Alan Axelrod has authored a book entitled When the Buck Stops with You: Harry S. Truman on Leadership. In the book, he takes a Truman quote and then writes a few paragraphs on the leadership principle mentioned. Harry Truman is one of my favorite Presidents, Americans and Masons. He live the Masonic tenets in his entire life, not just in Lodge.
From time to time in this blog, I’ll write one of the quotes and maybe add a few words about applying his thoughts to Masonry in
Most Worshipful Brother Truman wrote to his mother, “Nearly every crisis seems to be the worst one, but after it’s over, it isn’t so bad.”
The Grand Master has to make decisions, often that affect the lives of individual brothers or the future of individual lodges. Some decisions are easy, others tear you up inside.
I have learned that Brother Truman’s thoughts on crises are true. I’ve come up with my “six-week rule” - it’s a big deal for six weeks, then things get back to normal. If a problem lasts more than six weeks, it is a real problem. That doesn’t mean that you can ignore problems and they’ll go away in six weeks. You have to address them. But, you don’t have to drive yourself nuts over them.
And, the knowledge that we’re all working toward a common good for our fraternity and our world, makes it all worth while.
