ORGANIZATION RENEWAL:

LEADERSHIP IN THE 21st CENTURY

The story has it that association executives have only three responsibilities: 1) the care of the board; 2) the feeding of the board; and 3) the care and feeding of the board. While this observation often draws a chuckle (or maybe a groan), it also reflects a misconception by many of the increasingly complex nature of relationship building, constituency development, coalition building, and broader stakeholder relationships necessary to the successful execution of an association's mission.

RELATIONSHIP MAINTENANCE

Given the significant growth in voter initiatives; federal, state, and local legislation; overlapping and complex regulatory oversight; conflicting time pressures; limited resource availability; and unremitting demand for constant verification of the value-added benefits of belonging, association executives find themselves faced with an extraordinary demand and obligation to an ever-increasing range of stakeholders.

While keeping the board satisfied is a worthy goal, association executives can no longer do so at the exclusion of any stakeholders. Increasingly members give voice to needs not identified by traditional channels. Often, their needs are more narrowly focused than the association's general interest, resulting in a very real dilemma and discomfort in bringing resources needed to bear on such a narrow interest. Yet, by and large, our members expect it of us, and when denied, they may take their interests, dollars, and resources elsewhere--depriving both the association and their fellow members of much needed knowledge.

In light of the diverse demands of multi-level constituencies, how do association executives navigate, build, and maintain this complex web of relationships?

ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN

Since the beginning of time, humankind has sought the means to organize work. Viewed in historical perspective, organized efforts have produced some of the world's greatest wonders. While the agrarian age produced some significant organizational efforts, the coming of the industrial age spurred on a genuine desire to better understand and improve on work process.

Innovations such as the manufacturing assembly line brought out desires to better understand time and motion, giving rise to the work of Frederick Taylor and others who applied the concepts of "scientific management theory" to the work of humans. More recently, significant amounts of dollars and managerial attention has been paid to matters of corporate culture, organization development, leadership, team structures, learning organizations, group dynamics, performance improvement, quality control, and reengineering within large and small organizations.

Significantly, associations and their leaders have not been recognized for their cutting-edge work in these arenas. Rather, associations have often showcased the strategies for their memberships but widely ignored the impact of such organizational design until more recently. There is significant evidence that associations no longer have the luxury of overlooking the dynamics of organizational design.

Successful association executives will need a firm understanding of the concepts and a knowledgeable grasp of the tools for organizational design. In the age of the "smart machine," knowledge, not information, will be the key lever for association success. Given such a dramatic change, the concepts of staff and hierarchy within the association environment must be revisited. The traditional organizational structure that incorporates silos of responsibility will give way to much greater team-oriented structures.

Which organization design tools are key to the future success of association executives?

INNOVATION and CHANGE LEADERSHIP

Change is nothing new in the world. Indeed, life and change go together naturally, and history is replete with tales of humans struggling to cope with powerful forces beyond their control. But nobody questions that these are uniquely challenging times for all of us, including association executives. The world around us these days is not only changing at a dizzying speed, but that change is also growing in both complexity and magnitude. For example, phenomenal technological change has generated new products, new business, and new tools for communicating, collecting, and processing information as well as for managing. And corporate downsizing, along with the two-career family, has radically reduced the amount of volunteer time to serve on association boards, committees, and task forces. The list could go on and on.

The association leadership and management realm is no more immune from the impact of the sweeping changes swirling around us than any other profession. In a calm and stable world blessed with a high degree of predictability, the job of association CEO would be tough enough, to be sure. One thing is dramatically clear: The only viable response to the change going on around our associations is to take command of our organizational change--to guide and direct that change so as to capitalize on opportunities to grow and to counter threats to well-being. Merely standing put, or circling the wagon in a battle to preserve the past, would be a disastrous course.

Fortunately, in learning to lead and direct association change, we can draw on a rapidly growing body of knowledge and can take advantage of the more powerful change management techniques that have been developed and tested in recent years. For one thing, we have become more knowledgeable about the very natural, deep-seated resistance of most human beings to change. We now know that the traditional model of chief executive leadership (basically embracing the command-and-control style) no longer suffices in a world demanding flexibility, creativity, and the expansion of human capability.

And we have learned a considerable amount about ways to build the positive, productive board/CEO partnership that is indispensable for successful change leadership, about ways to make planning a more effective innovation engine, and about how to ensure that a planned change is actually implemented.

SELF-ASSESSMENT or SELF-ACTUALIZATION

The rapidly changing nature of the workplace and the ever-increasing demands being placed on executives require the ability to achieve balance and fulfillment in both the professional and personal arenas. Today's executives must take the steps necessary to increase their own self-awareness as well as learn how to develop the self-knowledge of those in their employ. This introspection may include ongoing assessment of one's professional strengths and weaknesses coupled with an inventory of one's own personal priorities.

Central to any pursuit of self-actualization or self-assessment is the need to maintain balance. The adoption of a whole-life view that places as high of a value on one's personal life as one's professional life is to be encouraged. Clearly, satisfaction in one's personal life will provide a foundation for satisfaction in one's professional life.

The workplace should be an environment that fosters empowerment, risk-taking, open communication, trust, and other values that nurture the individual and encourage personal as well as professional development.

Today's successful association executives must avail themselves of those tools that will assist in the self-assessment and self-actualization process. By doing so, they will enhance the relationships critical to the success of their organizations.