By Nicole Millman-Falk
Association executives recently gathered at the newly renovated InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel in New York City for the third annual Associations: 2020 & Beyond conference to discuss politics, branding, and board relationships and their impact on nonprofits. A highlight of the conference was an executive panel that discussed leading organizations through change.
Speaking on organizational change were (left to right): Barbara Byrd Keenan, CEO of the Endocrine Society; Scott Frisch, Executive Vice President and COO of AARP; Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association; and Lynne Thomas Gordon, CEO of the American Health Information Management Association. Maintaining relevancy in an evolving business environment is critical to all associations. Barbara Byrd Keenan, CEO of the Endocrine Society, Scott Frisch, Executive Vice President and COO of AARP, Lynne Thomas Gordon, CEO of the American Health Information Management Association, and Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, discussed how they helped their organizations reinvent themselves to remain viable in the future.
"The higher you are in the organization, the more time you should be spending on the future," advised Shapiro. "Leaders should be concerned with keeping the organization growing, keeping the excitement, and fighting complacency," he added.
"I don't spend a lot of time handholding my volunteers or worrying about getting out a FedX package," he said. Instead, this CEO took risks to change the organization’s name from the Consumer Electronic Association to the Consumer Technology Association. "We were tapped out in our market, but when we changed our name from electronic to technology, perception of the association changed, and membership grew."
Keenan was also facing a maturing organization and needed to reframe the association so that it appealed to younger members. Rather than announce its centennial meeting, for example, she promoted the conference as the first meeting of our second century. "Language change can reap big benefits," said Keenan.
As the business of medicine faces major shifts, Keenan also recognized that young scientists were looking at things differently from the Endocrine Society’s older leadership. Change management and scenario building go hand-in-hand for Keenan. "Telling a story and helping people see the big picture helps them understand the future," she said. "Look at the wacky, wackier, and wackiest ideas."
Separating the good from the great ideas then becomes an education process. "The most difficult thing a board has to do is to identify what the organization is able to do well," said Gordon. "We can’t be all things to all people."
Gordon suggests that associations remove the clutter so they can move faster and be more agile in responding to change. "If you can’t focus, you can’t move forward, she said. When looking at new projects, it’s critical that they be relevant and that they advance the strategic goals of the organization. Sometimes moving ahead with one project means discontinuing another.
The challenge for CEOs, agreed all panelists, is determining what can come off the table so that new initiatives can move forward. "What you say ‘no’ to is just as important as what you say ‘yes’ to," said Shapiro.
AARP is another association that needed to change its persona to remain relevant to members. AARP began to explore what does it mean to age in America said Frisch and in doing so is changing the national conversation about aging. Its new membership marketing campaign is no longer focused on the "R" (retired) but instead on "imagining the possibilities."
No matter the industry or profession, association executives should be taking risks and helping their organizations imagine the possibilities. That, indeed, is the only way to lead an organization successfully through change.
Nicole Millman-Falk is President of Millman-Falk Communications, LLC, providing content development and strategic communication services for trade associations, professional societies, and donor-based organizations. In addition to her own company, she serves as Editor for Apogee Publications, which provides turnkey association newsletters, magazines, and membership directories. She is Editor of NYSAE's InView and is Chair of the PR & Marketing Committee. She can be reached at 201-652-1687; nicolemillmanfalk@gmail.com; or through her website at www.millmanfalkcommunications.com.