The Man Behind the Rules
Enter Henry Martyn Robert — a man who was apprehensive about being asked to lead a meeting. Not happy with the experience, Robert (1837–1923) decided to make a study of leading meetings. A West Point graduate who became a career U.S. Army officer, Robert spent time at various posts around the country. He became a student of parliamentary law, devouring Barclay's
On-the-Job Training
Robert also devoted hours to attending meetings of various organizations in many different cities, where he realized that each group, each leader, and each membership ran the business of the organization differently. Perhaps it was his military experience that made him want to create order where there had been chaos. Everything that he read on the subject, every meeting that he attended, gave him the inspiration to create a book of rules for conducting meetings using parliamentary procedure.
And so was born
Robert didn't find initial success — he had to publish his work on his own before he could interest a publisher. The book, with an initial print run of 4,000 copies, bore the title
Why Use Old Rules?
Although these rules were first published in the 1870s and are over 130 years old, they are not antiquated. Instead, they have stood the test of time and are considered as strong as ever. You don't have to endure the hundreds of hours of meeting attendance and parliamentary study that Robert did. Instead, learn from his experience!
ESSENTIAL
Think about finding a mentor for your new role as a chair or presenter at meetings. Many people became successful by following the example of another successful person. Perhaps you can find a coworker, a supervisor, a friend, or someone prominent in your community who would mentor you.
