as i'd put it custodians of the club.
But at the same time Phil, the CEO is where the buck stops with most things like the foran drama, to Steves credit he eventually got the job done even if he did attempt to pass the buck rightly or wrongly.
spot on Snake.
Not bad for plumber Fong.
You'll need to elaborate Wiz.
But the members didn't decide on who to appoint as the club's CEO. That's all on the board. We wholly put our trust in the elected board members to facilitate effective governance and to effectively manage the club. Assuming that this whole salary cap and Foran drama is largely due to the inexperience, naivety, and incompetence of Seward, then the board was right to sack him. But it was the board's choice to appoint Seward and now they must accept responsibility for his mistakes. You are right though about our level of responsibility. If the board does not improve its governance procedures in terms of how the club is operated then it is the members' obligation to force change at the next elections.
You could actually take your argument one step further. If it is up to the members to decide how the club is managed, then the media must also accept responsibility for how they influence the thought processes of said members. I'm not just talking about the mainstream press; this site has a very large influence on how fans and members think. I dare say, Phil, that if you were a Fitzgerald supporter then you could have convinced enough members to oust Sharp and have them install Fitzy back onto the board. That's a lot of power you wield right there. It's fair enough to say that you, and indeed along with all journalists, are just simply expressing you're opinion. Freedom of free speech, right? But where is the line drawn? Look at the most recent events. The press, spearheaded by News Limited papers, took the club to town over the Foran fiasco. I can't remember the last time I've seen such an assault on any club. I know you're not dumb enough to believe that the journalists were just simply asking the hard questions. Their goal was to convince as many Parramatta supporters as possible that the club is atrociously managed and paralysed by bitter infighting. Ideally, the supporters would rise up and create a chaotic scene on which the media could feast. Drama. Imagine if this had occurred right before the elections. No doubt the media would have had a direct influence on how members would have voted.
You're part of this system. Do you feel any responsibility for the way in which members think and vote? You claim that we should be able to make up our own mind based on impartial facts and observations. But how can we in this current media climate where particular journalists and commentators continuously try their hardest to convince people to conform to their own personal views.
Wow, that is an awesome comment. And without wanting to piss in your pocket, it gets to the core I what I believe. Firstly, I honestly don't believe that it is not my influence it is the influence of this site. And let me give you an example. My default position is I tend to support the people at the club. It's how I operate. I always give people the benefit of the doubt until they show me that their not worthy of that. So I tend to hang on to support people at the club a lot longer than many others on here, who are more naturally sceptical. So Stephen Kearney is a good example. I was hoping he'd come good right up until it was clear he'd lost the dressing room entirely. Blokes on here wrote him off halfway his first season, and ultimately the fact that I was supporting Kearney became by far a minority voice on this site. This site attracts such a widespread, diverse point of opinions that the best arguments tend to rise the top and that is certainly not always my argument. I myself have been swayed by the opinions of others on many topics.
Now, that's where this site is different to the mainstream media. The mainstream media is a one-way communication mechanism and the mainstream media does not have the interests of the club at its heart. And I do believe that most smart people eventually work that out. If you have a look at almost any survey on influence, then media almost always ranks well below thinks like friends recommendations, online forums and reviews and personal networks. People trust ultimately trust other people more than they do media.
I do believe the media has a heavy impact on short-term opinions. But over a longer-term, opinions get formed by discussion and debate.
And so to answer the last part of your question, I don't see this site and the media being a part of the same system. Indeed, I see this site as being absolutely essential in providing a balance and check against what is increasingly becoming a sensationalised and click-driven media environment. And I also believe that the media don't realise this but bit-by-bit they are eating away at their credibility and not so much becoming an avenue of influence but more so an avenue of entertainment.
And that's what I am proudest of about this site. I think it makes the Parramatta community smarter. I think it sees the best ideas rise to the top and that the bullshit is exposed for what it is. I think it has fundamentally changed the landscape behind the club and for the better.
Actually I think its the fact that we are a member-owned organisation rather than a professional business that makes us so susceptible to instability as votes can be changed by media undermining and incompetent individuals can also be voted in purely to due to block voting or popularity. At the end of the day we aren't even spoilt for choice when it comes to top notch business professionals running for the board. And by top notch I mean those that have sat on the boards of ASX200 companies, been executives of the most profitable companies, directors/partners of top tier professional service firms etc. Bill Moss aside, we've only attracted some mid-tier business minded-individuals and this club managed to stop Moss from getting in because of the factional divide.
Whilst I love the fact we are a member-owned organisation, I lament that we will never be as professionally run as the top premiership winning teams in the NRL like Souths, which were in a position as bad as ours years ago but because of their privatisation and networks they were able to rebuild to be in a position to win a premiership for a number of years before actually winning one. We will not have that luxury of having that great position as result of an amazing front office but let's hope our brand of footy and group of players/staff in the next couple of years can help us get there.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next