Leadership
Gen X Marks the Spot!
For more than three decades, Baby Boomers were the workforce majority, and this generation remains the largest percentage of members in associations, as well. Then, in 2015, the Millennial generation became the workforce majority, and as the largest generation in history, they became the most studied generation. But what about X? Generation X is the sandwiched-in-the-middle, smaller generation that is often overlooked and remains one of the most difficult-to-engage generations. Their arrival marked the end of membership as we know it, becoming the first generation to question the relevance of associations and ask, ‘what’s in it for me?’ Raised to be self-sufficient, Xers didn’t have the same influences as Boomers and Millennials — two generations raised with community-building and networking influences, experiences, and mindsets. As a result, the way Xers engage as members differs from Boomers and Millennials. They are more likely to need direct outreach to engage, to want short-term volunteer opportunities, and need to clearly understand how membership benefits and fits into their lives. For too long, associations have assumed Xers are exactly like Boomers and will follow suit and join associations. This hasn’t been the case, and as the generation now moving into leadership roles, associations need to seriously consider how to engage X.
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Forecasting for the Future: How to Prepare for (and Embrace!) Change
Some of us don’t like cold weather – myself included. I’ll take a hot, sunny day any day over snow! We can’t change the weather or the many other forces outside our control, but we can adjust our attitudes toward change. Research shows the most successful organizations (reporting high levels of productivity, profitability, and engagement) are accepting of change. This means they are both accepting of new ideas and new people. Conversely, organizations struggling to engage their teams report higher levels of resistance to change. It sounds simple enough — to shift our attitudes toward change — but if it were easy, everyone would be doing it, and every membership organization would be reporting high levels of productivity, profitability, and engagement. The fact is, change is difficult. Our brains resist change (that’s a scientific fact), and most of our organizations were founded many decades ago. We’ve held on to traditions and irrelevant models simply because they are known and familiar. But in a world fueled by innovation and disruption, we have to warm up to the idea of change to stay relevant, competitive, and community-centric. In this episode of the Membership IQ podcast, I use the weather as a metaphor for change and remind association leaders how their responses to change and a culture of resistance to change can create significant problems within the organization. I could sit on the sidelines and whine about snow or even stomp my feet and complain about it. But would that do any good? No. There is absolutely no benefit to resisting change, but there are benefits to be realized when we accept it.
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Answering Your Membership Questions #1
🎤 Engagement, value propositions, decline, oh my! I’m receiving more questions than ever about #membership so I’ve started doing something new—a live Q&A! For 30 minutes each month, I’ll answer as many Q’s as possible. During our first conversation, we received 48 questions, so I decided to also respond to a few of them on my blog this month. Let me know what you think about the Live Q&A’s and blogs, and if you like them, I’ll keep doing them! What can we do to better communicate membership value? It’s important to know exactly how your organization brings value to your members. Who better to articulate that than members themselves? Ask them to describe how being a member makes a difference in their lives. This is, by far, the most powerful marketing and program development tool you can utilize. By inviting your members to share their stories, you’ll know precisely how your organization brings value to your members. Further, there should always be a list of benefits that’s exclusive to members only. Members want an incredibly personalized service experience. They don’t want to feel like a number, they want to feel like they’re a person who is valued by your organization. Members crave a secure relationship—feeling cared for, appreciated, and respected. Members with an emotional connection to an association are considerably more likely to renew, to volunteer, and to refer your association to others. It’s critical you take the time and effort to build those relationships. How do we improve membership engagement? We all know this isn’t a one-size-fits all world anymore. Claiming a niche is imperative to your organization’s future success in today’s competitive and distracting marketplace. Shifting your approach to become meaningful to someone – not everyone – is the key to growing your membership right now and will support creating long-term sustainable membership growth. Further, if it’s not contributing to your association’s growth or delivering value to your members, quit doing it. When…
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Messaging That Matters to Your Members
Shakespeare said it best: “All the world’s a stage.” Whether you are on the board or staff, a chapter leader, or a volunteer – what you say and how you say it influences organizational culture as well as the decision to join or renew membership. In my early career as a journalist, I realized there were two kinds of people: people who were great under pressure and people who fell apart under pressure. When you are conducting a media interview, how a person communicates with you tells you a story in and of itself. Is the person stumbling over their words? Defensive and placing blame? Or confident and polite? A journalist is trained to ‘sniff out the story’ depending on what is said, but also what is unsaid. We all, to some degree, do the same assessment of people in our everyday interactions, and we decide whether we trust and feel safe with someone and the organization that person represents. Like it or not, people are drawing conclusions about what it’s like to be a member of your association based on what leaders say and how they say it. I’ve observed there is an overall lack of media training, branding, and messaging awareness in membership associations. As a result, many associations experience member disengagement and decline – sometimes not even realizing it’s happening as a result of negative messaging. In this episode of the Membership IQ, I share some examples of messages that have a tendency to backfire and usher up a reminder to staff and volunteers – you are always on stage representing the association’s membership and brand.
