Leading with Service [Season 1, Episode 8]

- The views and opinions expressed during this podcast are those of our guests. No one person speaks for A.A. as a whole. (upbeat music) - Welcome to episode eight, the season one finale of Our Primary Purpose. My name is Nathan and I'm an alcoholic. Welcome to GSO. (upbeat music) All season long we've been talking about GSO's many roles including organizing and supporting meetings and events. But the most important event of the year is the General Service Conference.

When delegates from across the US and Canada come together to make decisions about A.A. They are responsible for ensuring that the groups in A.A. have a voice in the affairs of the fellowship. The work of the General Service Conference is not all business. There is something deeply spiritual about the responsibility of charting A.A.'s future.

At the 1954 General Service Conference, Bernard B. Smith, non-alcoholic, then chairperson of the Board of Trustees, and one of the architects of the A.A. service structure spoke on the topic. We asked retired GSO staffer Jeff W. to read from Smith's remarks. Why do we need a conference? - We may not need a General Service Conference to ensure our own recovery. We do need it to ensure the recovery of the alcoholic who still stumbles in the darkness. One short block from this room.

We need it to ensure the recovery of a child being born tonight destined for alcoholism. We need it to provide in keeping with our 12th step, a permanent haven for all alcoholics who in the ages ahead confined in A.A. that rebirth that brought us back to life. We need it because we more than all others are conscious of the devastating effect of the human urge for power and prestige, which we must ensure can never invade A.A.

We need it to ensure A.A. against government while insulating it against anarchy. We need it to protect A.A. We need it so that Alcoholics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous alone is the ultimate repository of its 12 steps, its 12 traditions and all of its services. We need it to ensure that changes within A.A. come only as a response to the needs and wants of all A.A. and not of any few.

We need it to ensure that the doors of the halls of A.A. never have locks on them, so that all people for all time who have an alcoholic problem may enter these halls unasked and feel welcome. We need it to ensure that Alcoholics Anonymous never asks of anyone who needs us, what his or her race is, what his or her creed is, what his or her social position is. (peaceful music) - So the Conference is responsible

to help guide A.A. today and in the future, and GSO is responsible for implementing their recommendations. Today we meet the person who leads GSO, Bob W. - Glad to be here. - Bob's title is General Manager, which is comparable to an executive director at any large nonprofit. But this role comes with some key differences. The General Manager must have at least 10 years of continuous sobriety in A.A., along with extensive A.A. service experience.

The GM works closely with our two boards, that's the General Service Board and AA World Services Board, the General Service Conference and the Fellowship at large. That's US, Canada, and abroad. So the person in this key role must also have a deep understanding of how the service structure functions. But on the day-to-day in the office. - What I do is I provide leadership for those employees for the AAWS employees. GSO has about a hundred employees between A.A. World Services and A.A. Grapevine.

So I like to say that I provide leadership. You lead people and manage things. And so we talk a lot about in A.A. in our principles of delegating responsibility. From the day that I got here, about three and a half years ago, I committed to infuse the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous into the operations of the General Service Office. And that's what I try to do a day at a time. And again, that translates to servant leadership, which is a principle based leadership, the right of decision.

Our Third Concept, I try to exercise as a leader to the various department heads and people that report to me. And I try to lead by example to all of those managers and directors to do the same, to allow them to be able to make decisions. Another principle we hear about is the right to be wrong and how we're not punitive in A.A. Other principles like the right of participation and how important that is. And we hear in A.A., a good idea can come from anywhere.

And so I allow for participation and I want to hear from others. So that's what I try to do a day at a time and try to put things in place throughout the office to allow for that to happen. Maybe I lead the General Service Office. I'm a leader in the General Service Office and I say a leader because my leadership style is more one of servant leadership. Really principle-based leadership.

It's a we program and it's a we office, to try to simply state what the General Service Office is difficult because it supports so much. It supports all the members and groups of the US and Canada, but really around the world. There's 62 other General Service Boards and/or General Service Offices around the world that are autonomous from us. But we bring experience, strength and hope to them.

