I stand (or tread water) corrected, Mr M.
You see, in the following sentence:

thank you for being our directment

- you mean something quite different to proponent. It's more like "guiding star", "inspiration", or "shining example". And then, these positive interpretations are only apt because of the initial "thank you". Strip away good and bad values and it's hard to find an alternative to your coinage.

Oh no!