Posts filed under 'Human Imperfection'
What Corporate Interactive Marketers and Agencies can Learn from Associations When it Comes to Building a Social Brand
I must confess that I love to monitor big corporate marketing and advertising agency blogs and eNewsletters. Why? First and foremost, because I learn allot. Second, as a curious spectator of the struggles they are facing in adapting to a social interactive world in which it is no longer possible to control the “massography” in the same way they once maintained a dominant control over the traditional uni-directional mass media world.
True behavioral marketing moves well beyond consumer action deeper into the social and emotional psychology which motivates and forms a relationship between consumer and product/brand. More about the ”cause” , less about the “effect”.
As it turns out, social media has shown that consumers are actually pretty smart and savy when it comes to sniffing out mass media plots and gimmicks of days gone by. Consumers want authenticity and human connections… they want to feel empowered, connected and heard… something that has been at the fabric of associations as long as like-minded people have found value in coming together to associate. As the Irish Proverb goes, “Two makes the road shorter”.
When it comes to social media, I ask the corporate marketers and ad executives a simple question:
“Have you hugged your association executive today?… we feel your pain and think our traditional member-centric models of engagement can help. Share in our proud tradition of relationship-based brand expertise. After all, “member-centric” means we are run by members, for members. A sense of investment and ownership is a powerful force when it comes to consumer loyalty. Associations aren’t simply a brand, we are truly a relationship-driven brand family”
To my fellow association executives out there, there are bigger and bolder blue skies ahead as we begin to set our sights and social media strategies on the evolutionary application of our user-centric business models. In doing so, we vastly expand our sphere of participation, information-exchange, networking and, ultimately, influence. Let’s also understand that control remains as much an illusion to us as it does to our for-profit counterparts.
Coming Soon… 5 Reasons Twitter Gives Associations Much to Tweet About
Add comment June 30, 2009
The Role of the Emotional Value Proposition in Cultivating Member Loyalty and Activism
If there was one thing an association marketing team must do is put the general principles of behavioral economics into practice at all levels of strategy, tactics and relationships.Satisfy a member’s intellectual need and they may hang on for a little longer. Cultivate a humanizing emotional connection between the member and your association and you might have them as a loyal member and promoter for life… or as long as they still like what they do for a living.
To me, great marketing is about making a human connection at a personal level which results in a sense of belonging. Doing so can be achieved through direct interactions or by indirect emotive multi-sensory storytelling. An example of the first would include traditional one-to-one networking or the considerable opportunities presented by online networking-based social media. An example of the second would be a powerful story told via a fusion of messaging, sight and/or sound, such as a documentary video.
At a primitive level, member loyalty is rooted in a two-way sense of caring, I care about the association because I perceive through my experiences that the association cares about me, not just as a professional but most importantly as a human being.
As human beings, when we care about something we also tend to become protective of its interest. For associations, this translates into voluntary activist behavior which serves to either promote the association or defend it against detractors. Keep thinking the value and potential of making personalized human connections via social media and suddenly Twitter will start to make allot of sense.
Don’t think any of this is true? Try the following questions during your next focus group or one-on-one interview, sit forward and listen carefully to the responses:
- How does it “feel” to be a member of this profession?
- How does it “feel” when you are practicing this profession on any given day?
- How does it “feel” to be a member of this association?
- How does it “feel” to be at this conference?
- When you interact with members, how does it make you “feel”?
- When you interact with association staff, how does it make you “feel”?
- When you interact with leaders of this association, how does it make you “feel”?
- How does it “feel”… you get the idea.
One additional bonus note, behavioral economics not only applies to the role of emotional psychology in the decision-making process of members but also the actions of board leaders, senior management, internal departments, colleagues, direct reports, indirect reports, external stakeholders, media, the general public, neighbors, relatives, husbands, wives, children and even the DMV. In other words, any member of the human race.
