It's Not Paranoia If There's A Reason To Be Concerned

Have you ever had a conversation with someone in which you expressed certain concerns that you considered valid, and the other person dismissed your concerns immediately by responding, "Oh, you're just being paranoid"? As disconcerting as that may be when it concerns personal issues, in organizational matters, leaders must always vigilantly protect their organizations.

In over three decades of consulting to organizations, I remember very few instances where a leader's over-vigilance caused any long-term problems, but unfortunately, have observed far too many times that individuals in leadership positions under-estimate the seriousness of a situation.

Because the fiscal officers of most small to medium- sized organization do not generally undergo detailed fiscal and financial training, they often neglect details that might prove essential to any organization. For example, I find it amazing at how many organizations permit employees to universally sign checks of any denomination. Similarly, it astounds me that organizations do not require dual- signature checks for denominations exceeding a certain amount.

Another error I have observed often is when organizations keep too much money in one particular account, or keep all the checkbooks in the office, overseen exclusively by paid staff Far too organizations do surprise periodic reviews of the books as a "fail-safe" against potential fraud, error, or in the worse cased scenario, embezzlement.

Incompetent volunteer leaders incorrectly employ rhetoric like, "I don't want to micro-manage," or "It's not my management style," etc. However, as politically correct and cliche chic that saying that appears, it really amounts to a serious management flaw, with potentially damaging effects.

It is not paranoia if someone is really after you, nor is it being paranoid when there are serious reasons to be concerned. For decades, I have preached that until professional leadership training is the norm, and taken seriously, many organizations will face unnecessary challenges and take risks that are not warranted. Volunteers leaders must realize that it is their fiduciary responsibility to reduce risk to their organizations!