E-MYTH

The first thing I did was contact the local and national Sierra Club entities to let them know I was interested in starting an ICO group.
Here's the email from the Oklahoma City Group Chair -

Hi Tom,
We would love to have you as ICO chair!
The Oct-Dec newsletter is going to press, but can we introduce you as the new ICO chair at the October group meeting?

The next thing I did was send an email to the ICO Staff at the Sierra Club's national office. Here's that email and response from the ICO Manager which came along with a check list for starting a local ICO group:

"I hope you have help.

Seriously, it is quite a commitment - but you know all about commitment.

I'm thrilled Tom. How cool!"

Like she said, I need help. So, the next thing I did was put together a rough draft of the jobs that would need to be done to get the program going and keep it going. I followed very closely the process that Michael Gerber outlines in chapter 14 of his book E-Myth. Although his book is written for for-profit entrepreneurs, I highly recommend it to anyone involved with creating or operating any organization. I used it to set up the organization that ran the marching contest. See Pre Ramble.


Basically, after reading through all the materials the national office sent me about starting an ICO program, I sat down and wrote out all the tasks needed to operate the program. I lumped similar tasks together and gave them a job title. I used my own descriptive titles and didn't worry about the official Sierra Club title for the job. I refer to each of the following as "Department Heads". Here's the list so far with a brief job description for each:

PROGRAM COORDINATOR (Chair)
The Program Coordinator is responsible for coordinating the activities of the six program managers and holding coordinates the overall program by managing and holding accountable the managers, coordinators and officers.

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
The Volunteer Coordinator identifies the human resource needs of the program and then recruits volunteers to meet those needs including the Program Coordinator and all of the department heads, as well as the leaders on the activities.

BUSINESS MANAGER
The Business Manager tracks revenue and expenses related to the program and oversees all necessary reporting to the Sierra Club national office.

AGENCY LIASON MANAGER
The Agency Liason Manager recruits and leads the selection process of partner agencies and maintains the relationship between the program and partner agencies.

ACTIVITY MANAGER
The Activities Manager approves all outdoor activities led by the program and develops new activities to keep the participants engaged. Additionally, the Activity Manager coordinates the volunteers who will be taking the participants into the out of doors and makes certain they are appropriately trained and certified.

SUPPORT SERVICES MANAGER
The Support Services Manager arranges necessary transportation, food, equipment and educational materials for all outdoor activities and maintains the equipment and materials of the program.

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
The Development Manager is responsible for generating all funds necessary to operate the program.

PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER
The Public Information Manager manages all public communication both inside and outside the organization.

That's eight different roles each with specific responsibilities and duties. And I need eight different people to fill these roles. But for now, I have written my name next to each job. My priority role is Volunteer Coordinator.

As you can see from the list, very few of the jobs require leading outdoor activities or working directly with the kids. This broadens my pool of candidates for the positions. Once recruited, the eight of us will form the steering committee or executive board. As the team forms we'll continue to review, revise and refine this list of roles. But right now, there’s just me, myself and I. Time to make some phone calls and get some help.

But first, I have to write my elevator speech.