Leadership

Most associations tell me that innovation is important to them, and I, of course, agree. But the overall track record on innovation in the association community is not that great. Twelve years ago, some fellow consultants and I wrote a short book titled, We Have Always Done It That Way: 101 Things About Associations We Must Change. Two years ago ...

Conflict binds us, just like chains. No matter where you work, no matter what size and type of organization, at some point in time you are going to face conflict. You may find yourself embroiled in conflict, or you may be called upon to help resolve a conflict between others. Knowing how to prevent conflict from disrupting the flow of ...

Theresa Parsons, CAE, CMP 2018-2019 TSAE Board Chair Executive Director Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education (TCASE) I was on a plane heading to Washington, D.C., to join a handful of board members on a lobbying trip. After working for another organization for a year, my association lured me back, and this particular morning was just my second since ...

The association executive said, “Please share the gospel of good governance with my board.” He was requesting the annual orientation of his board of directors. I had to think about the context. The definition of “gospel” is something regarded as true and implicitly believed or a doctrine regarded as of prime importance. I summarized the doctrine for good governance in ...

Go ahead. Google the words “association advocacy” and see what pops up. I recently did the same which resulted in over 87 million hits. American Association for Justice, Muscular Dystrophy Association, National CASA Association … thousands of associations that prominently include the word “advocacy” on their websites. But what does advocacy mean? Is it something handled by your governmental relations ...

Oh, the dreaded staff meeting. Something we all look forward to? Not so much. How can we make meetings better? More efficient? An event we don’t dread? Here are some do’s and don’ts for meeting etiquette. Have a clear agenda. If you are the meeting organizer, be sure to have an agenda with clear start and end times. If your ...

Associations don’t always have all the answers. (We know, you’re shocked!) We definitely have some major advantages, not the least of which is that we are highly a cooperative and collaborative community, in large part because there’s not a lot of intra-industry competition. But there are some areas where we lag and where other industries—charitable fundraisers, for example—do things better than ...

Let’s survey your current staff! How many people in your organization have been there 10+ years, are deep-rooted and likely aren’t going anywhere until retirement? We’ll call these staff “trees.” How many people haven’t been there long and their position will likely turn over multiple times in the next few years? We’ll call these our “revolving door” roles. Today, what ...

At our final Leadership TSAE session of 2017, we hosted three association CEOs and Executive Directors to take questions from our Leadership participants about what it takes to achieve the top paid position at an association. We asked executives Leslie Midgley, CAE, Executive Vice President and CEO, Texas Land Title Association; Shirley Robinson, CAE, President and CEO, Texas Healthcare Trustees; ...

Never say no is one of the main rules of improv comedy. While you can’t never say no in your organization, you can still create a culture of yes. Galen Emanuele with Shift Yes used the five main tenets of improv comedy to show attendees how they can build a culture where all ideas and people are respected in “Create ...