So many, many groups and many members require assistance in carrying the message of A.A. and we try to help facilitate that process. And that happens in a number of ways. Literature, podcasts, all sorts of different services to help members and groups to carry the message.

Our office is a repository of shared experience with many members and groups who've contacted us, who we've helped or have shared what they've done and we've collected their experience and we share it with other groups who need that help. The General Service Office is very much like any other business in a lot of ways, but it's a spiritual business. When we say to visitors, welcome to your General Service Office, we really mean it. It truly is their office. But it's kind of a lot.

- It is a lot. - There's a lot there. But thank God for the slogans of Alcoholics Anonymous One Day at a Time. My sponsor has moved me into the nanosecond most of the time, so I can keep stress free. I try to do that and, yeah. - Well, you're in high demand. - Yep, absolutely. - In the past couple of years, you've traveled a lot. Can you tell us a bit about why it's important for the General Manager to travel?

- Well, it's definitely a part of what I do, and there's different reasons why I go to various places, countries, or states or provinces. One of the big pieces of my travel are regional forums, which are gatherings to allow for members of the Fellowship to meet members of the General Service Board, the corporate boards and the office, and ask questions of any kind and share information. And so one of the parts of my role is a co-chair of those regional forums.

I do that with Scott H. The chair of the General Service Board. But I've also traveled by invitation to local areas. I choose those based upon the requests that come in. I have to balance that between the time I need to spend in the office as well. And internationally, I traveled to Poland for the 50th anniversary celebration of A.A. in Poland and also Portugal. Portugal held an international convention in October. And those international trips usually in most cases are trustees at large.

And the person on our international assignment goes on those trips. And sometimes there's reasons that I might go. In the case with Poland, there was a real solid business purpose behind that. We've been doing an awful lot of work with licensing our literature internationally. And in Portugal, they asked me specifically to give a presentation on our licensing process and the history of our licensing. And it was just an incredible experience.

I found a story of a person who was very pivotal and the work that she went through to be able to translate that book into Portuguese was unbelievable. And so it was great to be able to be there to give that presentation, to answer questions and to share what we do and how we do it. - The world is growing more and more virtual. Why is it so important to physically go to these locations?

- You know, I think it comes down to the root of Alcoholics Anonymous with one member sitting down with another, sharing their experience, strength and hope. And not that we don't see that happen virtually, it happened, people got sober through that time. But there's something about just being together and meeting people and be able to build those relationships.

And there were many members from other countries around the world that attended those conventions, not just us from the United States and Canada, and some of them were international delegates to our world service meeting. And so we ate together, we went to meetings together while we were there, we got to know each other. And so you forge those relationships. And then you fast forward to our World Service Meeting that we just had in the end of October.

And there were several folks there, including the representatives from both Poland and Portugal. But there were people there from Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, a lot of other countries. And so just that more tighter one-on-one connection of being there together in that moment with the individual, that was really paramount in translating the big book into Portuguese, being able to see her and give her a hug and just be in that space, it just couldn't have happened.

- Okay, let's step back from the international stage. I want to go back to something you said a few minutes ago. We were talking about how the GSO serves groups in the US and Canada. How do we make sure that we do that effectively? - Yeah, it's challenging. We have a service structure that goes through the group level of a GSR to a district, to an area, to an assembly, to the General Service Conference, to the General Service Board.

And the office is wielded around that General Service Board and the Conference. Yet there's members who are not connected to that, that never see that, that will raise their hand on social media sometimes and other places and say, why is our money getting spent like that? But they're not necessarily talking with delegates and that type of thing. So it is very challenging. - Yeah. Yeah. All right. Full plate. Lots of challenges. What about the highlights? - Oh, highlights.

