The past few years have been challenging for leaders. 4.5 million workers quit or changed jobs in November 2021. The workforce and employment landscape are shifting. With so much uncertainty, greater expectations are expected from association staff, volunteers and business partners. How does your leadership style need to change to continue to have a positive impact on the people and organizations we serve?

Inspiring leaders often embody their values, vision and commitment--especially under pressure. Good leaders align their actions with their values. The key to becoming this type of leader requires building “muscle memory” which many of us do without even realizing it. In fact, 95 to 99 percent of the time, we operate based on learned habits and instincts. While we may believe we are choosing how to behave, in truth, our rational mind plays a limited role in behavior.

Governance provides leadership, direction and accountability to ensure your association is fulfilling its mission. Although the governance responsibility rests with your board of directors, it is the CEO’s responsibility to lead the effort to strengthen board performance and ensure that the governance system is delivering value to the organization. In fact, the CEO’s ability to perform with excellence is dependent on a high performance governance system.