Association CEO Index 2024 - Flipbook - Page 45
Association CEO Index 2024
“The most critical thing you need to understand is that
relating to members is very different to relating to a
client. You’re not selling a product or a service in a
traditional way (in associations). You have to have the
commerciality of being able to run an organisation, but
you need to understand your engagement with the
member base is a fundamentally different connection.
Members have different expectations of what you do as
an organisation and how you treat them as individuals.
“Members have their own needs and wants. One member
is going to want advocacy, while another one wants
events or services. The whole point of being an
association CEO is knowing that, understanding that and
not expecting all your members to be alike. You have to
cater for the person who wants A, B and C and you also
have to cater for the stuff they don't know they yet
want.”
John left ACCA to join ARITA in 2014 and is in his 10th
year as CEO. Clearly bitten by the bug, he balances his
duties with being President of the Australasian
Association of Association Executives (AuSAE), the peak
professional association for association leaders.
“We need to create more strong association leaders and
we need to be out and proud about what we do,” John
says. “That’s why I am the zealot I am in taking on the role
of AuSAE President – I believe there are opportunities for
good change.
“There’s not enough internal succession and many
boards don’t have the belief that another association CEO
in an unrelated field is the best choice.
“The way you change it is by building the bench strength
in every association from the ground up, so you’ve got
great emerging talent who will be the future leaders in
what is regarded as a proper career choice. We need to
better articulate the value of taking a leadership role in an
association from the executive side, because we have to
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move away from the concept that this is a retirement job
for someone who has been a member of the association
for a long time.
“To run a competitive, sustainable and future-proof
association requires strategic vision and real energy. It’s
not the place you come to put your feet up.
“We also need to capitalise on our point of difference,
which is that we are for-purpose entities. When you show
up and do your job here, there are people out there who
genuinely appreciate it and that is incredibly rewarding.
We run intensely commercial operations, but we do it for
purpose; and that lets you go to bed at night feeling
satisfied and happy.”
John, who has a young family and loves yacht racing on
Sydney’s waters, is relishing his role as a crusader,
advocate, innovator and disciplinarian shaping policy and
reform, and driving proper professional practice.
But most pleasing is his here and now, and all that
contemporary professional life offers, some 37 years
after the world as he knew it wobbled for a bit.
“What it taught me is that you can't be linear,” John says,
referencing the fallout from Black Tuesday. “Go where
the opportunity takes you and try not to have a blinkered
view to what you do next. And while yes, I've had this
portfolio career, it's been a wonderful journey. I've
learned so much. It's been brilliant because I have this
wonderful world view and I’ve got such a broad
appreciation of what happens in other people's lives.
“So I'm incredibly fortunate that it probably started from
that pivotal moment of saying to myself (in 1987), ‘You
know what, this isn't in my hands, I can't control the
future. But by God, I'm going to work my guts out to try
and make the best of that future.’”
Winter Wisdom
Top tips for association leaders
1. Realise members are different to customers and be empathetic.
2. Be valuable and indispensable to your members.
3. Always watch the bottom-line and plan for the future of that bottom-line 10 years from now.
4. Focus on service and product delivery, not just membership drives.
5. Use technology to serve members better.
