1. The Essence of Leadership

Aim To:

Maximise personal performance and that of the team, changing, adapting, or reinforcing systems, processes, and culture as required to ensure the success of the association.

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By or Through:

Leading self

  • Identifying your personal values, motivations, and aspirations and understanding how these can help or hinder your performance.
  • Identifying and eliminating the self-limiting beliefs and distractions that restrict your performance.
  • Displaying emotional control, recognising and understanding your emotional responses and managing them appropriately.
  • Demonstrating behaviour which conforms with the highest standards of public professional conduct: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.
  • Seeking and welcoming the feedback of others, recognising it as an opportunity to better understand how you are perceived, how you are received, how to manage your emotional triggers, and how enhance your performance. 
  • Recognising that things go wrong, reflecting on and learning from mistakes, and having personal coping strategies, including a peer support network, in place for when this happens.
  • Planning and managing your personal and professional development.
  • Achieving a work-life balance that works for you.
  • Spending time on reflective practice, valuing the opportunities to reflect on your thoughts, feelings, and actions to understand, evaluate, and interpret events and experiences so that you may benefit from a process of continuous learning.

Personal brand

  • Identifying the unique combination of characteristics which make you an authentic leader.
  • Understanding that your personal brand must be aligned with that of the association; and thus cultivating your personal brand to position yourself as a credible association leader.
  • Building your credibility and reputation across the association’s ecosystem by being consistent, honest, responsive, and trustworthy. 
  • Developing and maintaining a working knowledge of members’ profession, sector, and/or industry; and demonstrating an unquestionable commitment to supporting members’ interests. 
  • Recognising that managing your personal brand requires time and energy, and that it can suffer adversely if your behaviour, attitude, and/or interactions are inconsistent or anachronistic.

Nurturing values and culture

  • Understanding the complexity of the system within which you operate; recognising the impact and trade-offs of your decisions, and knowing how best to engage stakeholders and staff to realise success.
  • Supporting the Board as it defines and lives by a set of values and a culture that underpins the association’s purpose and proposition.
  • Recognising, celebrating, and harnessing individuals’ skills and expertise for the benefit of the association; and articulating and enforcing the principle that individual and team performance is key to realising the association’s objectives, i.e. promoting performance culture.
  • Recognising the significance of the Chief Executive as a role model and leading by personal example, consistently upholding the association’s standards, culture and values, and challenging the behaviour of others when required.
  • Accentuating culture through policy, publishing pragmatic guidance which offer clarity of expectation without stifling individual creativity or originality of thought, i.e. empowering staff and volunteers to work confidently and adeptly within a recognised and understood environment. 
  • Promoting a culture of constructive conflict, recognising that conflict does happen but that it does not always need to be negative and destructive - alternative perspectives and constructive challenge add value to problem solving and decision-making; and constructive conflict can generate a strong sense of team cohesion.
  • Understanding that becoming a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable association requires nuanced decision-making and the EDI is an association-wide philosophy, not a task list; and knowing how to articulate and reinforce principles and expectations.
  • Embracing the knowledge management lifecycle, and driving the association towards becoming a learning organisation, i.e. creating a virtuous learning cycle, ensuring the flow of pertinent information into, out of, and throughout the association, for the benefit of enhancing the value proposition and strengthening the organisation. 

Systems thinking

  • Recognising that the association is a collection of interrelated or interdependent parts, which form a unified whole; and understanding the interconnected dynamics of the multiple systems which comprise the association is central to business planning and decision-making.
  • Understanding causality and deciphering the way things influence each other in a system, i.e. that larger things emerge from small parts, and that business decisions can have systematic consequences, not merely isolated outcomes.
  • Adopting a systems approach to organisational strategy and operational planning by integrating goals from different parts of the association into the whole organisation, and allowing the system to maintain a balance and equilibrium.
  • Supporting staff and directors in adopting a three-dimensional perspective, ensuring they recognise their role, responsibilities, outputs, and impacts within the wider association context, and not only within the narrow parameters of their operational mandate.
  • Working to minimise negative complications or issues, whilst also seeing problems as exciting opportunities to innovate and develop creativity. 

Leading teams

  • Ensuring staff and volunteers understand their individual and collective objectives in relation to the strategic plan, and appreciating their impacts and value.
  • Inspiring and empowering staff to make decisions and demonstrate leadership within their own spheres of influence and areas of expertise.
  • Delegating tasks and trusting staff to rise to new challenges, and being available to provide support and guidance as needed.
  • Encouraging a culture that encourages self-reflection and learning, and enables all individuals to contribute and feel valued.
  • Developing a range of leadership styles and applying them empathically to different individuals and situations.
  • Valuing and celebrating diversity of thought, ideation, and innovation from within the team.
  • Creating mechanisms that ensure open and consistent communications amongst the team.
  • Understanding how to balance internal focus with external perspective, ensuring decision-making is consistent with strategic objectives and that relevant personnel maintain their focus on outcomes rather than process.
  • Strengthening and growing positive mindsets amongst your team, focusing and capitalising on peoples’ passions to achieve individual and shared goals.

Developing talent

  • Recognising the difference between being innovative and supporting innovation by others, fostering innovation as a means of developing internal expertise, as well as leading change.
  • Reinforcing staff empowerment, accomplishment, and contribution bydemonstrating that staff are valued and trusted.
  • Sharing goals and directions and including staff in planning,where they can add value, knowledge, ideas, and experience.
  • Delegating meetings, project management, and opportunities toinfluence, trusting staff to perform, learn, and develop their expertise.  
  • Acknowledging endeavour, celebrating success, and rewarding results.
  • Embracingreciprocal mentoring models which benefit both mentee and mentor, providingsafe, supportive spaces for shared learning and self-exploration.

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Embracing ambition

  • Recognising personal and collective ambition as driving motives which propel us to reach beyond what is considered possible; and understanding that ambition fuels creativity, design thinking, and an entrepreneurial spirit, and is therefore a powerful leadership quality.
  • Silencing your inner critic when feeling self-doubt, defining exactly what are your personal and collective ambitions, and using those ambitions for the mutual benefit of you and the association.
  • Encouraging all staff, directors, and volunteers to be as ambitious as possible, and to share in the success of mutual endeavour.
  • In a world that is increasingly complex, capricious, and volatile, cultivating an inquisitive culture: assuming less; asking more questions; asking different, better questions; valuing not just what people think, but what they feel; and listening intently to the answers you receive.
  • Defining results by understanding members’ needs and expectations, and continually reflecting on “what is wanted” and “what is needed” before deciding how to meet those needs and expectations
  • Understanding how organisational capabilities connect with and directly underpin desired results

Resilience

  • Recognising that resilience is not just the ability to “bounce back” but also the capacity to adapt in the face of challenging circumstances, whilst maintaining a stable mental wellbeing; 
  • Understanding that resilience is not a personality trait but a way of being that can be developed by making positive lifestyle changes; maintaining good physical and mental health; building a support network; and/or maintaining a positive mindset.
  • Maintaining strategic perspective in the face of day-to-day operational tribulations.
  • Embracing challenges as opportunities to learn, rather than obstacles to overcome; and using personal and collective ambition as motivation to persevere with demanding tasks, relationships, or projects over a sustained period of time. 
  • Preparing for crises and rapid change by articulating contingency plans that allow you and the team to respond immediately to change, rather than react urgently to circumstances.

