Association CEO Index 2024 - Flipbook - Page 26
Association CEO Index 2024
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“The key to blurring those lines is associations seeing
themselves as commercial entities, not sheltered
workshops.
“How do you get a board to balance their ambition for
bold strategy and disruption with their inherent need for
security?
“We should be great places to work, not just because
we’re flexible or we have good employee benefits, but
because we learnt from brilliant leaders who taught us
about strategy, growth and negotiating deals, delivering
product and understanding our customer experience.
Those are valuable skills, and these are the
conversations good association leaders are having all
the time, so I think we have to shift our own culture to
acknowledge that we are more hard edged than we
think.”
“The answer is there should be competitive tension
between the two. But is the board having really good
and robust conversations about their risk appetite? Are
they aware that those two counter-balancing forces are
at play? And are they very clear on instructions to
management about how we walk the line?”
Megan says she draws her energy and enthusiasm for
the sectors she’s led from a deep understanding of the
value they bring.
“(In my current role), every day it’s about governance,
ethics, trust and having solid institutions and geopolitical
stability – it’s not just about writing minutes properly
(although that’s important too). Governance is just a
fancy word for a framework that you use to make good
decisions.
“When you think about how associations fit into the
Australian economy, we are the primary driver outside
of government itself of public policy and we are the
driving force of a lot of public sentiment on sectors
and industries.”
For all her dynamism and courage, Megan admits to one
issue in particular that keeps her up at night.
Ask 10 association members what they think a good CEO
should do and you will likely get 10 different
answers. This viewpoint diversity is precisely why
Megan believes there is no such thing as a single unique
value proposition for her association.
“The reason we don’t have one is we don’t have a
homogeneous membership. So how would we have a
unique selling proposition when we deliver services to a
broad range of professionals at different stages in their
career trajectory?
“What my graduate members wants is very different to
what my 50-year fellow wants. What is the one thing
they will both be attracted to?
“The reality is, in this day and age and even more so
with technology, we expect hyper-personalisation.
There is no unique value proposition, we have multiple
value propositions.
“We need to lean into a world where value is bespoke. In
saying that, you can’t be all things to all people and
that’s ok, membership is voluntary.”
“How do you balance the trade-off between long-term
strategy and infrastructure build with expectations
around a short-term return on investment? This is what I
am most concerned about because it has the biggest
leverage over our ultimate success.
What really floats my boat, and the reason I have stayed in
associations for so long, is that I’m shifting the shape of the
Australian economy. That’s incredibly powerful to think about. I
wake up every morning and go to work to make the world a
better place because of our engagement in public policy.
Megan Motto, CEO, Governance Institute of Australia
