Copyright Association Options, 2013 Food Industry Association Executives 86 th Annual Convention Achieving Success in your Chief Elected Officer’s First 100 Days
Dec 26, 2015
Copyright Association Options, 2013
Food Industry Association Executives 86th Annual Convention
Achieving Success in your Chief Elected Officer’s First 100 Days
Association Options Copyright 2013 ©
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Hit the Ground Running – What Does it Mean?
• To begin a venture with great energy, involvement,
and competence.
• To immediately work very hard and successfully at a
new activity. “If elected, they promise to hit the
ground running in their first few weeks of office.”
• To be ready to work immediately on a new activity.
“His previous experience will allow him to hit the
ground running when he takes office in the chamber,
association or society.”First 100 Days
Begins about 60 days prior to the President taking office
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The People
• Gather Their Team – volunteers, staff, experts, past leaders
• Conduct an Orientation - communicate goals, achieve buy- in, and develop strategies
• Inventory Committees – identify what committees exists and how they will help during the President’s term
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The People (cont’d)
• Build Staff Relations – ensure the chief elected officer understands the distinction in board/staff roles
• People Performance – establish a process (if one does not exist) to evaluate performance of the chief staff officer as well as a board evaluation
• Develop a Ladder of New Leaders – make leadership identification
and recruitment a priority for increasing volunteer resources • Appoint Committee Chairs – decide to keep existing chairs or appoint
new ones; identify the right people to advance the association’s goals
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Looking Inward Understand their leadership style; begin with an inventory of leadership traits…
• Steward – See themselves as a steward of the organization; nobody owns it. • Facilitator – They have an opportunity to make things happen. • Ethical – They promote the highest standards and ethics.• Consensus Builder – Without being heavy handed, they offer good ideas and seek
to build consensus. • Thought Leader – They are considered a thought leader to whom people respect
and turn to.• Good Delegator – They know they can achieve more by asking for help, delegating
projects and sharing the limelight.• Friend – They intend to leave their presidency with new friends and to maintain
the important relations with whom they started your term. • Enthusiastic – Their enthusiasm will influence others to work for the organization.
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Communications
• Establish preferences for communications up front (emails, regular conference calls, phone calls, etc)
• Encourage President to listen carefully to board and staff and pay attention actions and body language
• Ensure President can clearly communicate the organization’s mission
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Communications (cont’d)
• Spend time reviewing the organization’s principles, ethics and conflicts of interest
• Support the President in tough decisions and ensure they have the facts (policies, data, etc) to make tough decisions
• Encourage President to hold their opinion for last in Board and Executive Committee meetings
• Stress the importance of reading all association communications including newsletters, minutes and emails so they are informed and knowledgeable
• Remind President to show gratitude to volunteers, members and staff – it can go a long way
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Planning
• Begin preparing them for their term when they serve as President Elect or VP
• Help set realistic goals to be accomplished during their term as well as for the first 100 days
• Provide resources and materials necessary to fully prepare for Board meetings
• Review the strategic plan and establish performance measures
• Set a calendar for the year; advance planning will help ensure Board participation
• Establish action-oriented agendas that a lot plenty of time for key discussions
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Resources and Structure
• Share data from recent member surveys, SWOT analysis and/or any data that would help them understand the membership and organizational performance
• If one does not exist, create Board Book or “playbook”
• Review the budget in detail including any President expense lines
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Resources and Structure
Leadership Manual or Board Book
Bylaws Article of Incorporation Mission Statement and/or
Statement of Purpose Policies or the Policy Manual
Strategic Plan Budget and Financial Reports Marketing Plans IRS Tax Documents (Public
Records) Staff Job Descriptions Pending Contracts
Organizational documents to be reviewed/shared with President:
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Other Resources for Consideration
Organizations• ASAE and the Center for
Association Leadership (ASAECenter.org)
• US Chamber of Commerce (USChamber.org)
• American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE.org)
• BoardSource (BoardSource.org)
Publications• Fast Company • Good to Great • Execution, The Discipline of Getting
Things Done • The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A
Leadership Fable• E-Myth Revisited• The Perfect Board• Your Director Hat• Association Self Audit Manual• Board Responsibilities (laminated
guide)• 7 Measures of Remarkable
Associations
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Common Mistakes
✘ Planning late or thinking planning will not make a difference.✘ Not building a team – thinking they can do it all themselves.✘ Thinking presidency means being the chief staff executive – wrong, they are very distinct roles with both being essential.✘ Not understanding the resources – thinking the resources are theirs for the spending.✘ Asking half way through their term, “Do we have a strategic plan?✘ Injecting their personality into everyone’s good intentions.✘ Petering out before their term ends; finding priorities more important than the organization.✘ Over-delegating and not being engaged enough to impact change.