In closing, here are two of my favorite guiding quotes when it comes to the emotional complexity of human decision making as it relates to marketing or any endeavor:
“I don’t care how much you know until I know how much you care.” Unknown
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
Add comment May 7, 2009
In Praise of Organizational Simplicity: A Tip for Overcoming the Failure of Complexity
It’s easier to start simple and build complexity than to begin with complexity and try to simplify.
In a moment of clarity after a long meeting this morning, the thought above emerged in my mind like the glow of the first warm Spring day after a long Chicagoland Winter.
Many senior executives within associations pride themselves in falling somewhere on the management spectrum between business engineer and mad scientist working within their often transmorgified office laboratory… all in search of that elusively defining breakthrough, process, product, service, procedure, partnership, business model, strategy, quality measure, restructure or operational maneuver that will certainly transform their immediate organizational world as they know, lifting their organization to the envious accolades of counterparts round the world.
While the core concept nestled within it’s own complexity might truly be a great idea, the awful truth is that complexity often turns out to be less than a success formula. Here are the reasons:
Fundamentral Principles of Change: While the complexity may seem as clear as that spring day to the executive mad scientist, chances are it is probably going to be pretty foreign to those who will be charged with converting the complexity into success. When complexity is used as a starting point, it overhelms others drawing them away from their comfort zone into a sense of fear and insecurity. Reducing complexity to simplicity after the fact can be a damaging and trust-eroding process. Save your leadreship capital for larger battles.
Investment/Participation: Change always presents an opportunity to either strengthen or alienate an organizational team. When an executive approaches the table with answers, rather than questions, there is suddenly little for other key stakeholders to contribute. Remember, while we must work for a living, we choose a profession because we want to make a difference through our unique talents and abilities on some level.
To come to the table with a complex solution is like kicking a chef out of a kitchen and telling him that he is only needed to set the tables in the dining room. It leaves little for others to contribute or invest themselves in more deeply.
Perspective: Even the most visionary executive on her very best day is still a mere inconclusive piece of a larger puzzle, despite how revealing the piece might be. A powerful idea can be an accelerated starting point but by no means a decisive end point. We must bring our pieces of the puzzle to the table as starting point for others to place their pieces of the puzzle onto the table to construct a clearer picture. Out of simplicty emerges clarity.
House of Cards: As leaders, we must never become complacent or blinded by the simple fact that our reputations and credibility are like a house of cards that require countless hours of patience, focus and concentration to build up, but only a matter of seconds to come tumbling down. Build up that leadership capital and hope you’ll never have to draw from those reserves.
The Remedy: Think with the complexity of a general, but act with the simplicity.
SM
Add comment April 9, 2009
Tips for Overcoming Leadership Ambiguity in Associations
What is leadership ambiguity? In many ways, one might consider it to be somewhat of an oxymoron as ambiguity can reach the level of being the anthithesis of leadership.
Based upon observations made along my career path over the past 14 years, I would define leadership ambiguity as an over-dependence on consensus and conflict sensitivity which yields a sense of ambiguity within stakeholders as to the direction, priorities and expectations of an organization. Leadership ambiguity can be a long-term pattern or it can flare up in specific instances. At one time or another, we have all been guilty of ambiguous leadership mainly because we are… well, human.
Given its inadvertent dilution of authority, leadership ambiguity can create a sense of teamwork extremism, resulting in somewhat of an implosion of team. An ambiguous organizational culture is a fertile environment in which emotional toxicity thrives in its power to hold progress hostage. Like a drifting ship without an anchor, leadership ambiguity often leans toward a preservation of peace and avoidance of perceived emotional volatility at the cost of prolonging the inevitable war. Ambiguous leaders are tested early and often by others in an attempt to establish how far the envelope can be pushed. If the leader isn’t willing to lead, either by design or default, there will always be others who are willing to step in lead by applying pressure.
