Article contributed by Fiona Powell.
Lots of my single friends have a list of qualities that they’d like their ‘ideal’ partner to possess. Each potential partner they meet is weighed up against that list to see if the relationship should be allowed to continue to blossom… or not.
‘The list’ is important because sometimes we can be dazzled or sidetracked by other factors (he’s always late but he owns a flash car) – and forget what’s really important to us (punctuality).
Although sometimes we have to compromise on some of those qualities – because no one person is perfect – at least we’re clear about what we’re comprising on and we don’t feel disappointed or resentful further down the track.
Finding ‘ideal’ new members for your chapter is a lot like finding the ideal (not necessarily perfect) partner.
An HR consultant, who was skilled in finding the right candidates for a job through a profiling technique, recently pointed out to the Epsom chapter the merits of putting together a ‘profile’ of the type of new member they’d like to have join the chapter. The chapter brainstormed qualities – many outside the normal BNI policy expectations as they were taken as a given – that shaped a ‘profile’ of an ideal new member for their chapter.
An example of some of the criteria this chapter came up with included:
– be the business owner or have a vested interest in growing their business
– have a reliable substitute (preferably the business partner or the second in charge) to call upon when necessary
– live or work nearby
– able to fit into a current ‘hub’
– be well networked locally
– been in business for a few years
– be a sociable type of person (the chapter is fairly informal and meets up regularly outside of BNI)
This was a valuable exercise for members who gained a very clear picture of the type of visitor who would be a good fit for their chapter, rather than just inviting ‘anyone’ to boost numbers.
Now when a visitor applies to join the chapter, the membership committee can ask “is this applicant an ideal member for our chapter?” and they can bring out their list for guidance.