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New, Now, Next: A Successful Strategy for Membership Growth
On a recent trip to Hawaii, my husband and I ventured up a mountain, following the signs which told us a scenic overlook was just up ahead. The road was curvy and bumpy, and we anxiously anticipated the view awaiting us at the top. Imagine our surprise, just as we reached the summit, when the sunshine suddenly gave way to grayness, and we found ourselves standing right smack in the middle of a cloud! There was nothing ‘scenic’ to see. In fact, we could barely see more than a few feet in front of us! This is the perfect metaphor for vision – or a lack thereof. In recent years, there have been many bumps and curves in the road, which have forced organizations to focus on the road in front of them. Some leaders have become incredibly fixated on the day-to-day. But vision is imperative for success! Now more than ever, members look to their associations for answers, guidance, and inspiration. People want to be a part of communities and have access to resources — both of which deliver a sense of security and belonging. Moreover, they want to know the organization has a destination in mind and isn’t merely buckled up to withstand the curves in the road. When the outlook is fuzzy, and the association’s vision isn’t immediately apparent, people feel uncertain about what they are joining and why it matters. In this episode of the Membership IQ, I explain the need for vision to keep members engaged and the organization moving forward — even in times of disruption. Send us a message if you need help clarifying your organization’s vision.
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Acing Your Association’s Succession Plan
For as long as I can remember, tennis has been one of my favorite sports. I played from an early age and eventually taught lessons during my summers off in high school. For some, the long hot days, sore muscles, and constant running back and forth may have been exhausting. For me, it was an invigorating activity that required strategy, skill, and patience. Today, I still get just as energized when a tennis match is on TV, and on weekends, I still love to pick up my racquet and head to the courts. Over the course of my career, I’ve found that a comparison can be drawn between tennis theory and membership theory. When I first started researching membership engagement trends in the early 2000s, I observed that older generations (mainly Baby Boomers) valued membership strongly, having been raised to believe that belonging to an association was a key stepping stone in the journey to adulthood. Many Boomers I studied shared a similar experience: start your career, join an industry organization, and earn your seat at the table by continuously investing in your membership. It seems like a recipe for success, right? …Maybe not. At the same time, our research suggested that younger generations were less inclined to join membership organizations. Interest in membership was waning, but why? The turn of the 21st century ushered in major social, economic, and political shifts in our society. Coupled with significant technological advancements, a rapidly changing world swayed young people’s interests, including what they wanted out our their membership experience. The broader data we gathered presented a shocking trend: across the board, 20% of members (younger members) were pushing their associations to rethink and modernize their membership models. They were posing the following questions to their associations: When was the last time you reviewed your membership demographics?How current is your value proposition?What am I going to get out of my membership if I join your association? These questions prompted…
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Strategies for Shifts: How Your Association Can Tackle Change
June is in full swing which means school is out for the summer! I have two daughters in college, both of whom recently returned home from their respective schools after a long and successful year. While it’s wonderful having them back under our roof, our house seems to have expanded to accommodate all of their stuff. Our space has been hijacked by bins of clothes, piles of textbooks, stacks of boxes, and heaps of dorm room dĂ©cor. At times, it can be overwhelming, but I know I will look back and miss these days in the not-so-distant future. Today, as I looked around at the excess of “stuff” that surrounded me, I realized that membership associations are dealing with a similar situation. No, they’re not dealing with towers of physical belongings, but there is a lot of stuff that seems to be piling up – and it can be difficult to determine where to begin when it comes to tackling it all. Since the outset of the pandemic in 2020, we’ve seen profound and unprecedented shifts take place in our society – specifically within the workforce, education, and membership associations. Remote work, hybrid gatherings, mask mandates, and contact tracing became buzzwords in our COVID lexicon – and we continue to see the lasting effects of these shifts today. Of course, many of these changes were unpredictable, but organizations were forced to pivot and adapt accordingly. As a leader, your approach to change (before, during, and after it occurs) is indicative of how successful your organization will be. In my research as a consultant, I’ve discovered that organizations will take one of three approaches when it comes to change. Perhaps you remember reading about these approaches in a previous post. The Ostriches: Nearly 80% of associations fall within this category. Ostrich organizations tend to avoid change. They think that by ignoring it, it will simply go away. The Explosives: This group of changemakers isn’t effective because their…
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Strengthen Your Membership Momentum