The good news is patternistic amibguous leaders are often extremely well-intentioned individuals who are highly skilled in areas other than assertive or visionary leadership. Let’s face it, as leaders we all struggle with finding the delicate balance between micro-managing control and motivational consensus. But as a country song by Aaron Tippin once put it, “You’ve got to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything”. Tippin also sings of not being a “puppet on a string” as well as ”never compromising for what’s right”. Perhaps it’s this quality alone which seperates leadership from management.
If you find yourself at any point along the spectrum of ambiguous leader, below are some tips for escapting these clutches of ambiguity :
Develop Strategic Leadership Themes: Identify the 2-3 key priorities which are crucial to your associations future and establish them as clear and recurring leadership themes. Continue to reinforce on a daily basis as they relate to the work of the association.
Identify Objective Key Measures for Prioritization and Decision-Making: Building upon strategic leadership themes, identify a set of key measures which are to be used in decision-making when internal groups or managers reach an impass. Participation and contrarian views are, of course, an important component of decision-making; however, in sorting through competing priorities it’s important to have guiding measures for fostering good decisions.
Cultivate and Use Leadership Captial: Leadership capital is the good will currency which is amassed through the effective use of inclusive participation, compromise and consensus. As leaders, we don’t want to take a hardline stance on every issue and as the saying goes, we should always choose our battles wisely. However, when dialogue has been exhausted and consensus is out-of-reach, it is time for the leader to step forward and lead. Looking for the courage or strength to do so? Re-visit the first two tips above and tap into your key leadership themes and key measures. Unless the situation is an absolute anomaly, be consistent.
Reach Out and Listen… Really Listen: When approaching difficult or controversial decisions, be certain to have provided plenty of opportunity for all immediate and extended stakeholders to share their perspectives, insights and reasoning with you. Ideally, the listening stage should occur before you have divulged your leadership direction. Even more, keep an open-mind to what is being said as it will likely help you further shape and fine tune your direction. Your final decision still may not win favor with stakeholders, but respect and trust can be retained when you have invested all stakeholders in the process. When people grow angry over decisions which are made, it’s usually because they never had a chance to participate in the dialogue to share their valuable perspectives and hidden risks.
Advance a Vision of the Future: We all dream of a better future for just about every aspect of our lives. The same holds true within an organization. Through data, trends and instinct, it’s important that the leader have a sense of where the organization is headed. This is important for two crucial reasons. First, a strong vision can be a great motivator for others to follow as the organization journey’s toward it’s future. Second, and perhaps more importantly, a clear vision can serve as writing on the wall to others within the organization who may not share the same ideals.
Help Toxic People Move On: The role of association leader is hard enough without having staff who may feel endangered for one reason or another which can often undermine your efforts. I realize ”toxic” is a fairly intense term. As a matter of fact, these types of individuals are not necessarily bad people as quite often they’re simply scared of change or of potentially losing control of their piece of the world. Sometimes they wake up and discover the association is no longer the same organization in which they once thrived. In my mind, an individual only becomes “toxic” when they spread their fear and discontent across the organization. At the end of the day, there is most likely a happier and much less stressful place out there for these types of individuals. Help them move on and one day they might realize it was the best thing that ever happened to them.
Be the Source of Unwavering Hope: Leadership can be as simple as providing hope when there is none to be had… a source of strength for others in their weakest hour. As leaders, we must have strong shoulders to lean upon and an inexhaustable degree of conviction. There will be times that there are no magical answers or words which can sugarcoat a tough situation; however, your team looks to you to lead them away from setback and back on track toward a better future. At the end of the day, there is no playbook or course which can teach “hope” as it is perhaps the most defining characteristic which seperates leaders from followers.
Lead on… SM
Add comment February 16, 2009
A Confluence Model for Building Activity-Centered Organizations
The princple of this model is rooted in moving organizations from being department-driven to being activity-driven. Why is this important to associations? The philosophy and psychology of such an approach is rooted in the belief that when people begin to think of initiatives being centered around an activity rather than another department, the goal becomes shared and people become more invested in the outcome.
