Purpose

As a mostly learn-by-doing career, the experience and training of the association CEO is routinely idiosyncratic—moving up through the ranks in associations of varying sizes, types and cultures. Accordingly, professional development can be a bottom-up thing, doing this while learning that as opportunities to advance present themselves. And for the mid-career executive, thrust fresh and new into the world of associations at the CEO level, a holistic look at the association CEO position can be even more crucial.

The Association CEO Handbook 2nd Edition offers a top-down, all- around look at associations and what CEOs do in them. Through the Six Elements of the Association CEO Position, you will be introduced to concepts such as the Management/Leadership Continuum, the Rule of Tiers, the Rule of the Two Authorities, Communicativity, and the Zone of Complexity that so mark the uniqueness of the association CEO experience.

One reviewer of the Handbook put this way:

I know from first-hand experience that the assumptions and expectations of an individual serving as CEO will vary greatly from one association to another.  But I also know that real success in the CEO role comes from embracing some common practices and values  -- building a community around a shared vision of a better world for the members; bringing the very best out of volunteers and staff; calmly managing risk and change; and more.  In fifty years of both studying and practicing the art and science of association management, I’ve never seen a book that better captures the core competencies – the essence of CEO leadership.  The Association CEO Handbook is a powerful resource for new CEOs as well as those of us who have long experience in the role.  It’s a go-to reminder of why what you do as an Association CEO matters. Elissa Myers, Association CEO and former Publisher of ASAE’s Now magazine.

Origins

The Association CEO Handbook is the product of more than 200 association CEO executive searches and more than 1200 one-on-one interviews with association search committee members about what’s needed in the position. Also reflected are one-on-one interviews with over 3,000 CEO candidates about what they do in their current position and what they have to offer the prospective position.  Finally, The Association CEO Handbook reflects over 3,500 hours counseling search committees before, during and after the final interview process. Their shared reflections on what they need in their association’s CEO provide valuable insight as why one candidate got the job and the other finalists did not.

As important has been the launching of the Association CEO Workshop in 2009 leading to the Association CEO Handbook First Edition in 2013 and the subsequent 2016 launch of the Association CEO Seminar (ACS).  While the structured offerings of the workshops and seminars were important, the greatest impact on the Second Edition was the discussion and reflection of the more than 150 participating CEOs themselves. Indeed, the current lists (and contents) of Commonalities and Fundamentals in the Second Edition reflect directly the views and experiences of the CEOs as developed in the session.