We’re Trying on New Shoes

Take a Leap

Come to the edge, He said.

They said: We are afraid

Come to the edge, He said.

They came. He pushed them,

And they flew…

Guillaume Apollinaire – Avant-garde French poet

Today’s Journey

Life is like a combination lock; your job is to find the right

numbers, in the right order, so you can have anything you

want.Brian Tracy – International Author and Speaker

Take the Journey

• Presenting models/theories/concepts

• Find what resonates for you

• Challenge your own assumptions

• Re-invent the status quo

• Try on some “new shoes”

Economic Recovery Starts Here!

“…the current economic slowdown is more likely to be turned around on Main Street than Wall Street”

Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary of Commerce regarding 2008 National Summit on American Competitiveness

America is Ready

"History has repeatedly demonstrated that new companies and entrepreneurship are the way to bolster a flagging economy. The American people understand this"

Carl Schramm, President and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation

Entrepreneurialism

"Americans in big numbers are looking to entrepreneurs to rally the economy; more than 70 percent of voters say the health of the economy depends on the success of entrepreneurs, and a full 80 percent want to see the government use its resources to actively encourage entrepreneurship in America”

Carl Schramm, President and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation

Are You Ready?

“Today, Chamber CEO’s and their professional staff must carry most of the load…They must possess the right mix of communication and influencing skills, fundraising and coalition building capacity, advocacy muscle as well as passion, vision and tenacity”

Retooling for Growth: Building a 21st Century Economy in America’s Older Industrial Areas, Brookings Institution Press, Chapter 5, Stephen Moret, Mick Fleming, and Pauline O. Hovey

Keys to the Combination

Knowledge Capital

• Education

• Information

• Ideas

• Research

• Relationships

All Enhance the Chamber’s Value to Members

Knowledge Organizations

• Leverage their Knowledge Capital– Capabilities– Competencies– Information– Knowledge

Remain relevant against social and economic changes and new member

needs

Organizational Life Cycle

• Work is on purpose

• Excitement about finding a new ideal/model/product/market

• Lots of Vision

• Chaotic/fun atmosphere

• Growth is fast and easy, almost natural

Creativity

Stability

• Purpose stays the same

• Structure solidifies with policies, procedures, standards

• Controls set in, standards are enforced

• Staff/BOD become more “professional”

• Thinking about the future and planning may be done at the top

UnRest

• The Environment changes

• Standards are enforced from the top

• People work harder, but…

• Results may slip

• Groups run out of steam

• May lose some fun and vitality

Renew, Reinvent, Rediscover!

• Bring teams together• Revisit mission, vision and principles• Redefine, question what the organization

is doing• Forge new directions or re-commit to

current directions• Reconnect (Connect) with

regional/strategic partners

Coopetition

• Collaborating with your “competition”

• May require re-evaluation of who is and who is not competition

• Strategic partnership

• Unconventional partnerships

• Everybody wins – it is not a zero sum game

Wikipedia and increasingly common vernacular

Double-loop Thinking

• Single-loop thinking is seeing an error or mistake and correcting it

• Double-loop thinking is understanding why the error occurred in the first place

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”

Albert Einstein

Keys to the Combination

Small Group Work – 45 minutes

• Discuss and dissect the three Strategic Questions posed

• Answer them for your organizational context• Challenge each other and your own thinking• Build on your strengths!• Capture your thoughts to share with the

larger group

Strategic Opportunities

• What are the gaps that your Chamber can uniquely fill in your community?

• With whom could your Chamber partner to increase its value to the members and community?

• Why should members decide to join your Chamber rather than meet their needs through other organizations?

Thoughts for Sharing with Larger Group

• What did you learn from each other?

• What assumptions were challenged?

• What can/will you do with the discussion that took place?

Strategic Opportunities

• What are the gaps that your Chamber can uniquely fill in your community?

• With whom could your Chamber partner to increase its value to the members and community?

• Why should members decide to join your Chamber rather than meet their needs through other organizations?

De-Brief

• Share what you learned from one another

• What can/will you do with the discussion that took place?

• What assumptions were challenged?

10 Characteristics of High Performing Chambers…

Have an excellent Vision statement

Have a cohesive Board structure

Have an annual work plan, a clear mission statement, well defined strategy

Financially stable Strong Member relations

program

Alignment – strategy ties to vision, goals tie to strategy

Highly trained and capable staff

Supportive culture Excellent tools Leadership – will tackle

tough community issues

Source: American Chamber of Commerce Executives

Consider this…

Nonprofit Governance Index 2007, www.boardsource.org/governance

99% of nonprofits have a written mission statement

79% of nonprofits have a written strategic plan 78% of nonprofits have a written vision

statement Strategic planning ranks #3 among areas of

board performance needing improvement

Its not about the “plan”, its about the PROCESS

Strategic Planning Process

• Rather than just look for a home for the organization’s favorite activities, this process leads to new ways of thinking about the organization...

• Active dialogue• Double-loop thinking

Why do Strategic Planning?