This is a silo-busting model which sheds “turf” in exchange for shared ownership, balanced collaboration and responsibility. Greater clarity and transparency helps to bring people together on the same frequency. In other words, the goal is to move groups of people from thinking “that’s not my problem” to a sense of “this is our shared problem”.
Think “confluence” in terms of “flowing into” a central place (multi-lateral) rather than “flowing from” (uni-lateral) a specific area. The focus is on the activity to be completed or problem to be solved, rather than who “owns” the issue.
I actually learned this principle while working in politics. The magnitude of selfless teamwork in political campaigns always amazed me. My own analytical viewpoint is that campaigns bring staff resources together because the work is cenetered around one central activity… the election of a candidate. However, I was always equally amazed by the vindictive hell and fury that breaks lose once a candidate wins as previous teammates begin to scramble for their own plot of political “real estate”.
What is the source of this fragile volatility? I believe the answer is the same in both political adminstrations as it is in the dynamics of any organization… the humanistic flaw of envy. For whatever reason, real or imagined, envy is the great initiating force for overt and covert human grudge matches. Referencing a previous posting, it’s the “Pfactor” (the people factor). We’re all human and have our share of flaws and insecurities.
So how do you overcome envy? You must focus on balancing the attention on the important and uniquely essential contribution of each person in the ultimate success of the endeavor. As a leader, to succeed in maintaining this level of morale and security in your team is extraordinarily difficult if you do what so many organizations do and that is to delegate the control and ownership of an initiative to specific department which creates the air of a “master/servant” realtionship. Nobody wants to be a servant to his/her peers… that’s where the “it’s not my problem” mentality kicks in.
Thus, the easier path to fostering a confluence of team is to shift the structure of activites from being around a particular department to residing around the activity itself, with each person’s contribution flowing into development, execution, completion and success. That way, not only is success shared, but so too is failure. Think of the possibilities.
What’s your next step toward this model? Look at your strategic plan and analyze how initiatives are aligned with staff… does there appear to be “domains”, “areas”, “primary” people, “categories” of staff or “divide and conquer” language? Embracing project management is another way to begin fostering a new mentality in terms of activity-centered alignment. Create management teams of key staff leaders who all have an equitable seat at the table from activity conception to completion.
Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean that every task is completed by committee, but rather the overall construct of activities are built around the essential contributions of each component with the organization as a whole being the primary owner and stakeholder of the activity. I am in the process of developing a visual model for this concept which I will share once completed. In the meantime, I will leave you to ponder the possibilities. SM
Add comment December 10, 2008
Accelerated Learning Through Passive Mentoring Opportunities
I must confess, I’m somewhat of an unsuspecting stalker when it comes to seeking mentoring for my own personal and professional development. My ideal “stalkee” can be virtually anyone, regardless of age or level of experience. The reason is when it comes to being mentored in life and career, we are surrounded on a daily basis by unlimited mentors to draw upon for learning.. Simply put, there is much to learn about ourselves through the lives of others.
The reality is you can find a mentor in just about anyone, living or dead. Even more, the many people we have the good fortune to cross paths with on a daily basis may not even be aware they are mentoring you. How is this possible? It’s because each of us possess unique strengths and behaviors which just seem to come naturally and effortlessly. I’m talking about the traits which we can attribute to our successes in life as we perform best when we are able to do what comes naturally to us. Bad actors are always revealed in time and chances are they are the last ones to realize their “jig is up”. Put another way, it takes twice as much energy to work in ignorance of our weakenesses than it does to work in concert with them.
If you pay close attention as a conscious observer you will not only see how others succeed but you will also have a point of reference for comparison against your own strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures. From this process of what I call “passive mentoring” you can actually draw lessons and ideas for your own development from others who most likely have no idea of the gift they are bestowing upon you.