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Discussion
• What other resources have you provided your Chief Elected Officer that have proved to be beneficial?
• Have you tried any unique approaches to onboarding a Chief Elected Officer?
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When Boards Go Bad
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2:32 Superintendant loses his composure.
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Airing Grievances
(Please turn off annotations)
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Bringing and Escalating Conflict
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Symptoms of a Dysfunctional Board
• Unable to Set or Focus on Goals• If you don’t know where you are
going, you won’t get there• Too many goals overwhelm
organization’s resources• Decision-making is flawed• Inability to make tough decisions• No framework for decision-making• Not understanding the Board’s role
and the individual Board member’s roles
• Deflecting Board work to committees• Tabling issues
• Destructive Criticism
• Bomb-lobbing Board member (we “tried that years ago”)
• Wreak havoc on the agenda
• Inability to work productively with staff; always on a hunt to find issues (morale drop)
• Inability to work cooperatively and reach consensus with a Board decision (will also publicly denounce a Board decision)
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Symptoms of a Dysfunctional Board
• Working in the Background vs. Being in the Spotlight
• Working in the Background is an asset to a Board
• Working constantly to be in the spotlight is a liability to a Board
• Getting into the Weeds and Paralysis by Analysis
• Arguing over coffee breaks at a conference with a $300,000 expense budget
• Reviewing an issue and analyzing it to the point where nothing is accomplished.
• Infighting & Personality Issues• Inability to come to an agreement• Teamwork is not present; issues
become personal• Difficult Leaders• Personal agendas and far reaching
missions, contrary to the goals of the board or the association.
• Little Team Work and Too Many Agendas
• Conflicting ideas where the organization should go (goals)
• Pulling in all directions and not moving in any one direction (strategic plan)
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Case Study: ABC Board
PROBLEMS
• Overly inclusive – caused delays in decision making
• Afraid off making decisions – unanimity trumped consensus
• Discussion encouraged AFTER decision
• Lack of clear charge of committees• One opinionated member led the
board off track• Getting lost in the weeds• Second guessing decisions• People pleasing• Lack of preparation
What would YOU recommend for this board?
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The Cure
There are tools provided during this session in the handout to effectively identify any symptoms and to effectively “cure” them in the long term.
Conduct a Strategic Planning ProcessReview Mission, Vision, ValuesIdentify Key GoalsIdentify Key StrategiesDevelop Tactics (who, what, where, when and how)Create a yearly operational Work Plan and conduct a new planning session every 3-5
years.
Develop Strategic Agendas and ApproachNo margin, no mission. No margin, no mission. No margin, no mission.Develop agendas that are strategic (each item has a strategic goal linked to it)Create a strategic dashboard as a Board tool
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The Cure
Use Committees Effectively; no Committee work at the Board tableCommittees, task forces, etc. were created so that Boards can function strategically. Committees do the legwork but do not replace the Board.
Utilize Board Social EventsDevelop camaraderie and mutual respectLearn more about your Board colleaguesBuild rapport and respect
Volunteer Leader RecognitionAcknowledge the work of your peers on the BoardPraise the work of your committee and other non-Board volunteer leaders
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The CureUse Roberts Rules of OrderBoard training in the use of Roberts Rules of Order is important in a well-run meeting
Disarm the Board CriticThe best way to satisfy (or silence) a Board critic is to charge that person with finding solutions, rather than permitting them to constantly complain. The second-best way is to disarm the critic with facts.
Communication, Communication and More CommunicationThe more we use our ears to listen and truly learn about our Board colleagues, the more apt we are to minimize communication issues or misinterpretation of what is being said.Email, texting, etc. is an excellent tool but the personal contact made during a phone call is invaluable. Rule: If there are three or more emails on a discussion, a phone call needs to take place.
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• Baldrige Examiner Precision & Emphasis
• Nonprofit Practitioner Experience• Small Business Experience• Large Corporate Experience• International Experience• Mergers and Acquisitions
Experience• Outcome-Based• Process to Results• Diverse Team• Engaged in the Profession• Beyond Strategic Planning
We Bring a Different Set of Tools
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Association Options’ Footing
• Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • Seton Hall University, Public Administration • American Society of Association Executives • Certified Association Executive • American Chamber of Commerce • American Chamber of Commerce Executives
• Vistage International