I think some of the changes that we've made at GSO in really all to the good speaking of that process, the stronger desire to deliver background in English, French and Spanish at the same time and what it takes to do that. So our translation processes were in great need of revision. And also our international licensing was another function that was very challenging. Licensing our literature around the world is a lot of demand for that, large number of requests come in for that.

And translating the actual literature itself and then licensing it for distribution to other countries. So we created a language services department to handle all of the document translation, to put some focus around the function. And so there's much more clarity now, which I'm so excited about, to open the door to actually translate our literature into other languages.

But it's not just our Big Book, it's our 12 and 12, it's our pamphlets and the other incredible lifesaving literature that we have. So those are things to me that have been very exciting. I think on top of all of it, we have incredible comradery among each other. And all of this work that we've done together has brought some great feeling and really like, you know, living the 12 steps, part of the 36 principles, I'm confusing the principles into the operations.

And, you know, we get along, we like each other and you know, we do good work together. - I'm sure there's many, but was there a moment or two that's left a lasting impact on you during your time as GM? - I was in Cuba in 2022, I believe it was. And it was amazing to be there. A.A. was having a very difficult time there. And so I attended their conference and their conference was really struggling.

And I think about the challenges we have and to see that kind of struggle, you know, inflation just through the roof and yet watching them all come together to still find a way to do the work of Alcoholics Anonymous, but seeing those kinds of things, this role is way bigger than me. And this is a movement of Alcoholics Anonymous and amazing things happen. - And those of us that work at GSO are reminded of how spiritual that work can be. - Yep, absolutely.

I think the lasting impact of the work that happens here at the General Service Office, that's fed from all the members of the groups and how we're all part of the same team. And at the end of the day, sometimes we get involved in a lot of the details of the structure and the way that our assemblies work and our conference works and all of those things are really, really important. But one thing I think it's important to always remember is that, how does it transmit?

How does it find the next still suffering alcoholic? I remember a very big argument in a local area where I come from in Western Massachusetts several years ago, who argued, should we be putting When and Where meeting lists in the local library? And some thought it might be crossing a tradition for whatever reason. And it was a very big debate. And it turned out that what won the day was yes, they could go into the libraries.

And about six or eight months later, I remember a speaker got up to the podium and talked about how they were at the end of their rope and they were at their local library and picked up a meeting list of When and Where. And it made me think back to that and how important that was. And you know, that's an example from the local level. But things like that are happening here at GSO all the time. And we don't necessarily hear it or know it.

I think it's important to just remember, you know, who we are and what we're doing and how it transmits. - Thank you Bob. - Thank you. (upbeat music) - To find a meeting near you or a meeting online, download the Meeting Guide app on your mobile device. For more information about A.A., please visit our website at aa.org. - Bob spoke on how one of the highlights in his time here as GM has been the establishment and success of the new Language Services Department.

A.A. World Services is a three language organization. That means to the extent possible, we make our print and digital content available in English, French and Spanish. Roberto, a visitor to GSO from Miami, is a great example of the importance of carrying the A.A. message in Spanish. - So my name is Roberto, I'm an alcoholic. I am from Miami, Florida, born and raised. I got here at 25 years old. I'm currently going on 31. Yeah, about five years clean now.

I found my home group immediately and I have not changed my home group ever since. My home group is a Spanish speaking home group. My first language was Spanish, despite the fact that I was born here, my parents have lived here for many years. I choose to be there I think mainly because I didn't have any other experience of an English group. Honestly, I haven't had the experience.

This is probably about third time that I shared an experience or I talked about A.A. or I talked about a testimony or anything of that matter in English. Yeah, the second time was this morning when I shared at the meeting of the GSO. My experience in Spanish groups of A.A., Hispanic groups of A.A., is they showed me a very strong presence of brotherhood immediately. And I think I was looking for that. I was looking for that and that helped a lot.

I think that I stopped fighting the obsession and I started to hope and desire for my group to be open so that the message could continue to be sent out. You know, if somebody comes or wants to come in and the doors are closed, what am I doing? But I have to do everything I can to maintain the doors open and maintain unity within my group. - Where did that need come from?

