ALIGNING VISION WITH TECHNOLOGY
When it comes to becoming a more innovative organization and leveraging today’s technological advancements for the overall betterment of the association and its operations, it all starts with the vision. Just look at how the tech stack comes out of the organization’s vision and their strategic plan. It might be very well worth borrowing philosophies from outside the […]
MID-CAREERISTS AS MENTORS AND MENTEES
When you get to a stage in your career where you are too seasoned to get much value out of young professional content, but you’re not quite on the CEO track, then you’ve probably reached your mid-career. Or rather the “messy middle” that associations aren’t too sure how to address, and that professionals find difficult to navigate. There […]
PAVING YOUR PATH TO YOUR MID-CAREER
I’m at an interesting point in my career journey where I’ve recently transitioned from a young professional to a mid-careerist. What I’ve found is that defining your mid-career, and your career in general, is really up to you. It’s up to you to pave your own path, and the good thing is that you can do anything […]
Time for a new association verb
THREE VERBS After 20 years working in VP, COO, CFO and CSO roles for associations, it’s become clear to me that our industry shares many common approaches to helping our members lead, learn and connect. At a high level, associations often apply these three verbs on their web sites and in their various marketing campaigns. Many of […]
IMPROVING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY
When trying to bring in new technology into an organization, it is guaranteed that you will be met with resistance, because any sort of change often is. You need that buy-in from people first, otherwise there’s going to be struggle in incorporating the technology into operations. This is why there needs to be a focus on the […]
GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS AND PREDICTING THE FUTURE
What does it mean not to be behind the geospatial curve? In the previous article we say that the State Department was left behind in the conversation about how to handle the war in Afghanistan. They were behind the geospatial curve. So, Most importantly, the phrase means an organization does not simply look at its work in the […]
MAKE A BIGGER IMPACT WITH YOUR STORY
So many times people came to me and said, “There’s no place for me to be heard or seen” or “It’s such a saturated marketplace! I’m not even going to bother trying to share my story.” Even more so, the concept of storytelling has gotten a somewhat bad reputation lately because so many people are using […]
BECOMING A CHAMPION OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
I’ve always embraced technology, and I’ve pushed that forward in every position I’ve been in. Today’s technological advancements present many possibilities and solutions for organizations. Although most people can agree that there is always room for improvement, there are limitations and doubts surrounding the idea of bringing in new technology into operations and changing the way […]
STARTING OFF RIGHT IN CREATING A POSITIVE BUSINESS CULTURE
There is nothing strange about wanting to make a good impression on your first day on the job. But when it’s your first day in the position of a leader in an organization, you especially want to set the right tone and let it be known that you’re approachable, open to concerns, ideas, and questions, and […]
DON’T FEAR THE G-WORD: UNDERSTANDING YOUR ORGANIZATION THROUGH COLORFUL MAPS
The words “geospatial analysis” sound intimidating. But let’s be honest: the ability to look at an organization’s work across the country or around the world is pretty powerful. Despite its pretensions, “geospatial analysis” simply means using maps, graphs and statistics to visualize and understand member and customer behavior across geographic locations and make better business decisions. […]