Possessing integrity and building trust

  • Recognising that trust underpins every aspect of effective working relationships, and that the more someone trusts a leader, the greater the likelihood that they will cooperate, share information, and work constructively together.
  • Embracing openness and honesty as fundamental drivers for building trust, remembering that nobody is infallible and that learning from mistakes is a far more powerful business tool than punishing errors.
  • Communicating effectively, ensuring staff, directors, volunteers, and stakeholders have clarity around activities, events, and developments, as well as on what is expected of them.
  • Refraining from hoarding information, or using knowledge or intelligence as a means of controlling people, dominating the narrative, or influencing decision-making.
  • Maintaining moral integrity by protecting confidences; admitting when you are wrong; being sincere; avoiding gossip; and being non-judgemental, whilst also being discerning. 
  • Consciously choosing to loudly and visibly take responsibility for problems, crises, and missteps; and identifying the people or factors which contributed to an issue, holding them to account, and making adjustments - not to punish or reprimand, but to ensure mistakes are not repeated, and that all involved learn from their experience.
  • Moving on from mistakes or crises and precluding an issue from defining you or the association.

Cultivating leadership within the membership

  • Supporting the Board in defining and implementing their succession planning, enacting a continuous cycle of leadership development from within the membership.
  • Recognising the different motivations, skills and expertise of Board members, and working with individual directors to expand their horizons and revisit their opinions, as part of the process for securing the best possible outcomes for the association. 
  • Promoting governance as a membership benefit, rather than an administrative burden, i.e. advocating Board membership as a professional privilege and an opportunity to engage in purposeful design of the association’s long-term direction; but crucially also recognising it as an opportunity for members to enhance their professional expertise by learning career-enhancing skills and establishing enduring professional networks.
  • Investing in directors’ professional development, acknowledging that the association will only benefit from a knowledgeable, competent, and confidence governing body. 


KNOWLEDGE

  • Association culture and heritage
  • Barriers to engagement and methods of resolution
  • Brand management
  • Business ethics
  • EDI as an association-wide philosophy, not a task list
  • Integrated planning
  • Metrics and performance indicators
  • Peer-to-peer management tools
  • Peoples' needs and motivations
  • Resource efficiency
  • Social responsibility
  • Succession planning and exit strategies
  • Talent strategies and management
  • Team dynamics
  • The association's industry and/or profession
  • The Internet of Things
  • Values

SKILLS

  • Accurately read and respond to others’ emotions
  • Balance the needs of members with those of the association
  • Balance the needs of stakeholders with those of the association
  • Coaching and mentoring
  • Collaborative leadership
  • Converse in a timely, practical, and constructive manner
  • Diplomacy
  • Diverse communication styles
  • Engage in process-driven constructive conflict
  • Facilitation
  • Horizon scanning
  • Leading a group to consensus
  • Listening to learn
  • Partnership management
  • Persuade and influence
  • Relationship management and networking
  • Soliciting feedback
  • Strategic business planning and management
  • Supporting and mentoring staff and volunteers
  • Enforcing staff empowerment, accomplishment, and contribution by demonstrating that staff are valued and trusted. 
  • Sharing goals and directions and including staff in planning, where they can add value, knowledge, ideas, and experience. 
  • Delegating meetings, project management, and opportunities to influence, trusting staff to perform, learn, and develop their expertise.  
  • Acknowledging endeavour, celebrating success, and rewarding results.
  • Embracing reciprocal mentoring models which benefit both mentee and mentor, providing safe, supportive spaces for shared learning and self-exploration. 

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Suggested Courses

The Association Leadership Compass provides a framework to help both emerging and seasoned leaders identify skills and behaviours of an effective chief executive. It offers a list of training courses and resources, organized by key competencies, to support professional development. This list is not exhaustive, and TAF welcomes recommendations for additional resources or courses. By crowdsourcing, we aim to create a comprehensive catalogue for trade association chief executives. We also encourage training providers to address any gaps in available resources.

‍

‍

‍

TAF Resource Library

For further resources including trade association governance, legal, membership, finance and more - https://www.taforum.org/resource-library/

Back To Menu
What do you want to read up on?
1
The Essence of Leadership
2
Strategic Financial Management
3
Support Governance
4
Plan and Deliver Strategy
5
Advocate
6
Lead Volunteers
7
Maximise Commercial Opportunity
8
Engage Community & Stakeholders
9
Lead Operations

2. Strategic Financial Management

Aim To:

Employ financial management protocol which lay the foundations for financial strength, build organisational resilience, and expedite financial sustainability.

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By or Through:

Creating financial strategy

  • Working collaboratively with the Board and staff to develop and deliver a financial strategy that reflects current economic circumstances, underpins the association’s strategic objectives, and reflects the Board and memberships’ ambitions for the association and the profession for which it exists.
  • Encouraging diverse views, questioning assumptions, challenging the Board and being prepared to be challenged in order to achieve a robust financial strategy.

Scenario planning

  • Simulating the impact of changes on financial performance, undertaking risk analyses and preparing the association for different events that might occur, such as a global pandemic, travel restrictions, or economic vagaries. 
  • Recognising that scenario planning is not a science but a guide for responding to particular circumstances, albeit one that should include key indicators on material changes, with related action items.

Budget management

  • Appreciating that budgets should provide an association with a challenging but realistic baseline for evaluation throughout the year, specifying targets and providing staff with Board-approved parameters within which to operate. 
  • Understanding the various methods for generating an operational budget: zero-based; activity-based; value-based; and incremental.
  • Creating and maintaining an overarching multi-year budget, which is tied to the association’s strategic plan.
  • Maintaining a watching brief on the association’s external environments, i.e. political, economic, social, technological and legal contexts; and responding to changing circumstances appropriately, acknowledging that change is a part of life and that budgets can require reforecasting. 
  • Monitoring income and expenditure against budget and sharing key performance data with relevant parties accordingly.
  • Communicating budgetary plans and performance across the association, to the correct people at the correct time.
  • Ensuring regional chapters or groups have the tools, information, and skills necessary to manage their budgets (within the agreed level of delegated responsibility), and that appropriate central control measures are established and understood by all concerned. 