I believe that our true strengths in life often emerge from our weaknesses and that it is unlikely we can convert our weakenesses to truly natural strengths. In other words, we naturally develop strengths in one area to compensate for our weakness in other areas. We are all “incomplete” in a way. However, we can learn from others and ”polish” our weaknesses to an extent we can keep our weakeness from overshadowing our strengths in life OR we can use our weaknesses as a measure to determine whether or not we are living in accordance with our strengths and true purpose in life. Either way, passive mentoring in the careful observation of others can enable us to evolve through wisdom and learning. Now get out there… your mentors are waiting. SM
Add comment December 4, 2008
A Celebration of Failure and the Epic Misconception of Teaching and Learning
In looking back upon my unlikely Gump-esque path to my present-day life, I recently paused in reflection taking into consideration the relationship between teaching and learning. Beginning with our parents and formal education, the world attempts to teach us, mold us, warn us and protect us from the perilously alluring risks lurking around every corner as heavy doses of well-intentioned directional influence is administered to us as we attempt to write our own life’s prescription.
As we move into our professional lives, the misconceived promise of management and the illusion of leadership hinges on the thought that all we have to do is somehow operate as social pharmacists prescribing the ideal visionary path for our staff teams to follow and we will all live happily and successfully ever after.
Back in the real world, the truth is lessons cannot be taught, they can only be learned. While teachings help us rationalize the world around us, only personal experience can truly transform our reasoning and reshape our behavior. The implication for association executives is we must focus less on teaching and more on fostering learning.
How do we do foster learning and how is it different than teaching?
Teaching assumes that all we have to do is dispense knowledge which results in learned changes in behavior. But just because you teach somebody something utilizing your own knowledge and experience doesn’t mean anybody is learning anything. Teaching may very well plant a partial seed of knowledge, but experience is the soil, sunlight and water in which learning grows. What this means is the discipline of management and the art of leadership is a combination of timing, judgment, freedom, intervention and ongoing cultivation.
In life, our best experiences are often a by-product of our worst experiences. While success is undoubtedly a good feeling, it is a far less effective opportunity for learning than its distant cousin, failure. Could it possibly be said that the road to failure just might be paved with the complacent bricks of success? While success skews our self-perception, failure is the humanizing force which inspires transformational learning.
For these reasons, I encourage you to consider the positive implications of failure and focus on skillful art of learning in not not only guiding and influencing the actions of your staff, but more importantly, inspiring their personal development. After all, within every failure is a success just waiting to happen. SM
Add comment November 6, 2008
The Fragile Economics of Vital Association Resources
The principles of economics can be applied to so many facets of life. I must confess that I’m a graduate of the hard-knocks school of economics as the mere word conjures painful memories of my college days at the University of Kentucky where I began and ended my formal institutional economics studies. Economics is a language in and of itself; however, when you add a professor full of admirable enthusiasm and intellect yet challenged by his own mastery of the English language, economics can be a bewildering road for a young college student.
Despite that rough start, I have grown to love my education in economics from an experiential standpoint over the past fifteen years since that first formal encounter. Aside from my wife’s Uncle being an economist and professor, I’ve discovered that economics is as much behavioral as it is financial… perhaps more so as the world economic crisis is proving these days. Behavioral economics is a field that I believe we all, as association executives, should explore in the context of our associations. All of which brings me to the point of this posting.
There may still be an antiquated misconception out there in some circles of management thought that if an association pays its hierarchy of staff, however towering or flat, a package of salary and fringe benefits that they somehow undergo a transmorgifying elevation to superhuman status in which their productivity and mastery of workload and work culture remains constant and of high quality regardless of how we expand, stretch, twist, push, pull, pinch, stretch, sigmafy or pivot our delegatory expectations of them.
