| Walt Carleton |
Administrative Executive Secretary Los Angeles Charter Committee |
Walt Carleton of the Los Angeles Charter Committee is a graduate of the Hubbard Ethics Specialist course and the Dispute Resolution Specialist course. He has been a Charter member for six years.
“I own Fidelity Creditor Service, a collection agency in Los Angeles. I have worked in this field for over 23 years recently serving as the President of the California Association of Collectors. I became a member of WISE ten years ago, applying the benefits of membership to get L. Ron Hubbard’s administrative system into my business and training my employees at the Hubbard College of Administration International.
“Seeing this system at work in my life and the lives of others made me want to contribute more to society. I therefore decided to become a Charter member of WISE. With my background experience and being able to resolve and handle the type of situations I deal with, I definitely had the necessary knowledge, control and responsibility for this area. And I felt that through these activities I could best contribute—I could ‘bring more to the table’. And I’ve done that.
“By handling unethical situations in the business field and resolving disputes we are creating a more productive and prosperous business world. We take a lot of pride in the fact that in the last three years we have done over 150 successful mediations and we have a 98% success rate! That means completely resolved disputes to the satisfaction of both sides. Now, those numbers really take on a significance when you see how these disputes can wreck people’s production and lives. In my profession I get to see the ramifications of no or unworkable systems of management and administration. I get to see the other side of the coin—in the US judicial system, there is only about a 25% success rate with court ordered arbitrations or mediations.
“I used to keep track, in financial terms, of what I have settled through dispute resolutions and in one period, I personally settled over $1.25 million in debts between people. Numbers are one thing, however, more importantly the real reward is in terms of people more ethical, friendships restored and people freed of upset and back into production. That’s the real reward. Charter membership allows me to take responsibility and contribute to my community. It is my role in creating a new civilization.”
| Graham Payne | Chairman Clearwater Charter Committee |
Graham Payne is Chairman of the Clearwater Charter Committee. He is a Hubbard Ethics Specialist graduate.
“I have always had a strong desire to help people. When I moved to Clearwater, I was asked if I would be willing to resolve business disputes and handle matters of ethics in the business community. This aligned with what I wanted to do.
“I have been doing it now for close on five years. During this time period we have handled hundreds of disputes in the Clearwater business community and we are now an established activity. We have excellent word of mouth in the community and people know that if there is a business dispute to handle, they come to the Clearwater Charter Committee. Often when they come, they cannot believe the results which are possible.
“As Charter members we are creating an ethical and sane business community—we are helping to make it possible for administrative principles to be applied in an ethical environment.”
| Manuela Hör | Deputy Chairman Hamburg Charter Committee |
Manuela Hör is the Deputy Chairman of Hamburg Charter Committee.
“I became a Charter member of WISE because I wanted to help the business community—this I’ve done in a big way, however, it was definitely a challenge to raise ethical standards.
“When I first started it was almost overwhelming. I became known in the community and the disputes and situations came from all over the place. One day I left my office for two hours and when I returned my answering machine had 16 messages from various people requesting disputes handled or assistance with some sort of situation in business. At that point I was not very trained, however, I soon changed this and became competent in
“I love handling disputes. You are restoring friendship—these people arrive with disagreements and mistrust (and sometimes a lot more); they leave with greatly increased affinity, reality and communication—friends again!
“Recently we had a cycle which had been on-going for many years. In getting the dispute handled, we applied all the tools needed; at the end, after all these years these two guys were the best of friends.
“Over the years we built up the Charter Committee with people in charge of handling disputes, others handling ethics matters as well as people handling administrative and expansion activities. Our role is to create a more ethical business community, and to handle disputes so people can flourish and prosper.
“I have learned so much. I have gotten trained—yes, it is work, but there is so much personal gain and you grow as a person—bigger and bigger. With these principles and techniques you could stop a war!
“Some people think that they will not have enough time if they become active, this is completely not the truth. A few years ago statistics were a little down in my husband’s and my business. I had the idea that maybe I was working too much on Charter Committee activities. Well, we did a statistical analysis, and surprise—coincident with me working on Charter Committee actions my company statistics went up! So I applied the findings of this analysis and did MORE Charter cycles—the company statistics went up!”