• Transformation is required today

• Business imperative

• Proven value for high performance

• Provides focus; greater efficiency

• Counters excessive inward thinking

Your mantra should be mission, vision, and strategy first, operations and tactics second.

We Have a Plan, Now What?

Use it…• To guide all Board and Staff activity

• As a marketing tool to Members and prospective Members

• As the foundation for Performance Measurement

Decrease in Volunteers

• Time crunch

• Need to focus on their own organization

• Used to be a corporate imperative

• Less overall corporate support

Could this be changing with the new administration?

It’s up to you to teach them…

Volunteerism is an enormous economic force, yet it is never mentioned in business school or in economics departments.

— Charles Hoadley, former Chief Economist, Bank of America

What Volunteers Want

Five ways to ensure continued volunteer involvement (in order of importance):1. Meaningful Work2. Stronger, more personalized communications3. Nearer to peer – vertical industry groups and

issue focused policy roundtables4. Relevance of your mission5. Professional Chamber leadership

Committee Effectiveness

• Have a written purpose• Clarify expectations• Hold productive meetings (or none at all)• Appoint ad hoc Committees• Consider “job” descriptions for Committee

Chair

Dealing with Personal Agendas

1. Recognize that everyone has individual ideas and passions

2. Give everyone a chance to voice personal interests

3. Watch for telltale signs (statements that don’t match issue at hand)

4. Build a culture of honest and open dialogue

5. Assume positive intent

6. Link to strategy - Ask the question: “ How does that help our Chamber accomplish its mission and strategic goals?”

High Performing Chambers

• Capitalize on your Knowledge Capital

• Build Strategic Alliances

• Evaluate the role, responsibilities and dynamics of your Board and CEO

• Challenge the status quo and think differently (practice double-loop thinking)

• (Re)Focus on your Vision, Mission and Strategy

• Transform and Re-invent!

Day Two Preview

• The Four Things Members Really Want!• The Six Pillars for Chamber and Community

Success– Workforce Development

– Infrastructure

– Quality of Life

– Innovation

– Business Climate

– Governance

• Active Dialogue and Discussion!!

See You Tomorrow

Keys to the Combination

Member-centric

• The ultimate goal is to serve members

• Chamber Exec and Board must ask foundational questions at every juncture

• Create Value Networks

• Understand how Value is experienced from the Member’s perspective

Member-Centric

Research shows that members want four things from Chambers:

• Economic Opportunities• Advocacy• Impact• Focus

Member-Centric

Economic Opportunities:

The Chamber enhances and leverages the talents and resources of its members to improve economic opportunities for all

Advocacy:

The Chamber is an advocate for its broad and diverse member businesses, creating a climate of growth and success

Member-Centric

Impact:

The Chamber provides unique opportunities for individuals and businesses to make a difference by connecting them to important community issues

Member-Centric

Focus:

The Chamber helps build stronger communities by staying focused and involved in the top business, civic and social priorities

Member-Centric

Current Trends

“Increasingly, Chamber Executives, ask for investments, or for payment for services…they have discovered that when they provide clear value for their members’ money, they usually get more money. This is a relatively new, entrepreneurial form of Chamber fundraising.”

Chris Mead, Senior Vice President, Member Relations, ACCE

Small Group Work – 45 minutes

• Discuss and dissect the four things members want from Chambers

• What is your Chamber doing in each area?• What should your Chamber be doing to more

fully meet member’s needs in each area?• Challenge each other and your own thinking• Build on your strengths!• Capture your answers to share with the larger

group

De-Brief Member-Centric

Research shows that members want four things from Chambers:

• Economic Opportunities• Advocacy• Impact• Focus

Thank You!

Bibliography of References

• All Hands on Board / ©1999 BoardSource and CompassPoint Nonprofit Services / www.boardsource.org• Top Ten Things You Should Know to Keep Your Chamber out of Trouble, Academy 101 Western

Association of Chamber Executives Annual Conference Wednesday, February 6, 2008 San Diego CA, Steve Snyder, Vice President

• Nonprofit Governance Index 2007, visit www.boardsource.org/governance• Re-Thinking the Value of Strategic Partnerships: Universities as Knowledge-Age Partners, Journal of

Association Leadership, Fall 2007, pp. 50-75, ASAE and the Center for Association Leadership• Ten Essential Responsibilities of Foundation Board Chairs, BoardSource 2008, www.boardsource.org• Twelve Principles of Governance that Power Exceptional Boards, BoardSource 2005, Washington, D.C.• The Shifting Tides of Nonprofit Governance: An Interview with Paul Light – Nonprofit Quarterly• Paul Light is a professor at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service• What Makes Powerful Nonprofit Leaders, Jim Collins in response to the article Peak Performance:

Nonprofit Leaders Rate Highest in 360-Degree Reviews , Nonprofit Quarterly http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/content/view/256/1/

• ACCE Benchmarking Monograph, September 2005, www.acce.org• Quixote Group/ACCE Chamber Brand Research 2006• ASSOCIATIONS NOW, January 2008, Rick Johnston, CAE