During a World Café-style dialogue last month, a participant made a familiar point: Collectively, associations represent solutions to every societal problem. That is an especially resonant idea to those whose profession is association management. Yet whether associations realize their potential for impact, now and in the future, depends on so many factors. Dedication to mission, foresightful leadership, effective decision making, and adaptability to change all come to mind, as does being at the table to inform critical decision making about issues that affect society.

The setting for the comment was the September 10, 2024, ASAE Research Foundation World Café, the second such event that began with 7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don’t, the recently revised ASAE book, as a discussion springboard and yielded insights into how associations will need to comport themselves to be exceptional in a complex, fast, and changing environment.

The September event, with the participation of 75-plus leaders from the association community, took place at the ASAE office in Washington, D.C. World Café expert Paul Borawski, FASAE, CAE, facilitated a wide-ranging discussion. Louisville Tourism sponsored the gathering, as it did the first thought summit, which was held on June 17, 2024, at the Association Management Center in Chicago. The foundation’s goal is to engage insights that will support research, resources, and community dialogue to advance effective leadership and organizational success.

Five Factors

Here is a quick take on five crucial considerations for exceptional associations—especially as viewed through a future-focused lens—that participants identified last month. These, and the broader array of shared perspectives, will be addressed in greater detail in a forthcoming ASAE Research Foundation white paper. Importantly, no decisions were made at the thought summit—that comes later. Nonetheless, these insights are thought provoking:

1. Engage fit-for-purpose boards. Governance—and board culture—must be built and cultivated to eschew ego in favor of effective stewardship, embrace continuous learning and foresight, and encourage innovation. An over-reliance on structure is the enemy of thoughtful adaptation and expeditious decision making.
2. Exhibit speed and agility. The close cousin to acting with speed and agility is comfort with ambiguity and the capacity to navigate it. While clear-eyed observation of the truth is still essential, increasingly, enlightened leadership will require the ability to see the glow of potential on the horizon, before all facts are known, and take the calculated risk to go there.
3. Engender a trusted-knowledge-source reputation. Associations are the cultivators and keepers of trusted knowledge. Does the world know it? Evolving science, technology, globalization, and other changes demand that associations sharpen that reputation and consistently claim their place in shaping societal good. Building relationships well beyond traditional membership lines will be crucial.
4. Embrace the industry leadership role. “Member driven” is an antiquated notion. To be impactful, associations must be member informed, but the association has an equally important responsibility to shape the industry. This means CEOs will take a greater role in helping member-leaders understand evolving industry impactors and what they need to know to be effective stewards.
5. Measure impact. Making meaningful, positive differences in people’s lives requires crystal clarity of purpose and dogged determination to measure impact, not only the outcomes.

What’s Next?

Beyond the white paper to come, an ASAE Research Foundation 7 Measures Task Force is digesting the inputs from both World Café dialogues and shaping next steps—among them, how the foundation might offer chances for a broader segment of the profession to offer their perspectives on capacities and resources association leaders will need. Keep your eyes open for those opportunities.