Managing cashflow

  • Understanding the income and expenditure profile across the year, recognising where there may be peaks and troughs, and determining if operational reserves will be required during a period when expenditure outstrips income. 
  • Planning strategies to maintain cashflow, i.e. use of reserves, cutting costs, cashing in investments, external borrowing facilities, product (sales) launch, prompt invoicing, stringent credit control, mobile payment solutions, corporate credit cards, etc.
  • Seeking and utilising the advice and guidance of expert financial advisers as required.

Financial analysis

  • Articulating and reviewing the metrics which allow for accurate and relevant tracking and reporting, and ensure the association’s leadership can confidently assess the organisation’s financial health and stability.
  • Explaining why a metric may be trending a certain way, or why it may be materially different to a peer organisation.

Financial reporting

  • Being able to read financial statements and make decisions based on the data.
  • Understanding and benefiting from the data presented in the management accounts, i.e. profit and loss account, the balance sheet, cash flow statement, and narrative vis-à-vis performance and projections.
  • Understanding the level of information required by the Board to maintain fiduciary oversight.

Managing reserves

  • Recognising the significant value of maintaining reserves to ensure financial stability when unforeseen economic conditions arise. 
  • Understanding that “long-term financial stability” relies not only on maintaining business-as-usual but also on the ability to pivot and recognise new opportunities, and that reserves are also a means of creating an internal line of credit that enables financial flexibility and investment in the value proposition. 

Investment portfolios

  • Understanding an association’s liquid reserves can represent a very small or very large portion of the organisation’s assets; and that maintaining a diverse portfolio, which balances risk with return, is a key facet of the Board’s fiduciary responsibilities. 
  • Ensuring an investment policy is in place which governs the portfolio’s administration, reflecting the Board’s shared appetite for risk, clarifying control processes, outlining the types of investment the association may include in its portfolio, specifying levels of diversification, and articulating the parameters within which investment advisors can operate without constant Board approval.
  • Seeking and utilising the advice and guidance of expert investment advisers as required.

Understanding tax

  • Understanding the tax system of the country in which the association is registered, including (but not limited to) sales tax, VAT, corporation tax, payroll and social security taxes, property tax, and import & export duties. 
  • Understanding the tax systems of the countries in which the association operates, recognising that there may be tax implications when maintaining cross-border operations.  

Internal controls

  • Ensuring personnel who are tasked with day-to-day financial management are suitably qualified and/or appropriately trained to act with care and diligence. This applies to both staff and non-executive directors.
  • Understanding and working within the parameters of the delegated authority assigned by the Board to individuals, sub-committees, regional chapters or groups; and recognising and considering the potential impacts on the association’s overall financial plans and performance. 
  • Ensuring authorised spending limits and sign-off procedures are clearly articulated and understood by staff and volunteers.
  • Ensuring appropriate checks and balances are in place to minimise inaccuracies, mistakes, or miscalculations.
  • Ensuring appropriate decision-making and reporting processes are in place to detect, prevent, and deal with fraud.
  • Maintaining an audit trail and commissioning qualified external auditors to appraise internal controls, review verification procedures, identify training requirements, and assess financial data. Doing so maintains transparency and underpins the Board’s accountability.


KNOWLEDGE

  • Asset management
  • Budget methodology
  • Economic contexts
  • Interpreting financial data
  • Legal contexts
  • Managing conflicts of interest
  • Metrics and performance indicators
  • Not-for-profit revenue streams
  • Options appraisal
  • Political contexts
  • Procurement
  • Reserves Management
  • Risk management
  • Social contexts
  • Supply chain management
  • Taxation
  • Technological contexts

SKILLS

  • Analyse and interpret data
  • Balance the needs of members with those of the association
  • Communicating financial data in an accessible manner
  • Cost-benefit analysis
  • Data analysis and interpretation
  • Develop sound financial policies and procedures
  • Engage in process-driven constructive conflict
  • Financial strategy, modelling, and analysis
  • Horizon scanning
  • Listening to learn
  • Manage varying levels of experience and expertise
  • Negotiation
  • Operational planning
  • Supporting and mentoring staff and volunteers
  • Strategy and policy development

Suggested Courses

The Association Leadership Compass provides a framework to help both emerging and seasoned leaders identify skills and behaviours of an effective chief executive. It offers a list of training courses and resources, organized by key competencies, to support professional development. This list is not exhaustive, and TAF welcomes recommendations for additional resources or courses. By crowdsourcing, we aim to create a comprehensive catalogue for trade association chief executives. We also encourage training providers to address any gaps in available resources.

‍

‍

‍

TAF Resource Library

For further resources including trade association governance, legal, membership, finance and more - https://www.taforum.org/resource-library/

‍

Back To Menu
What do you want to read up on?
1
The Essence of Leadership
2
Strategic Financial Management
3
Support Governance
4
Plan and Deliver Strategy
5
Advocate
6
Lead Volunteers
7
Maximise Commercial Opportunity
8
Engage Community & Stakeholders
9
Lead Operations

3. Support Governance

Aim To:

Support the Board in fulfilling their primary duty of enhancing the prosperity and viability of the association by enacting policies that ensure compliance and propriety, and nurture an environment that promotes attitudes and culture where everything and everyone works toward realising the association’s success.

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By or Through:

Compliance with corporate legislation and regulation

  • Acting with care and diligence to ensure that all legal and regulatory requirements are met, including (but not limited to) employment law, equality legislation, consumer rights, corporation protocol, and health & safety law. 
  • Recognising that both primary and/or secondary instruments may apply, and that national (federal), regional (state/provincial), and local (municipality) statutes may also apply.
  • Understanding the legal and regulatory obligations of the association.
  • Understanding the legal and regulatory duties of individual directors and the board collectively.
  • Understanding the role of the corporate/board secretary.

Articulating the Board’s operating protocol

  • Ensuring the structures, processes, and systems are in place which enable Board members to be effective in their roles, including (but not limited to) financial regulations, the risk management framework, conflict of interest processes, scheme of delegation, and a strategy for stakeholder engagement.
  • Understanding governance models and how they apply to the association.
  • Recognising the value and maximising the expertise of the Board’s sub-committees, including the Nominations Committee, Risk & Audit Committee, and the Remuneration Committee.

Defining roles and responsibilities

  • Articulating the association’s expectations of its Board, i.e. beyond the scope of legislative and regulatory obligations.
  • Recognising directors have operational, strategic, and administrative functions covering their governance, leadership, and management roles.

Conducting well-designed board meetings

  • Appreciating that board meetings should benefit from intentional design and good facilitation.
  • Working with the Chair of the Board to plan the annual meetings calendar, building in flexibility to meet changing circumstances, whilst ensuring major agenda items are not overlooked, and that Board discussion aligns with the annual cycle of business.
  • Agreeing the protocol for creating and circulating board papers, including directors’ requirements for information and timescales for making informed decisions.
  • Promoting boardroom behaviour.
  • Reflecting on the quality of Board meetings and learning from limitations or failings to ensure continual improvement. 

