Chris Christopher
The President’s
Fire Pit- Side Chat
November 13 and 14 marked the first face-to-face meeting of the MDI Board of Directors in five years: since before Covid.
Most of us had never met in person and, as we gathered in Atlanta, It was shock after shock. The men were all taller or shorter, younger, older, thinner or heavier than they appeared in those little Zoom squares.
The board took this time together to forge tighter and more meaningful personal and working relationships. That certainly happened for me. In person, over a full weekend, I found greater wisdom and commitment from these men than I had realized from online meetings alone. I developed a deeper respect for what they bring to all of us, to our communities, and the world.
The board now has a clear, unified vision of where MDI needs to go. You have heard me talk about ‘Doug’s Journey,’ wherein we lead men in and set them to mastering mature masculine leadership, so they can go out again being men the world needs.
It is a prossess promising a unique joy: that of a man who has taken on the full responsibilities of the mature masculine man.
So the journey is known, but how do we get there? The board embraced a strategy of reaching out to men in vastly expanded ways; to create a level of relationship that fits men where they are.
This could be as simple as a daily message; a library of men’s resources; a subscription to a men’s program delivered electronically; or of course entry onto one of our in-person or online teams.
We will continue to offer The Art of Masculinity (TAOM); the Legacy Discovery weekend; and a host of trainings to help move men along on their personal quest for mature masculinity.
To make this a reality we need your participation. Your chops and skills and professional judgement.
For one thing, we intend to improve our website presence and that will require several men’s expertise. Yours, perhaps?
We need to hone our message too, so we need men with marketing know-how to step up. Can you help us there?
And of course, we need excellent team, divisional and regional leaders, along with strong, committed international leadership. If you haven’t yet stepped into one of those roles, don’t wait. Now is the time. You will never find a job where you can learn and grow and stretch so much, so fast, and with such deeply masculine support. Do that now, if you haven’t already.
We are an organization of volunteers: success requires all of us to participate, to lean all the way in. To bring all our skills and knowledge to bear to offer what we have to as many other men – as many Dougs – as possible. In short: to make the kind of impact the world needs us to.
Where do you see yourself fitting in? We’ll help you find your place. Email [email protected] and say you want to help. Talk to your team leader, your Division Coordinator, your Regional team.
Join with me, the board, and all of your MDI men to make this the premier place for men to master mature masculinity.
