Last week we held our monthly thought leadership webinar titled Breakthrough: A Sure-Fire Process for Busting Through Obstacles and Getting Unstuck, with Mary Byers, CAE, noted speaker, consultant and author of Race for Relevance: 5 Radical Changes for Associations and Road to Relevance: 5 Challenges for Competitive Associations, two of the most talked about association management books in the past five years. Each deals with the challenges associations must address to remain relevant and, more importantly, remain open for business in today’s highly competitive economic environment.
During her presentation, Mary shared the techniques she has developed throughout her 20-year career as an association leader and consultant. These techniques are designed to help you and your organization break down the barriers that prevent you from achieving excellence in the important work you do for your constituents. It can be something as simple as performing an audit of the work you are doing that highlights the activities that are no longer effective or deliver value to you, your organization, or your members.
Using her Ten Minute Planner tool, Mary walked us through the steps one association she works with has implemented. They used the tool to revitalize their chapter leader meetings, which had become lackluster and, as a result, suffered from declining attendance. Mary also provided valuable tips that can help you put the planner to work.
Mary and I reconvened this week for the 8th Episode of Ask the Thought Leader, and continued our discussion by addressing a few of the great questions submitted during the webinar. A couple of the areas we covered were how to deal with staff members who may not be open to change, as well as what to do when you find yourself perpetually planning and never actually doing.
As promised, one of folks who submitted a question during the webinar will receive a copy of Mary’s latest book, Road to Relevance. Congratulations go to Elaine Leighton, the Director of Education for the American Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Society for her winning submission!
I also want to invite you to sign up for our next thought leadership webinar, Social Media ROI in Dollars and Cents, as Ben Martin, CAE, Chief Engagement Officer, Online Community Results, shares with you the creative ways organizations are leveraging social media to earn ROI measured in dollars and cents. We hope you can attend.