Promoting Board culture

  • Recognising and capitalising on positive and constructive Board relationships, amongst directors and between directors and the Executive.
  • Recognising that conflict may occur but being robust in upholding the association’s standards and challenging the behaviour of others when necessary.
  • Encouraging a culture of learning and reflection amongst the Board.
  • Accepting and celebrating diverse viewpoints.
  • Cultivating trust-based relationships with directors and working with the Chair of the Board to foster a culture of constructive conflict in the boardroom, whereby disagreement and differing perspectives are used as a tool for problem solving, informing better decision-making, and generating a strong sense of team cohesion.

Risk management

  • Identifying and understanding the five categories of risk: strategic; financial; operational; compliance; and force majeure.
  • Producing and maintaining a risk register.
  • Utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods for assessing likelihood and impact.
  • Evaluating and managing risk.
  • Recognising that risk can be good for the association, and appreciating that a totally risk-averse culture can inhibit business development.
  • Accepting that failure is a necessary part of growth, for both organisations and individuals.

Developing Board Talent

  • Understanding the personalities of Board members, where the power lies, and how to get things done.
  • Helping the Board to identify their skills and knowledge gaps in relation to the association’s vision and strategy.
  • Developing a clear plan to address any skills and knowledge gaps amongst the Board.
  • Developing a succession plan and nurturing a talent pipeline which supports prospective directors’ in developing their knowledge of not-for-profit corporate governance.
  • Proactively seeking diversity on the Board and working to address issues of under-representation.
  • Developing a clear and transparent Board recruitment and induction process.
  • Supporting the Board in identifying, discussing, and critically reflecting on their culture, values and performance.


KNOWLEDGE

  • Advantages and disadvantages of volunteering
  • Board succession planning
  • Business ethics
  • Corporate governance standards and codes
  • Digital trends and emerging technologies
  • EDI as an association-wide philosophy, not a task list
  • ESG
  • Governance models
  • Governance roles and responsibilities
  • Laws and regulation
  • Peoples' needs and motivations
  • Performance management
  • Professionalisation
  • Public policy
  • Risk management
  • Succession planning and exit strategies
  • Talent identification and management
  • Team dynamics
  • UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Volunteer management

SKILLS

  • Accurately read and respond to others’ emotions
  • Balance the needs of members with those of the association
  • Converse in a timely, practical, and constructive manner
  • Diplomacy
  • Engage in process-driven constructive conflict
  • Horizon scanning
  • Identify opportunities and threats
  • Listening to learn
  • Manage varying levels of experience and expertise
  • Negotiation
  • Persuade and influence
  • Present creative solutions and innovations
  • Propose alternative options
  • Relationship management and networking
  • Stakeholder analysis
  • Strategic business planning and management

Suggested Courses

The Association Leadership Compass provides a framework to help both emerging and seasoned leaders identify skills and behaviours of an effective chief executive. It offers a list of training courses and resources, organized by key competencies, to support professional development. This list is not exhaustive, and TAF welcomes recommendations for additional resources or courses. By crowdsourcing, we aim to create a comprehensive catalogue for trade association chief executives. We also encourage training providers to address any gaps in available resources.

‍

‍

‍

TAF Resource Library

For further resources including trade association governance, legal, membership, finance and more - https://www.taforum.org/resource-library/

Back To Menu
What do you want to read up on?
1
The Essence of Leadership
2
Strategic Financial Management
3
Support Governance
4
Plan and Deliver Strategy
5
Advocate
6
Lead Volunteers
7
Maximise Commercial Opportunity
8
Engage Community & Stakeholders
9
Lead Operations

4. Plan and Deliver Strategy

Aim To:

Work in collaboration with and in support of the Board in determining the strategic direction and priorities of the association, creating and maintaining the foundations for long-term business relevance and growth.

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By or Through:

Environmental analysis

  • Analysing and translating the actual and potential impacts on the association of current and/or emerging political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental, and market trends.
  • Understanding how the needs, behaviours, and expectations of different types of member impact the association’s ongoing development.
  • Monitoring the market performance of the industry which the association supports, and interpreting developments as opportunities for or threats to the association.
  • Assessing how the views, experiences, and expertise of the Board and staff may impact strategic planning and delivery.
  • Conducting a competitive analysis and identifying the association’s competitive advantages.
  • Recognising the role that  the association’s culture and heritage might play in informing the development or delivery of strategy.
  • Benchmarking the association’s performance and practises with comparable national and international organisations. 
  • Identifying and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses in the association, and prioritising methods for responding to each. 

Articulating vision and mission

  • Engaging the Board, staff, and key stakeholders, including regional chapters and groups, in defining or refreshing the association’s vision and mission, articulating the shared ambitions for the association and the role it can play in supporting its members.
  • Ensuring the vision accurately reflects the environmental analysis and that the mission responds to genuine need.
  • Communicating and advocating the association’s purpose and proposition in a way that inspires staff, the Board, volunteers, members, and external stakeholders to want to engage and work collaboratively with the association.
  • Regularly returning to the vision and mission to ensure they remain relevant.

Strategic business planning

  • Supporting the Board in identifying the strategic issues/opportunities and defining the long-term objectives or goals which respond to those issues/opportunities.
  • Agreeing with the Board the organisation-wide measures of success (key performance indicators or metrics), milestones, and timescales.
  • Translating strategic objectives into an organisation-wide operational plan.
  • Negotiating budgets, prioritising workload, and ensuring staff and/or volunteers have the resources required to deliver the plan.
  • Ensuring everyone is conversant with and adheres to the parameters of decision-making, delegated authorities, roles and responsibilities, and lines of accountability.

Values and Culture

  • Agreeing a set of values that are consistent with the association’s vision and mission, as well as the needs and interests of members.
  • Ensuring those values are inclusive and take account of individual diversity.
  • Communicating the values to all staff and volunteers, and to members and other stakeholders.
  • Identifying, promoting, and modelling the types of behaviour that are consistent with the association’s values.
  • Ensuring the association’s policies and procedures support the agreed values.
  • Periodically reviewing organisational culture, and redefining or reinforcing values as required

Monitoring and review

  • Aligning staff performance management systems with strategic objectives, ensuring staff have clearly defined personal goals which directly relate and respond to strategy, which are challenging but fair, and against which appraisal can be reasonably conducted.
  • Scrutinizing divergence, evaluating the reasons, and taking remedial action where necessary.
  • Focusing on impact by building feedback and reflection points into delivery processes and assessing whether performance translates into actual positive change.
  • Recognising that strategy does not succeed in a vacuum and that it is a live, agile, and flexible plan which must be responsive (not reactive) to change, new opportunities, or unexpected threats.
  • Acknowledging success, celebrating achievement, and recognising the industry of staff, Board members, and/or volunteers.

