CEO Solutions :: KST Consulting

While on a wonderful cruise last week on the new  Oasis of the Seas, I was struck by how “fresh” all of the staff were. The magnificent ship is huge, holding over 6,000 passengers and a couple thousand staff.

 Week after week the staff greet and care for a new batch of several thousand guests on a ship they live and work on for several months without much down time. The staff work very long days. 

Watching the cruise staff interact with the passengers reminded me somewhat of association staff working an annual association conference. Association conferences are typically shorter than a cruise for most staff, lasting about 5 days. Some staff may be onsite for up to 10 days for pre and post meetings. There are some differences between the cruise staff and association staff. For instance, lots of extra time is devoted by association staff throughout the year to prepare for the annual event. The last few weeks are a definite push, with the staff usually feeling like it won’t all get done. Somehow it does! The leader has to cheer the staff to the end, assuring them of their expected success.

As staff, we come home exhausted, and usually take a few days of R&R. Yet, the cruise staff welcome a new crop of guests each week with the same energy and enthusiasm as the last. The ship’s captain oversees the whole operation week after week as well. He depends on the staff to work together as a well oiled machine, a team he can depend on to be his eyes and ears.

How do they do sustain that fresh energy and focus? What is the magical ingredient for them that enables them to remain so engaged in their work, week after week? Is it the gratuities many of them are counting on earning? Maybe the abject poverty of their home country and families depending on them to send home money, so they must keep their job and be eligible for another contract?  Are they unique in their makeup, somehow hard wired differently than the association staff? No matter the source of  their motivation, how do they avoid becoming exhausted?

It strikes me that these questions may be worthwhile to contemplate and discuss with your staff. See what might surface that could help you and your staff achieve a similiar level of energy and engagement with your members week after week.

Yes, I know a cruise is different from an annual conference and the cruise staff are not spending extraordinary time engaged in preparatory work before the next week’s cruise. Or are they? Surely, some must be. Food, fuel and other supplies must be ordered and placed onboard and registration must be prepared for the next group of vacationers to mention a few things. 

I don’t have the answers. Just the questions. What do you think? Could you be “up and on” week after week if you were interacting so closely with your members? If not, why? If so, what is your secret formula for success? Others would love to know. So would I!

I was recently a speaker for a board development session–the first ever offered by the association. It made me wonder how many associations are neglecting this very important activity. Sure, most association CEOs offer some sort of orientation to the specifics of their association. For instance, there may be a round robin of presentations by various senior managers and an overview of the basic logistics such as travel expense policies and procedures, dress code, transportation tips, and more. How many devote time and resources to training their board members on how to be an effective board?

With this particular client, it was a group of highly educated and sophisticated members. Most of the individuals have served on other national boards, so they wanted more than the basics. I asked a few questions and determined that the basics were in fact needed in addition to more advanced knowledge.

For instance, most could not respond to my query about the three legal duties of a board. That was just the beginning and made me realize that I was on the right track by offering a board development session annually when I was a CEO. Do you? Can your board answer my query? What else might they know or not know? Think about how you can provide the training and information they need in order to protect themselves legally and lead your organization on a continued path of success. It’s a new decade, in this somewhat still new century. Maybe it is time for a new approach to your board orientation and development sessions. Just a thought.