- It was based on the services I started to partake in, it was based on the experiences I was acquired because my sponsor motivated me to always have a service. And it started off with something very simple, in Spanish, they're called 'guardias' (Spanish) or guards, which is the themes of the week or the coordinators of the week for a meeting. 'Cause in our group, they change, every day is a different coordinator. And it started with that. Next thing you know, I'm in charge of events.

Next thing you know, I'm secretary. Next thing you know, I'm treasurer. Next thing you know, I'm the coordinator. I don't know exactly most of these words, I don't know how to say them in English 'cause I never did anything in English. It's all been in Spanish, but in, in Spanish it's called the coordinator of. (Roberto speaking in Spanish) The table of services. I'm not sure exactly how it is in English. I haven't really read it, any of the information or any of the literature in English.

Everything is in Spanish for me. And when I got my first service as the coordinator, the head coordinator of the group, I experienced so much and I learned so much. And I started to create character and the personality and actually like be able to defend myself. And next thing you know, I get another service. I haven't stopped serving ever since. And then within my third, fourth year, I started traveling constantly. I started to go to New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Oklahoma, Texas.

And I started to experience what the literature spoke to me about, but I couldn't actually visualize. - And what was that? - I started to experience how big this really was. How big, like I said, I don't know how to say it in English, but I think it's how the heart of A.A. pumps through the veins of all the groups. I think it's something like that, right? I went to Oklahoma, I never imagined myself going to Oklahoma.

And I had like an out body experience because of the service, not because I saw anything. I just felt like I was accomplishing something that would help my group stay open. I think that's what it was. But the greatest experience I had was going to Mexico. - Tell us that story. - So there was a service for Mexico and I couldn't cover it because at the time I was going through financial struggles and two members of the group said, listen, most of us can't go.

They bought the ticket probably a few hours before going to the airport. I was still debating whether I should just say F it and not go. Someone told me, go, you have to go. I promise you it'll be worth it. Like the idea was that members of the group that I was gonna go visit were just gonna push me aside. And it was like, ah, it's American guy. He's young, he's 30 years old. That's what I thought. The way that these guys took care of me when I arrived to the group.

I mean, I've never seen something like that. It was incredible. There was so many people there. I felt a presence. I covered my service. I spoke in front of like about a hundred people and I shared my experience. I stepped down and I went to the bathroom and I started crying 'cause I couldn't believe where I was. I couldn't believe how big this was.

I couldn't believe how all these people at some point got the same opportunity that I got of this information that I think you guys facilitate, right? I couldn't believe that I was granted a second opportunity at life to see and witness all these things. I couldn't believe it, it was incredible. I guess it's kind of like a paradox, right?

Or something illogical that two hours or an hour and a half in a room with other people talking, but sharing those experiences of what they've gone through is how he stay sober. I can't believe I've stayed sober for so long. I can't believe most of the, I can't believe this is happening right now. I can't believe I got my son back. I can't believe that my mom could sleep at night now. But it's there. It's there. And I'm witnessing it all firsthand.

There's a saying in in our groups in Spanish that says that the service doesn't recover. It maintains. I like to think that the service has done so much for me in the last two to three years to make me visualize where I'm heading more than anything in the world. (bright music) (Roberto speaking in Spanish) (bright music) - And that concludes season one of Our Primary Purpose.

We hope you've enjoyed listening as much as we've enjoyed producing it, and we cannot wait to bring you season two, which is already in the works. Be sure to subscribe and stay tuned for a very special bonus episode coming soon. And in the meantime, as always, keep coming back. (bright music) - In this podcast, we respect the anonymity of A.A. members. Last names are shared only for those who are not in A.A.

Thank you for listening to Our Primary Purpose, a podcast produced by the General Service Office on behalf of the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous in the US and Canada. (bright music)