Leading change

  • Identifying the systems, processes, structures, or cultures that may require change.
  • Exploring the opportunities and not just the challenges of change, recognising that the “ways things are done” should not restrict change.
  • Developing an awareness of the appetite for change within the association.
  • Developing a detailed plan for change, and communicating its purpose and value in a positive manner, through influence and persuasion.
  • Identifying who will support the change, who might resist it, and who or what might try to block it, and using that information to build an effective change management plan.
  • Horizon scanning and capturing, sharing, and integrating relevant and valid knowledge into decision-making,
  • Inspiring and motivating others to engage as a team in identifying and implementing change.
  • Providing ongoing support and encouragement for others who are developing and testing new activities or approaches.
  • Listening with empathy to the concerns, worries, or anxieties of those involved in the change.
  • Exploring fresh ideas and challenging the status quo to inform the association’s business development and long-term direction. 

Futures literacy

  • Maintaining awareness of new and impending habits, trends, and influences on society, and reflecting on how these might impact the association
  • Accepting that uncertainty is inevitable but that there is always opportunity to shape and control the association’s direction and not merely respond or react to circumstances.
  • Recognising that the futures we imagine dictate the potentials we see in the present, and that by moving beyond a dependency on the conventional images of certainty (which we use to bolster our confidence in planning and investing) will enable us to identify and better appreciate change, nuance, and emerging potentialities.
  • Understanding the role of the “future” in what we see and do: empowering imaginations and enhancing the association’s ability to prepare, recover, and invent as changes occur.
  • Thinking creatively and developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, systems, relationships, or products.
  • Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses or alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. 
  • Communicating with others to translate or explain what information means and how it can be used.

Evidence-led decision-making

  • Understanding the value and restrictions of various qualitative and quantitative research methods, adopting the appropriate model when commissioning studies.
  • Recognising the value of [internal and external] consultation and understanding the correct time for engaging with members and/or stakeholders.
  • Using both quantitative and qualitative data to inform or influence internal opinion.
  • Maximising the use of intelligence to influence external stakeholders, policymakers, and/or decision-makers.
  • Using evidence as the mandate for dynamic action and growth.
  • Maintaining data integrity and hygiene, and conducting routine data reviews.
  • Recognising that past performance is no guarantee of future results.


KNOWLEDGE

  • Association culture and heritage
  • Benchmarking tools
  • Business ethics
  • Competitive analysis
  • Consultation methodology
  • Digital trends and emerging technologies
  • Market differentiation and unique selling points
  • Metrics and performance indicators
  • Options appraisal
  • PESTLE analysis
  • Public policy
  • Research methodology
  • Resource efficiency
  • Risk management
  • Social responsibility
  • Supply chain management
  • SWOT analysis
  • Team dynamics
  • The association's industry and/or profession
  • The Internet of Things
  • UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Values

SKILLS

  • Balance the needs of members with those of the association
  • Collaborative leadership
  • Communicating financial data in an accessible manner
  • Converse in a timely, practical, and constructive manner
  • Diverse communication styles
  • Facilitation
  • Horizon scanning
  • Identify opportunities and threats
  • Leading a group to consensus
  • Listening to learn
  • Manage varying levels of experience and expertise
  • Negotiation
  • Operational planning
  • People management
  • Persuade and influence
  • Present creative solutions and innovations
  • Propose alternative options
  • Relationship management and networking
  • Resource management
  • Soliciting feedback
  • Strategic business planning and management
  • Strategy and policy development

Suggested Courses

The Association Leadership Compass provides a framework to help both emerging and seasoned leaders identify skills and behaviours of an effective chief executive. It offers a list of training courses and resources, organized by key competencies, to support professional development. This list is not exhaustive, and TAF welcomes recommendations for additional resources or courses. By crowdsourcing, we aim to create a comprehensive catalogue for trade association chief executives. We also encourage training providers to address any gaps in available resources.

‍

‍

‍

TAF Resource Library

For further resources including trade association governance, legal, membership, finance and more - https://www.taforum.org/resource-library/

‍

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What do you want to read up on?
1
The Essence of Leadership
2
Strategic Financial Management
3
Support Governance
4
Plan and Deliver Strategy
5
Advocate
6
Lead Volunteers
7
Maximise Commercial Opportunity
8
Engage Community & Stakeholders
9
Lead Operations

5. Advocate

Aim To:

Establish the association as the trusted voice of the industry, sector, and/or profession, advocating with the authentic voice of the membership, whose specialist skills, knowledge, experience, and expertise underpin sagacious positions, credible perspectives, and pragmatic proposals on issues, challenges, and/or opportunities.

‍

By or Through:

Positioning the association

  • Consulting with members on the salient issues to understand positions, impacts, opportunities, and challenges, and to advocate with their authentic voice.
  • Authoring and publishing think pieces, as blogs, articles, editorial, vlogs, podcasts, and/or white papers.
  • Recognising that the association cannot be everything to everyone all the time and that policy positions may need to reflect the majority voice, or may not be advocated at all if consensus amongst the membership cannot be realised. 

Understanding and influencing the policy environment

  • Understanding how public policy, regulation, and legislation is developed and implemented.
  • Maintaining knowledge of changes in government policy, legislation, or regulation pertaining to the industry for which the association exists.
  • Developing and cultivating relationships with government officials and/or elected representatives, at all appropriate levels.
  • Appreciating the impacts of public policy on the association and its members; as well as the impact of the association on influencing public policy.
  • Maximising the use of all available advocacy tools, including (but not limited to) white papers, open letters, local and national media engagement, research reports, public consultations, public education, collaborations, lobbying (in accordance with local rules), campaigning, and the use of social and digital media.

Building alliances

  • Nurturing relationships with organisations who share the same values, concerns, and/or opportunities as the association, drawing strength in numbers and consolidating shared positions.
  • Stewarding relationships at all levels of the policy process, recognising that knowledge, influence, and power lies within the civil service as well as amongst elected representatives.

Influencing change

  • Underpinning positions and enhancing credibility by using evidence and/or data as the foundation for all advocacies.
  • Aligning the association’s membership services with desired outcomes (where appropriate).
  • Ensuring the association’s advocacy is aligned with the objectives of the strategic plan.
  • Adopting negotiation techniques that result in a win:win rather than a lose:win scenario, whilst accepting that compromise may sometimes be the best, and only realistic outcome.