The simple fact is human beings succumb to both the supply/demand principles of economics as well as the emotional volatility of behavioral economics in navigating work roles and responsibilities. The greater the demands we place upon our staff, the more limited the supply of quality and positive emotion, both of which impact workload and culture. Conversely, the more we focus and manage the demands placed upon our human capital, the better the odds that we will create an even balance of positivity and productivity.
Put another way, you simply cannot overload and drown your people in their workload and expect a consistently high quality result no matter how much they are paid. People are human and they have their limits. The key is to either find the right balance of workload and mix of talent or to open the floodgates, dial back those expectations and prepare for crisis communication.
Finally, just as the threat of the dreaded influenza begins to creep back into our association workplace as the frozen days of winter approach, so too does the contagious risk of poor morale, output and negative work culture via the equally infectous epidemic of stress in the workplace.
So, as we move forward into the lean days of economic downturn and recessionary thought, let’s try not to think in terms of doubling up responsbilities as budget line items tighten and expenses hit the chopping block. Rather, forge a downturn strategy, adjust and prioritize the level of workload, expend some of that hard-earned capital with your board and keep your precious human resources functioning in a high quality, productive and emotionally healthy manner. Continue advancing that mission at a marathon pace.
If none of the above made any sense whatosever, here’s a final thought/scenario which may be more relatable. Imagine you had to travel to a weeklong board meeting in Borneo and due to airline restrictions could only bring one carry-on suitcase. No matter how you slice it or dice it, you are still contrained to that one tiny wardrobe-on-wheels wonder. Can you create some additional capacity by being creative and ingenious? of course…. can you pack the exact same amount of clothes and chattels that you would have given your much larger wardrobe-on-wheels wonder? well, you might try but you are sure to reach capacity and in the process you may pack the suitcase so tight that it either won’t close or that worn-out zipper will finally crumble under the pressure and permanently head off it’s zippery track rendering your loyal travel companion useless and destined for the place de-zippered suitcases go when the tragically zig when they were supposed to zag (of course, it doesn’t typically happen when you are had home packing to leave… somehow the suitcase gods reserve this special catastrophic event for when you are frantically re-packing that suitcase in your hotel room to either get to the meeting or airport on time).
Whether you stretch or shrink staff, even the most ingenious team will not be able to maintain the previously expected capacity. Be mindful of the fragile economics of association staff and management and keep moving forward in a positive direction. SM
2 comments October 22, 2008
Using social capital measurement as a predictor of future success or failure within your association
I’ve been truly blessed in my career to be able to combine a wide breadth of professional experiences with an even larger variety of teachers who I’ve had the good fortune to cross paths with. As you move along in your career journey, the combination of these elements begin to reveal patterns which illuminate potential truths that may often be overlooked by the general population. Time-tested universal logic and wisdom becomes tools for us all to apply to our associations. In this posting, I will share with you what I believe to be one such truth as it relates to the state of our association world.
If you ask the typical association executive how he or she might predict whether or not their association would succeed or fail in the future, chances are you might hear a seemingly canned response full of management, operations and strategic diagnostic assessment covering everything from strategic planning to long-term investment portfolios to new product/resource development to technology to membership recruitment to research to competitive educational programs to advocacy to etc to etc to etc. I think you get the picture.
While in many ways the above elements are certainly crucial to a healthy and functioning association, I believe the true answer, above all else, is social capital… and not just social capital, but the highest degree of social capital possible.
Social capital has been defined by writers, such as Robert Putnam (in Bowling Alone) and Peter Block (in Community – The Structure of Belonging), as the overall quality of relationships and cohesion within a community.
Putnam suggests that social capital is about acting on and valuing our interdependence and sense of belonging… the extent to which we extend hospitality and affection to one another. Building on Putnam’s assessment, Peter Block suggests that “we need to create a community where each citizen has the experience of being connected to those around them and knows that their safety and success are dependent on the success of all others.”
Personally, I’ve seen the factor of social capital drive success and failure in a variety of “community” settings throughout my career, ranging from my sixth grade rock band and high school football team to the world of state/national politics and, yes, our beloved associations.
