You can find in many children’s bedtime books a short poetic fable by an unknown author entitled For Want Of A Nail that goes like this:

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;

For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;

For want of the horse, the rider was lost;

For want of the rider, the battle was lost;

For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost;

And all for the want of a nail.

The point or moral for you and your Chapter is that the little things we do and the little things that we encourage our members to do can and will have a significant impact on the Chapter’s success.

Analogizing the story of For Want Of A Nail to the operation of a Chapter:

·        Because the Chapter does not appropriately introduce guests, the guest does not join; and,

·        Because the guest does not join, his or her referrals are never given within the Chapter; and,

·        Because his or her referrals are never given within the Chapter, a member terminates their membership; and,

·        Because this current member terminates their membership, his or her referrals are no longer given within the Chapter; and,

·        Because his or her referrals are no longer given within the Chapter, another member terminates their membership; and so on and so forth.

Because the Chapter fails to do one simple little thing – introducing guests appropriately – possibly (and in many cases entirely likely) sets in motion a chain of events that has a drastic impact on the Chapter.

Remember, if you mind the little things, generally big things will follow.