KNOWLEDGE

  • Advocacy strategies and tools
  • Barriers to engagement and methods of resolution
  • Benchmarking tools
  • Competitive analysis
  • Consultation methodology
  • Economic contexts
  • Legal contexts
  • Local and national media outlets and contacts
  • Member segmentation
  • Metrics and performance indicators
  • Options appraisal
  • Peoples' needs and motivations
  • PESTLE analysis
  • Political contexts
  • Public policy
  • Social contexts
  • Social responsibility
  • SWOT analysis
  • Team dynamics
  • Technological contexts
  • The association's industry and/or profession

SKILLS

  • Accurately read and respond to others’ emotions
  • Collaborative leadership
  • Diplomacy
  • Diverse communication styles
  • Engaging with the media
  • Facilitation
  • Horizon scanning
  • Leading a group to consensus
  • Listening to learn
  • Negotiation
  • Persuade and influence
  • Present creative solutions and innovations
  • Project sponsorship
  • Propose alternative options
  • Relationship management and networking
  • Soliciting feedback

Suggested Courses

The Association Leadership Compass provides a framework to help both emerging and seasoned leaders identify skills and behaviours of an effective chief executive. It offers a list of training courses and resources, organized by key competencies, to support professional development. This list is not exhaustive, and TAF welcomes recommendations for additional resources or courses. By crowdsourcing, we aim to create a comprehensive catalogue for trade association chief executives. We also encourage training providers to address any gaps in available resources.

‍

‍

‍

TAF Resource Library

For further resources including trade association governance, legal, membership, finance and more - https://www.taforum.org/resource-library/

Back To Menu
What do you want to read up on?
1
The Essence of Leadership
2
Strategic Financial Management
3
Support Governance
4
Plan and Deliver Strategy
5
Advocate
6
Lead Volunteers
7
Maximise Commercial Opportunity
8
Engage Community & Stakeholders
9
Lead Operations

6. Lead Volunteers
(excluding governance, i.e the Board)

Aim To:

Capitalise on the commitment, energy, and expertise of members who, by volunteering, contribute to the success of the association as an integral part of the resourcing strategy, adding value to core services by delivering activities which are supplemental to the standard offering, the demarcation being what can be coordinated professionally (by staff) versus what can be organised by the membership (volunteers) for the membership

‍

‍

By or Through:

Communicating a vision for volunteering

  • Ensuring that members, staff and stakeholders are aware of the various roles and remits of volunteers.
  • Considering the role of volunteers when developing the association’s strategic plan.
  • Understanding that a sense of belonging [to a professional network] is a core driver for individuals who join and volunteer, and that their acute sense of community is fundamental to their commitment to the association. 

Planning for volunteers

  • Preparing for the positive, (as well as the potential negative) impacts which volunteering can realise, and do so by ensuring volunteer involvement is reflected in management, financial, and resource planning.
  • Ensuring proportionate policies, processes, and codes of conduct are developed for managing and supporting volunteers.
  • Ensuring systems are in place to ensure legal and regulatory compliance.
  • Establishing problem-solving procedures to deal with any issues raised by or about volunteers.

Recruiting and welcoming volunteers

  • Maintaining a volunteer talent pipeline.
  • Ensuring volunteering opportunities are made widely available and are accessible to a diverse range of members.
  • Ensuring the recruitment process is straightforward and that any checks are timely, fair, consistent, and appropriate for the role.

Supporting and developing volunteers

  • Ensuring volunteers are provided with adequate induction, guidance, and performance management, including information on their role and remit in relation to other volunteers, staff, suppliers, and stakeholders.
  • Ensuring staff are provided with training on volunteer management.
  • Promoting volunteering as a 2-way endeavour, whereby both the association and its volunteers benefit from the relationship.
  • Maintaining open communications to gather feedback on the impact and success of volunteering.
  • Providing mechanisms for connecting volunteers, creating peer-support networks and a virtuous learning cycle amongst the volunteer community.
  • Establishing contingency plans and exit strategies, ensuring little to no disruption to membership services as and when volunteers leave their position.
  • Routinely recognising, rewarding, and celebrating the commitment, energy, and contributions of volunteers.


KNOWLEDGE

  • Advantages and disadvantages of volunteering
  • HR policy
  • HR practice
  • Metrics and performance indicators
  • Peer-to-peer management tools
  • Peoples' needs and motivations
  • Performance management 
  • Professionalisation
  • Risk management
  • Succession planning and exit strategies
  • Volunteer management
  • Volunteer strategies

SKILLS

  • Balance the needs of members with those of the association
  • Diverse communication styles
  • Listening to learn
  • Resource management
  • Soliciting feedback
  • Strategy and policy development
  • Supporting and mentoring staff and volunteers

Suggested Courses

The Association Leadership Compass provides a framework to help both emerging and seasoned leaders identify skills and behaviours of an effective chief executive. It offers a list of training courses and resources, organized by key competencies, to support professional development. This list is not exhaustive, and TAF welcomes recommendations for additional resources or courses. By crowdsourcing, we aim to create a comprehensive catalogue for trade association chief executives. We also encourage training providers to address any gaps in available resources.

‍

‍

‍

TAF Resource Library

For further resources including trade association governance, legal, membership, finance and more - https://www.taforum.org/resource-library/

Back To Menu
What do you want to read up on?
1
The Essence of Leadership
2
Strategic Financial Management
3
Support Governance
4
Plan and Deliver Strategy
5
Advocate
6
Lead Volunteers
7
Maximise Commercial Opportunity
8
Engage Community & Stakeholders
9
Lead Operations

7. Maximise Commercial Opportunity

Aim To:

Balance the altruistic objectives of the association with the need to realise financial strength and business resilience, accepting that the association is not-for-profit but is also not-for-loss and must operate as a sustainable business to realise strategic objectives and propel the association forward

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‍

By or Through:

Strengthening the value proposition 

  • Maintaining a modern product and service mix.
  • Understanding that value is derived differently across the membership, e.g. advancing career opportunities, professional recognition, enhancing skills, doing a better job or conducting better business, compliance, and/or having a support network.
  • Establishing a routine review and evaluation of membership services, using appropriate metrics and data to determine success and areas for future investment.
  • Understanding and advocating the role that the association plays in supporting the professionalisation or professionalism of the sector/industry for whom the association exists.

Member retention

  • Investing time and effort to understand and respond to the needs and expectations of members, rather than perceivably only rewarding new members with fresh benefits. 
  • Recognising the impact that changing the balance between inclusive member benefits and fee-based services may have on retention rates and association income.
  • Working with the Board to ensure strategic priorities are fully aligned with members’ needs. 
  • Appreciating generational differences in member expectations and responding appropriately.
  • Understanding the value of, and processes for delivering codes of conduct, professional registers, certification, professional qualifications, and other credentialling models.

Diversifying income

  • Recognising the need to routinely review, refresh and diversify revenue, identifying actual and potential sources of income and assessing their relative merits and risks.
  • Being alert to premium of niche products or services which members might be willing to pay for in addition to the cost of membership.
  • Recognising the benefits of commercial sponsorship, advertising and philanthropy as part of the association’s income strategy; and understanding how to balance funder and members’ expectations of the return on investment.
  • Understanding where and how to access sponsorship and advertising income and philanthropic funding.