In essence, on paper an association might give the healthy appearance of being poised for a strong and secure future only to be disintegrating from the core. Could your association be disintegrating at the core over declining social capital?
By now, you are likely focusing your thoughts and analysis on your various membership segments and the degree to which they may or may not feel a sense of cohesion and belonging within your association. You may even be contemplating how well your association’s bundle of resources, opportunities and networking structure is advancing social capital at the individual and group level. Finally, I’m almost certain that as a seasoned association executive you are wondering how you can measure, benchmark and track social capital and it’s impact on the growth, activity and success of your association.
At this point, if you’re thoughts are precisely at the same place as my thoughts above then I would heartily congratulate us all for overlooking the a significant foundation and factor for the successful cultivation of social capital within our associations… our staff.
Yes, it is true that we are all “paid” staff and in keeping with the traditional fallacy of economic enrichment let’s celebrate for a moment the desperately flawed assumption that a clear definition of job responsibilities, adequate compensation, leave time and fringe benefits automatically assures a high degree of social capital and personal investment within our staff structure.
Simply put, unless the heart is beating the rest of the body isn’t going very far.
It is quite possible to have the most talented and experienced group of people comprising your staff structure yet fail miserably for a lack of cohesion and sense of belonging (aka social capital) which, if unaddressed, may only worsen over time leading to decline in social capital cultivation with members/volunteer leaders and the ultimate “extinction” of staff. Your workplace will become overly stressful, the best and brightest won’t likely stick around and those who do remain are likely the ones whose only goal within your association is to collect that paycheck.
Think of your staff as a mirror image reflection of the social capital within your association.
Okay, so here we are. We’ve pinpointed the source of social capital, right? I’m afraid we’re likely wrong once again. After all, our staff is in place to answer the marching orders of our governing boards and councils and if these volunteer member leaders fail to espouse the creation of social capital with membership and staff alike then the leadership is to blame, right? Well, let’s not jump to hasty conclusions just yet.
Ultimately, I believe the most powerful source of social capital creation with your association is none other than you… regardless of your role or scope of responsibility. Our volunteer leaders certainly have a great deal of authority within our associations, but remember that leaders come and go while staff remains the constant, leaving you with considerable influence.
When we commit ourselves to living and measuring our own success by the impact we have on the success of others, the ideal environment is created all around us for the cultivation of social capital. More broadly, I also believe you can apply this principle to any aspect of your life.
Let’s face it, if we aren’t helping others succeed aren’t we in a way allowing them to fail? Granted, sometimes we take great satisfaction in seeing others fail, such as anyone major league baseball team playing the Chicago Cubs (sorry, couldn’t resist); however, we are talking about the construction and maintenance of an environment of intended cohesion and belonging, not a competitive environment. Think Chicago Cubs fans unified around the ultimate success of that elusive world series pennant, not the more general community of major league baseball fans, with the one caveat being if the day were to arrive when the future of major league baseball as a whole is threatened. Though alliances is not intended to be part of this posting, there clearly is significance in terms of social capital well beyond our own associations that I might address at a later date.
Nonetheless, if you characterize the conditions within your association as intensely competitive, then it may already be too late. Think of it this way, social capital is the essence of the phrase “good-of-the-order”.
For some reason, the primary motivation in the traditional management world is more often than not negative motivation. In essence, we are often conditioned to believe that if we do a good job then our economic security is assured and that if we fail it may ultimately cost us our jobs. The topic of “risk” always factors prominently in the minds and weighs heavily on the shoulders of association executives, especially at the CEO level. But regardless of your role, ask yourself which of the following most closely resembles your association:
Association A: If we take a calculated risk, our primary concern is the impact of failure.
Association B: If we take a calculated risk, our primary concern is the impact of success.