During the pandemic, virtual exercise programs became immensely popular, and from time to time, I’ll throw on my sneakers and press play. The other day, I decided to do an at-home workout and opted to try something new, looking up a cardio program on YouTube. As I got started, I felt energized (and proud of myself!) to be practicing some fitness self-care, getting my day started on a positive note. However, I noticed that the instructor was starting to pause, taking frequent breaks to catch their breath halfway through the class. Suddenly, they weren’t exercising anymore and instead were just directing me on what to do from the other side of the screen. I began to think to myself, aren’t you supposed to be motivating ME? Aren’t you the expert? Suddenly, I started second-guessing myself and whether I’d be able to complete the workout. If it was so hard for the instructor, it must be really challenging for me! Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed this type of “give-up” mentality in many of the associations I consult with. Whether from a missed engagement opportunity or volunteer overload, these pull-back, pessimistic attitudes can be contagious and rapidly infiltrate your membership culture like a virus. If you have board members or other stakeholders who talk negatively about your association, it’s likely to ward off any prospects from approaching your organization. They’ll become hesitant about volunteering for your Board of Directors and committees and, eventually, even joining your community. Negative energy within your association can lead to skepticism and membership decline. Conversely, I’ve also seen that positivity can be just as contagious as negative attitudes. As an association executive, it is your job to conduct regular “temperature checks” – gauging how your members feel about your organization, its mission, and their role within the overall system. You are the ambassador of your community, and part of that job description entails exuding positivity. As a leader, the attitudes and beliefs you demonstrate are…
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Is Your Board in a Downtrend? Bend!
Before you read any further, I’d like you to picture a rubber band and a ruler – an odd request, I know, but I promise I’m going somewhere with this. Maybe you have both of these items on hand in a desk drawer, a junk drawer, or in your garage, but for now, envision them. In terms of their functions, one binds things together while the other serves as a measurement tool. Believe it or not, rulers and rubber bands have quite a bit in common with your organization – specifically when it comes to your board of directors. To understand why we need to go back in history. During the Industrial Era, business leaders made two key realizations that would shape industries for centuries to come. First, if they could get workers to produce more goods faster, they’d yield a more substantial profit – simple enough. Second, they realized that employing workers with more experience within a respective industry could boost profitability and productivity. Back then, that mentality was effective, but today, given the constant innovation and disruption that continues to define the 21st century, is that the best model for your organization? What once worked in a previous era is no longer relevant. It’s time to consider whether your board of directors is repeating history and perpetuating this dated model. I’ve worked with several organizations where I’ve likened the board of directors to a ruler. Similar to a ruler, they are inflexible and are measured – measured in their risk-taking and their approach to change. Their every move is calculated, and they slowly, methodically take their time to make things happen within your association. Their thinking is too linear; they believe that members need to start at the bottom, working their way up the ladder to earn leadership positions. They tend to hold their board seats for extended periods and are rigid about tradition. This type of long-arch thinking no longer applies to modern…
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When It’s Time To Grow, Change What You Know
At one point or another in our lives, we have experienced fear in some capacity – fear of heights, the dark, (or in my case, fear of spiders!). The list goes on. Fear, however, is a normal, natural response to a perceived physical or emotional danger or threat. Did you know that there exists a universal fear that impacts all human beings?  Research shows that to some degree, change instills fear in all of us. It is a natural part of life, but an equally scary concept because change can oftentimes have unpredictable results, leading us down paths where the destination is unclear.  Let’s face it – change can also be hard. It forces us to adapt, adjust, and pivot in ways that are uncomfortable, but fear not! It also allows us to evolve and grow. I am here to tell you that although change can induce fear, it is integral to the survival of your organization.   Money dictates how we handle change. In the Post-WWII era, an economic boom took place where companies began producing goods at an unprecedented rate. A practice began to emerge, where executives who produced the most were also rewarded the most in the form of compensation, bonuses, and perks. By 1975, executive pay was a substantial 24 times more than what their employees were paid. Today, it is a staggering 300 times more, causing many leaders to fall back on the systems and practices that feel most comfortable because they are the most financially rewarding.  I have witnessed how this “quantity over quality” approach has become engrained in membership organizations, where more emphasis is placed on acquiring members rather than the services being provided or fulfilling their mission. We have a responsibility to overcome this in order to remain relevant, meaningful, and engaging to the communities we serve.  I want you to consider for a moment what types of changes your organization has faced in recent months or…
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