Digital acumen

  • Understanding the difference between digitization (using technology to optimise existing ways of doing work) and “becoming digital” (transforming association business using new technologies to realise new value for members).
  • Continually challenging the status quo, experimenting, and being comfortable with failure as the association learns.
  • Creating technology policies and a digital transformation strategy to ensure a controlled but sustainable conversion.
  • Strengthening cybersecurity by using modern tools, and elevating cybersecurity as a component of the association’s corporate governance, ensuring adequate investment, awareness, education, testing, and training. 
  • Enhancing data analytics by centralizing relevant data and empowering staff to use data to make informed product and service decisions.
  • Creating and sustaining a mobile workforce.
  • Maintaining a watching brief of emerging trends and new technologies, dedicating time and resource to explore and understand API, augmented reality, virtual reality, Xaas, AI, machine learning, 5G, blockchain, RPA, the Internet of Things, advanced cloud computing, green technology, and advanced analytics (recognising that websites, apps, hashtags, and mobile technology were once untapped opportunities).
  • Leading the integration of secure systems that enhance service provision, realise resource efficiencies, and add value to the member experience.

Marketing, communications, and storytelling

  • Recognising the value of marketing as the vehicle for motivating members (and non-members) to take action by engaging with the association’s activities, and to advance the association’s mission by doing so.
  • Recognising communications as the 2-way exchange of information between the association and its stakeholders, be it members, staff, directors, volunteers, supporters and/or partners;
  • Using communication techniques to solicit industry, members’ and/or stakeholders’ opinions to inform the value proposition.
  • Appreciate the value of storytelling as a tool for sharing accounts that depict the association’s work, impact, mission, or vision. 
  • Supporting staff to develop and implement marketing and communications strategies that are aligned with the association’s strategic objectives, and position the association’s proposition in direct response to members’ needs or the interests of the target audience.
  • Developing a strong brand image and identity in alignment with association’s mission and values, and recognising every stakeholder as having the potential to amplify the association’s brand, mission, and impact.
  • Investing properly in marketing, treating it as a core activity rather than a simple overhead.
  • Using meaningful metrics and data to measure the impact of marketing and communications, and revising approaches accordingly.

Entrepreneurism

  • Adopting an entrepreneurial mindset, willing to take risks, fail fast, and learn from every mistake.
  • Recognising success is not just about financial profit, but growth of member mindshare, engagement, and participation.
  • Developing a creativity habit, abandoning the fears of ridicule, negative feedback, or failure, and instead embracing the opportunities to be inventive.
  • Willing to improvise, recognising that in a world where uncertainty is high, changes of direction are frequent, and rapid responses may be required, and accepting that that is okay. 
  • Gathering data, testing and discussing ideas, and building robust and well-argued business cases when required.
  • Listening to others, being open to ideas, and using positive and encouraging language.


KNOWLEDGE

  • Brand management
  • Business ethics
  • Commercial acumen
  • Contract management
  • Data management
  • Digital trends and emerging technologies
  • Licensing and/or franchising
  • Market differentiation and unique selling points
  • Marketing and communications strategies
  • Metrics and performance indicators
  • Not-for-profit revenue streams
  • PESTLE analysis
  • Professionalisation
  • Risk management
  • Social responsibility
  • Supply chain management
  • SWOT analysis
  • The association's industry and/or profession
  • The Internet of Things

SKILLS

  • Balancing the needs of members with those of the association
  • Communicating financial data in an accessible manner
  • Cost-benefit analysis
  • Data analysis and interpretation
  • Diplomacy
  • Diverse communication styles
  • Financial strategy, modelling, and analysis
  • Horizon scanning
  • Identify opportunities and threats
  • Listening to learn
  • Negotiation
  • Operational planning
  • Partnership management
  • People management
  • Project sponsorship
  • Relationship management and networking
  • Strategic business planning and management
  • Strategy and policy development

Suggested Courses

The Association Leadership Compass provides a framework to help both emerging and seasoned leaders identify skills and behaviours of an effective chief executive. It offers a list of training courses and resources, organized by key competencies, to support professional development. This list is not exhaustive, and TAF welcomes recommendations for additional resources or courses. By crowdsourcing, we aim to create a comprehensive catalogue for trade association chief executives. We also encourage training providers to address any gaps in available resources.

‍

‍

‍

‍

TAF Resource Library

For further resources including trade association governance, legal, membership, finance and more - https://www.taforum.org/resource-library/

‍

Back To Menu
What do you want to read up on?
1
The Essence of Leadership
2
Strategic Financial Management
3
Support Governance
4
Plan and Deliver Strategy
5
Advocate
6
Lead Volunteers
7
Maximise Commercial Opportunity
8
Engage Community & Stakeholders
9
Lead Operations

8. Engage Community & Stakeholders

Aim To:

Cultivate and steward strategic and operational relationships with individuals and organisations that support the association’s mission; and develop relationships with organisations which can help the association to remain a vibrant, growing, and relevant centre of expertise, with diverse and engaged members, partners, and supporters.

‍

‍

By or Through:

Identifying and involving key stakeholders

  • Assessing the level of interest and influence of each stakeholder and using criteria to determine primary (priority), secondary, and general stakeholders.
  • Creating and maintaining a stakeholder map.
  • Planning engagement based on the needs of the association but also on the stakeholders’ current and future needs, recognising that this will yield greater impacts for all parties.
  • Ensuring stakeholders have adequate and relevant information about the association and its activities and, where possibly, how these impact the stakeholder.
  • Consulting with stakeholders to inform decision-making.
  • Collaborating with stakeholders to deliver shared objectives.
  • Evaluating stakeholder relationships to ensure they remain aligned with the association’s strategic objectives, purpose, and/or proposition. 

Engaging the membership

  • Contributing to relevant industry events and activities, and building visibility and networks across members’ industry or sector. 
  • Recognising communications as the 2-way exchange of information between the association and its members, and between members.
  • Providing members and stakeholders with effective mechanisms for communicating with the association. 
  • Identifying and overcoming barriers to engagement.
  • Ensuring regular consultation with and surveying of members to solicit opinions that inform the value proposition.

Disseminating plans and actions

  • Publishing and promoting the association’s plans in formats which are accessible and easily assimilated.
  • Embracing accountability as an opportunity and using reporting as a mechanism for showcasing and celebrating the association’s achievements, value, impact, and relevance.


KNOWLEDGES

  • Barriers to engagement and methods of resolution
  • Consultation methodology
  • Metrics and performance indicators
  • Peer-to-peer management tools
  • Peoples' needs and motivations
  • The association's industry and/or profession

SKILLS

  • Accurately read and respond to others’ emotions
  • Balance the needs of stakeholders with those of the association
  • Diverse communication styles
  • Listening to learn
  • Partnership management
  • Relationship management and networking
  • Soliciting feedback
  • Stakeholder analysis

Suggested Courses

The Association Leadership Compass provides a framework to help both emerging and seasoned leaders identify skills and behaviours of an effective chief executive. It offers a list of training courses and resources, organized by key competencies, to support professional development. This list is not exhaustive, and TAF welcomes recommendations for additional resources or courses. By crowdsourcing, we aim to create a comprehensive catalogue for trade association chief executives. We also encourage training providers to address any gaps in available resources.

