Emotional Intelligence!  One of the key competencies in effective leadership is the capacity for Emotional Intelligence.  The directors’ of the Whangarei Museum & Heritage Trust sole purpose is to provide the leadership necessary to ensure that the Trust’s objects are carried out… carried out in a manner that is of “ultimate benefit to people of the region.”

Emotional Intelligence requires that we accept the realities of the challenges laid before us and do it in a positive and proactive manner.  The current economic reality facing us is a part of the greater economic reality facing the region, the country and in fact, the entire world.... times are tough and are unlikely to get better any time soon. 

They have received a budget cut as a part of the overall 25% reduction in funding provided to all organisations receiving Three Year Grant funding from WDC.  We can lament the “rightness” or “wrongness” or fairness of the cut they have received, or we can bandage the wound and move on.  The board is made up of people who not only have a passion for carrying out the objects of The Trust, but also the historical knowledge, team relationships, and personal expertise to have made the Whangarei Museum & Heritage Park facilities the outstanding public entertainment and educational resource that it has become. 

Nor is it time to lash out at WDC for doing what was necessary in the exercise of their civic responsibilities.  It is never a good idea to bite the hand that feeds you.  Even cave dwellers learned early on that if sharing one’s winter cave with bear, it is best not to poke the bear in the eye with a stick.  One way of looking at the financial situation that they are in is to be thankful for the $200,000 boost they received in the past two years.  Had they merely been granted the customary 3% annual increase funding for 2009 would have been about $315,000… so a 25% reduction would have put them at $236,250.  In that light $300,000 does not look so bad.

All those who are willing should soldier on and work to achieve the best possible results for meeting the Trust’s mission with the funding available.  In bad economic times people must cut back on what they do and how they do it.  Families close off rooms to reduce heating costs.  They may have to do the same.  People change their eating habits; they may have to do the same, figuratively speaking.  Mums and Dads try to reduce their childrens’ expectations – expectations for Christmas, expectations for new school clothes, etc, – and they may have to do the same, both for themselves and for their public.

In summary, we all need to show Emotional Intelligence in dealing with our current budget reality. They need to roll up our sleeves and start looking for more efficient processes, non-essential activities, and essentially prepare new budgets, not based on the old model, but from the ground up starting with bare minimums for absolute essentials.  However, there is need to move forward predicated on what they now see is what they get, and develop strategies to make the best of it. If they wish raise additional funding to increase their levels of service, one would suggest turning to ‘enterprise’ to achieve their goals.

I close with a thought expressed by Stewart Alsop (Journalist): 
“It is always better to proceed on a basis of recognition of what is, rather than what ought to be.”