Would your members miss you?
In a great post on the Beyond Certification blog, Mickie Rops mentions asking someone, "If you had NOT developed a certification program, would your field look any different than it does today?" She's talking specifically about certification, but I love the question on other levels, too.
- Look at your association's programs and services. If they didn't exist, would your profession or industry be affected? Would remembers notice? (There are few things more lowering to an association professional than hearing, "I just realized I hadn't heard from the association in six months, and I wanted to check and see if you had my address wrong ..." If they can go six months without missing you, are you really helping them at all?)
- Look at yourself. If you took off for Tahiti tomorrow (assuming you didn't do so via illicit use of association funds), would your organization be any different in a year? Three years? What would you have to do differently to make that kind of impact?
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Comments
Good question, Lisa!
I was just having a conversation about this very thing yesterday: one important consideration to the philosophy of getting the 'right people on the bus' is that an organization can't so specialize a position or role around a 'right' person that they'd be bereft if an individual left. So a good hire is not just one where the person will contribute during his or her tenure, but means seeking out people who will leave the association better than they found it. If you take off to Tahiti, you SHOULD be missed, but not so much that the organization would be crippled.
This does not mean requiring undue loyalty from employees or employers (that is, the choice isn't "don't leave - we can't do without you!" vs. "you're dispensable, so don't get comfortable"). The reality of the working world today is that people are mobile, and they may move on for reasons beyond your control.
Rather, it means fostering a culture where relationships between an association and other groups are built through multiple contact points, not single friendships. I'm still struggling to overcome the gap from one of my predecessors who had great relationships with important members of the press, but they were individual relationships, and I cannot ressurect them despite several attempts. He was a 'right person' while he was here, and had great wisdom and connections - but now that he's gone, we miss him for some of the wrong reasons!
Posted by: Betsy Boyd-Flynn | December 19, 2007 12:12 PM
Great point, Betsy. I think that's part of being the "right person"--having the knowledge that you probably won't retire at the organization where you currently are, and preparing the organization so that things can continue--ideally, thrive--after you leave.
That includes developing potential successors among your staff--no keeping all of the interesting work to yourself!--and helping smooth the path for your eventual successor so that he/she will have a good start on the relationships he/she will need to build to be successful.
Admittedly, you can't guarantee anything after you leave, and you also don't want to put your successor in a box where he/she is expected to do everything exactly the way you've done things. There should always be room for a new "right person" to bring a fresh perspective and new ideas. But if there's anything you can do to make the transition successful, you should.
Posted by: Lisa Junker | December 19, 2007 12:30 PM