‍

‍

‍

TAF Resource Library

For further resources including trade association governance, legal, membership, finance and more - https://www.taforum.org/resource-library/

Back To Menu
What do you want to read up on?
1
The Essence of Leadership
2
Strategic Financial Management
3
Support Governance
4
Plan and Deliver Strategy
5
Advocate
6
Lead Volunteers
7
Maximise Commercial Opportunity
8
Engage Community & Stakeholders
9
Lead Operations

9. Lead Operations

Aim To:

Lead and direct a professional executive, identifying, recruiting, managing, and supporting a
multi-disciplinary high-performing team that possesses the core set of skills necessary to
deliver the association’s activities, including (but not limited to) stakeholder engagement,
change management, advocacy, professional development, office administration, income
generation, financial management, communications and marketing, supplier engagement,
event management, business development, project management, and international
expansion.

‍

‍

By or Through:

Leading people

  • Communicating a compelling vision for the association, one in which staff recognise the alignment of their knowledge and skills, and can readily identify the contribution which they can make to its realisation. 
  • Championing trust and autonomy, recognising the value of empowerment: leaders trust their teams, staff trust their leaders, and colleagues trust each other to work hard, conduct themselves expertly, and to make informed decisions.
  • Giving staff the autonomy to make decisions within their sphere of influence, recognising that they are best placed to do so. 
  • Investing in professional development and supporting staff’s career aspirations 
  • Celebrating results, acknowledging endeavour, and attributing success to those involved, showing an acute appreciation for their expertise. 
  • Implementing an appropriate performance management system, ensuring staff have the necessary focus, time, resources, and expertise to deliver their personal objectives and contribute to the association’s wider strategic plan.
  • Conducting regular time utilisation surveys, understanding how staff spend their time to ensure an appropriate concentration of work and to (re)prioritise, (re)distribute, and (re)define workload as required.  
  • Developing a wellbeing culture, and implementing specific initiatives that enhance staff wellbeing in identified areas.
  • Ensuring appropriate HR policies and practices are in place, understood, and adhered to by all staff.
  • Accepting and executing the duty of care as a manager and leader, supporting staff with both professional and personal issues. 
  • Managing redundancies, redeployments, and restructures in an ethical manner, recognising the impact on affected individuals and the broader staff team.

Resource management

  • Reviewing staffing on a regular basis and developing appropriate strategies to address skills, knowledge and competence gaps.
  • Implementing a talent strategy which articulates the plan for attracting and retaining the best people.
  • Recognising that technical expertise is a baseline recruitment requirement and that equally important is a candidate’s values, emotional intelligence, leadership ability, and other culture-supporting perspectives.
  • Understanding that people increasingly want to work for organisations which share their personal values, and that actions relating to equity, diversity, inclusion, social responsibility, environmental sustainability, and ethical business practice are important differentiators for attracting fresh talent.
  • Strategically planning the optimal work environment for staff to support members and deliver the association’s strategic objectives, i.e. balancing staff needs with service delivery expectations.
  • Understanding the value of integrating facilities and assets into the strategic vision.
  • Adopting integrated planning, engaging and aligning all elements of the association as a connected ecosystem of people, values, culture, technology, communications, office-based facilities, and home-based workplaces.
  • Ensuring goods and services offer value for money and reflect acceptable contractual terms and conditions.
  • Undertaking due diligence and considering the legal and ethical requirements of procurement.

Compliance

  • Cognisance of employment law, equality legislation, consumer rights, corporation protocol, and health & safety law. 
  • Ensuring the association has relevant policies, strategies, and procedures which guarantee compliance, and that all relevant personnel are aware of and adhere to the rules.
  • Ensuring staff, directors, and/or volunteers are apprised of the legislative and regulatory landscape, and ensuring training is available as required.
  • Ensuring the association fulfils all reporting requirements of its governing instrument and regulatory bodies.

Addressing social responsibility and sustainable development 

  • Recognising the association’s social responsibilities and opportunities as a representative body, as a skills provider, as an employer, as a business within its community, and as part of a wider supply chain.
  • Appreciating the significant reach and impact that the association can realise within its communities as a major constituent of civic society; and understanding how to capitalise on that position to enhance members’ and stakeholders’ knowledge and understanding of, and ability to address their own social responsibilities.


KNOWLEDGE

  • Benchmarking tools
  • Contract management
  • EDI as an association-wide philosophy, not a task list
  • ESG
  • HR policy
  • HR practice
  • Human resources
  • Hybrid workplaces
  • Integrated planning
  • Laws and regulation
  • Performance management and appraisal
  • Procurement
  • Social responsibility
  • Space optimisation
  • Strategic facilities management
  • Succession planning and exit strategies
  • Supply chain management
  • Talent strategies and management
  • Team dynamics
  • The Internet of Things
  • Time utilisation
  • UN Sustainable Development Goals

SKILLS

  • Coaching and mentoring
  • Conflict management and resolution (e.g. staff/staff and staff/Board)
  • Converse in a timely, practical, and constructive manner
  • Facilitation
  • Horizon scanning
  • Identify opportunities and threats
  • Leading a group to consensus
  • Listening to learn
  • Manage varying levels of experience and expertise
  • Operational planning
  • People management
  • Persuade and influence
  • Present creative solutions and innovations
  • Project sponsorship
  • Propose alternative options
  • Relationship management and networking
  • Resource management
  • Stakeholder analysis
  • Strategy and policy development
  • Supporting and mentoring staff and volunteers

Suggested Courses

The Association Leadership Compass provides a framework to help both emerging and seasoned leaders identify skills and behaviours of an effective chief executive. It offers a list of training courses and resources, organized by key competencies, to support professional development. This list is not exhaustive, and TAF welcomes recommendations for additional resources or courses. By crowdsourcing, we aim to create a comprehensive catalogue for trade association chief executives. We also encourage training providers to address any gaps in available resources.

‍

‍

TAF Resource Library

For further resources including trade association governance, legal, membership, finance and more - https://www.taforum.org/resource-library/

Back To Menu
What do you want to read up on?
1
The Essence of Leadership
2
Strategic Financial Management
3
Support Governance
4
Plan and Deliver Strategy
5
Advocate
6
Lead Volunteers
7
Maximise Commercial Opportunity
8
Engage Community & Stakeholders
9
Lead Operations

TAF acknowledges the contribution of Andrew Chamberlain of Consort Strategy and the members of the IAL working group.
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At Ellwood Atfield we have a dedicated Executive Search team specialising in the recruitment of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Chairs of trade associations and professional bodies. With deep market insight, the team regularly advises membership organisations on the appointments of leaders to manage reputation and influence on behalf of on industry, sector, or profession.