The Less Politically-Correct Leadership of Masonic Lodges

By: Ed Mortensen, Secretary

There are politically correct ways to provide for leaders in an organization and there are less politically correct ways.

The politically correct way is to have two leaders, a man, and a woman and have them share responsibilities.  Perhaps you are familiar with the way High School clubs are administered. There are a boy and a girl that share leadership responsibilities so they are more likely to adequately represent the student body.  This can work under the close supervision and leadership of a faculty adviser but tends to fail without this supervision.

Masons use the less politically correct way by having just one leader and assistants.  That leader is the Worshipful Master and his assistants are the Senior and Junior Wardens.

So if Freemasonry isn’t like a school club, what is it like?  Each Lodge is organized similarly to a corporation with the equivalency of a CEO, a COO, and other C-level positions.  The ultimate responsibility for the well-being of the organization rests with the CEO in a company as the good of the Lodge does with the Worshipful Master.  His assistants are assigned specific duties and it falls to the Master to be sure planning for the year happens and that the plan is properly executed.

But, you may ask, Masonry is a club, isn’t it?  True, but we have learned from hundreds of years of practice that having one leader and one united direction works best for a Lodge.

So are High Schools heading for disaster, well, in my humble opinion, yes.  Without the strong leadership of a faculty adviser (one leader), the club system in High Schools will almost certainly fail if two strong-willed leaders are in contention. Thus success, in this case, means the apathy of one leader and the strong leadership of the other or, the adviser acting as a referee.

With one captain and one hand on the rudder, the ship steers true.

So the relatively new, politically correct, dual leadership concept is not yet proven and has been seen to fail more often than not in my personal experience.  Freemasonry, however, with a single leader and assistants has been proven over time and has been demonstrated to succeed in providing the direction and leadership an organization needs.