In other words, some associations camp on the question of “what if it doesn’t work”, while others work from the perspective of “what if it does”. Which of these two environments do you think has the greatest abundance of social capital and potential for future success?
As association executives at any level of management or responsibility, our role is not only to ensure the execution of marching orders issued by our governing leadership, but also to serve as dynamic leaders and facilitators of social capital within our associations at all levels. Let’s face it, if social capital disappears from your association, the next vanishing act may be that of your association.
Think of social capital as a measurable predictor of success, stagnation or failure within your association. Why? Because the degree to which members, leaders and staff feel a sense of cohesion, belonging, purpose and investment within the association will directly impact future output and action at all levels.
From the very beginning, the driving principle of associations has been rooted in the recognition that our success ultimately depends on the success of others. Put another way, if our success is driven by the desire for personal gain and not the ultimate success of others, then there is little chance for survival on both an individual and collective level. However, if we focus our energy and service on helping others succeed for the good of the whole, then we all succeed. After all, I don’t know too many people who if given the option would prefer to fail than to succeed.
Now for the million-dollar question, how do you cultivate, measure and track social capital? Well, if you’ve read or heard me talk about my concept of Association EQ, then you likely know what I’m about to say. I would argue that social capital is not driven by logic, rather it is rooted in emotion. Remember, we are talking about a “sense” of belonging, cohesion, healthy relationships, connecting, and experiences as contributors to social capital. I might suggest a slightly simplified definition of social capital as “a cohesively unifying state of emotional well-being”.
Regardless, my point is the measure of social capital may very well be the measure of emotion as behavioral economics suggests that the majority of people base economic decisions based upon emotion rather than logic. So, if the desire of your association is to strenghten and expand your base of people (including members, volunteers, staff and other stakeholders) then you must measure the degree of emotional attachment to your association as a whole and in its parts. Here’s where it’s time to get real in bringing psychology into play.
At this point, I have reminded myself that my goal was to write a blog posting rather than a book. Given the many dimensions of this issue materializing in my mind I am going to create a related series of postings in near future to further explore ideas for putting social capital cultivation into practice within your association. Stay tuned!
Add comment September 19, 2008
The Key to Innovation Within Your Association Just Might be a Mentor
Thomas Edison said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. If I may humbly be so bold, I would like to suggest that there has been a missing ingredient in this formula, especially for those of us who work in a crowded association “laboratory”. That missing ingredient is encouragement.
The path to change and innovation within our not-for-profit business environment compared to our for-profit corporate world cousins can often be a lonely one. There is a natural tension lurking within not-for-profit corporations between mission, volunteerism and revenue which can often impact creativity and innovation.
Yet, now more than even, associations need the creative energies, courage and political acumen of innovative executives who can engineer the needed transformation within traditional associations. Even more, associations need talented staff at all levels who are not afraid to venture out on that limb to deliver their valuable ideas and thoughts.
So how do we keep from stifling the innovation pipeline? How do we inspire new generations of association staff to take risks? How do we maintain the motivation to weather the obstacles of change to make a lasting difference within our association?
The answer is a tiny spark of encouragement. Not allot… it can be but one person… but just enough to serve as an anchor which keeps talented association professionals who are full of potential from drifting away from a powerful idea prematurely. To provide a compass which helps them chart a course for navigating change. Someone to tell them that, in fact, they aren’t crazy when everyone else might think they are living on another planet.
Our world has seen countless innovators who summoned the courage to persevere. If you wisely accept the adage that “no person is an island”, there were likely many unsung heroes who knowingly or unknowingly served as a mentor who helped shape these great people. We are all human beings and need just a little bit of encouragement from time-to-time to muster the courage to keep moving forward. In its most complex or even its simplest form, this is the role that mentors play in our lives.
Find a mentor… be a mentor… look for mentors in unexpected people and places… read about mentors… they will provide the wisdom and encouragement you need to bring visionary ideas to the right level and into existence.
Add comment August 28, 2008
