Leadership Excellence in Business Associations

John Gustavson

President and CEO, Canadian Marketing Association
© Leader Quest Inc. and John Gustavson

Recipients of the Pinnacle Award, given by the Canadian Society of Association Executives, are outstanding leaders in the not-for-profit sector. In this article, Leader Quest asked one of Canada’s top business association leaders and a Pinnacle Award recipient to share his insights on what it takes to succeed.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  Successful trade association leadership is all about providing member value and, equally important, constantly demonstrating that value to the membership.  That means harnessing the hundreds of ideas that come from a volunteer Board, committee members and the membership at large in any given year and turning these same ideas into actionable programming that can be delivered on-time and on-budget with limited financial and staff resources.

What are the most critical factors in determining whether an association CEO is successful or not?  In most business associations, success is measured in terms of the leadership and member value that is delivered through advocacy, education and professional development opportunities, and events that foster a sense of community within the business sector or discipline being served. 

At the Canadian Marketing Association, these three pillars are an integral part of our brand promise:

  • to provide members with the resources to help them navigate through today’s competitive marketplace;

  • to provide a key forum to facilitate business and networking opportunities; and

  • to act as the industry’s leading advocate on legislative matters.

Delivering on the brand promise is of paramount importance to any association.  What the CEO brings to the table is the ability to:

  • spot talent -- in terms of volunteers who serve on committees and a Board of Directors that can offer the right guidance;

  • prioritize the issues and provide the relevant programming given scarce resources; and

  • lead a professional staff that can effectively manage the issues at hand.  

Associations with effective, visionary leaders are able to define the future direction and acquire the resources needed to accomplish their objectives.  Those with resources but no leadership tend to stagnate and even decline doing the same old things that they’ve done for years.  This is an all too common trap for many association CEOs.

While there’s no hard and fast rule as to what makes a successful association CEO, there are particular skill sets that are fundamental to the job:

  • Generating the next great idea.  The CEO’s role is not necessarily to have the next great, grand idea, but to find the right volunteers and the synergies required to produce the right ideas with the right staff that will live up to the goals and aspirations of the membership.  You can be very successful basing your decisions on other people’s thinking.

  • Association experience.  Too often trade association CEOs make the direct jump from private industry with no experience in association management.  The functions of the association are very different than those of the sector or discipline it represents.  And what works in business doesn’t always work when you’re dealing with stakeholders from many different backgrounds and with varying interests. 

  • Strong interpersonal skills and diplomacy.  If there’s a skill set that every association CEO needs to survive, it’s strong interpersonal skills and the ability to reach compromise on very sensitive issues that might otherwise threaten the very makeup of the association, particularly if one party within the association membership is pursuing an agenda that is not in line with the association’s vision and mission.

  • Knowing when to say “no” to Board members and volunteers.  The more engaged an association Board of Directors is, the more likely they are to generate new strategies to elevate the association to new heights.  In itself, this provides the association CEO with guidance on how the association might evolve.  There are times, however, when the recommended strategy needs to be put on the back burner because of the resources required to execute the proposed plan.  The CEO has to have the strength to move the Board to allocate priorities and identify what will not be done.  The Board cannot just keep demanding more.  Equally important, if you’re unable to accept their recommendation, or that of a volunteer committee or council, take the time to explain your decision to the respective group.  It will help gain their respect over the longer term.

  • Formal education.  At the very least, one who aspires to lead a trade association should possess a considerable amount of formal education.  Very often, the more education one has the better.  This is especially true if you hope to gain respect from your Board of Directors and if you want to move the job from being simply an operations (COO/executive director) function into a forward-thinking and strategic role where black-and-white moves to shades of grey.

  • The ability to manage change -- A CEO’s ability to manage change is very much an art -- not a science -- based on five key premises:

    1. Change is evolutionary.

    2. If it isn’t broken, don’t break it just for the sake of making a change.

    3. There really are dumb ideas: Just because something is innovative doesn’t make it right.

    4. Evolution must be constant: Keep asking, checking and surveying members. 

    5. Change requires a partnership between membership and staff with mutual respect.