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Next up in our series of questions on lessons to be shared at the 2011 ASAE Annual Meeting & Expo is one for Rosa Aronson, Ph.D., CAE, executive director of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Aronson will lead an Annual Meeting Learning Lab titled "Navigate a Successful Transition from Staff to CEO."

Of all the new responsibilities you had to learn and take on as a first-time association CEO, what was the most challenging, and why?

Aronson: Perhaps the most challenging responsibility for me as a first time CEO was the responsibility of making sound business decisions that I knew would affect personnel, such as determining salary increases, terminating certain benefits, or redeploying staff. It is fairly easy to balance a budget if you just look at numbers. But doing so while providing a positive work environment and preserving the well being of your staff (your most precious resource, after all) can keep you awake at night.

Thanks, Rosa. Readers, please share your thoughts: If you're an association CEO, what was most difficult for you when you first started at that level? Or, if you're an aspiring executive, what seems most intimidating?