Leadership in AA

A true AA leader always puts the best interests of the Fellowship ahead of anything else, and one of the finest examples I ever saw of this was while I was a delegate to the General Service Conference. Under consideration that year were some very emotionally charged issues revolving around the participation of nonalcoholics at closed meetings and how topics unrelated to alcoholism were frequently being discussed at meetings. The specific item on the table was a statement prepared by one of the Conference committees which defined what an open meeting was and what a closed meeting was. The Conference itself seemed to be split into three factions over this statement: those who wanted the statement to be Conference-approved, those who wanted no statement at all, and those who wanted a statement that could be used by those who needed it but one which would not be construed as "exclusive" or be used to keep people out of AA meetings. The debate went on for hours. The wording of the two statements was worked and reworked, but no clear group conscience was emerging. Finally, noting that there was still a considerable amount of material left on the agenda and that the Conference as a whole was facing the possibility of running out of time altogether, discussion was ended and a vote was taken. The issue seemed to have come to a close, and yet there was still unrest among the delegates as a whole. A turning point had been reached. Even though a lot of time had been devoted to this issue and it had, temporarily, been resolved, one AA member who had voted on the side of ending the discussion reversed his vote and put the topic back on the floor. Somehow he knew that the Conference as a whole was not through talking, that a true, informed conscience had not yet been born. Even with emotions almost at the fraying point, the discussion continued until substantial unanimity could be achieved. A true AA leader had once again shown up when we needed one most, putting the good of the Fellowship first.