Associations

Of course there are many areas that associations could be considering when thinking about their place in the future. We focus on four areas that are most pivotal in the success and sustainability of your organisation.

Leadership – Who is on your team? What futures mindset and capacity do they have? What is their tolerance for coping with, instigating and managing change? How robust is your succession plan?

Strategy – What is your strategy for coping with this, and the next crisis? How are you developing the capacity for leadership in a VUCA world, among your leadership team?

Membership – Is your membership still growing, or has the recent global crisis derailed your membership plans? Do you have value for various levels of membership and engagement?

Advocacy – What is your real value to your industry sector? Would people in your field notice if your association stopped operating, or are you essential? Do your members and people in your field, turn to your association for help or do they look elsewhere?

We cannot change the future, if we cannot read it. Futures Literacy is an essential professional development skill that all association executives should develop. This workshop is designed to create awareness of futures issues, the value of futures thinking and to introduce some easily transferable skills to your association leadership team.

As a benefit to your association board or executive leadership team, this workshop is presented at no charge.

As a leader you have to balance your eagerness to move forward with new ideas, innovation and progress, with your team’s ability to cope with change and integrate new concepts. You have to paint a picture, tell a story, encourage and educate. You need to stay ahead of them with new ideas while forging a path for them to follow.

Consider Futures Thinking Coaching to help you stay focused and motivated, and patient.

In the Associations Edition Podcast, you can hear interviews with association executives, volunteers, leaders and management experts, from around the world, share their experiences of managing associations during the COVID 19 crisis, as well as how they plan to continue beyond this season. Conversations range around membership, events, income challenges, strategy and leadership, and what it means to be a relevant association today and into the future.

People often aspire to association leadership positions, because they are aware of the potential professional benefit to such prominent roles. However, running an association, and positioning it for the future, is not the same skill set as running a for profit business, especially when relying on volunteers to manage the bulk of the work.

Don’t let this role, which could be your defining moment, become a burden that frustrates you and undermines the rest of your efforts. Future Thinking Coaching, with a focus on association leadership, will help you make progress in both your personal and professional goals.