by Braxton Gilliam
Four years ago, Ray Driver and I were elected to the Board of Governors of the Young Lawyers’ Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association. We have served together in a variety of capacities, most recently serving as president-elect and president of the YLS Board.
Our year started off with one of those closed door Jack Nicholson lectures, a la “A Few Good Men,” when Ray explained to me that if the fact he had been promoted in the organization with greater speed and success than I had left a bad taste in my mouth, that I should get over it, either way . . . well you know the rest.
Rather than donning one of my hand-me-up suits from Joe Camerlengo and shooting myself, however, I embraced my role and took full advantage of the opportunity to learn from Ray how to successfully manage the YLS Board (I also ordered a Code Red a few days before the annual luncheon . . . did you happen to notice how slow Ray was moving at the luncheon?) I have learned a lot, and I am hopeful that the Board is not in for the “Wiley” ride this coming year that was previously advertised by the “unreal” Troy Smith.
We have had a wonderful year under Ray’s leadership through our efforts supporting the Holiday in January Project, Special Olympics, Law School for the Public Seminars and other long-time YLS projects. Through it all, I have learned from Ray that the ability to delegate effectively is the premier quality of a good leader. Ray demonstrated this technique most remarkably when developing the concept of a YLS charity golf tournament. This concept-turned-reality will without question represent the single largest project ever sponsored by the YLS, and Ray will forever be its father. As a good leader, Ray immediately delegated the responsibility to organize this project to Kevin Cook. And as you would expect from any Bedell associate, Kevin has done an outstanding job, so far. But it was not the delegation to Kevin of the organizational responsibility that I found most impressive, rather it was the delegation of the actual event to the next administration of the YLS Board of Governors.
You see, earlier this month Ray’s term as president ended and mine began. The First Annual YLS Charity Golf Tournament is scheduled for Oct. 16 during my presidency. Ray has been a wonderful leader, but this single act of delegation is so noteworthy that I have begun thinking about a new title for our former president.
Fortunately for me, Ray’s successes have not been lost on him. In fact, he too has been thinking about a new position with the YLS, though not attaching any particular name to the position.
Recently, Ray informed me that he was planning on reinstituting the attendance of the immediate past president at all YLS Board meetings. Like the idea of a YLS Charity Golf Tournament, discussed for the first time in January 2004, the implications of Ray’s continued involvement on the YLS Board were slow to dawn on me. It was not until earlier this week when Ray e-mailed me and delegated the authorship of his last YLS column to me that I realized that his input is here to stay.
Once again, the delegation of writing this column was not particularly remarkable. Rather, it was the fact that I was instructed to write the column and send it to him for final editing (with the resulting “joint” byline) that I found most impressive. Frankly, as I type this article I realize that I may only be talking to myself — you may never get to see my comments.
Recognizing that fact, I want to reiterate what an excellent job Ray has done this year. Thankfully, however, Ray’s commitment to the YLS is such that I doubt the YLS Board will lose its “Driver.” That baby, or as I have begun to say, President Emeritus, is staying put — at least until his golf tournament has been held.