Chamber of Commerce Leadership

Chamber of Commerce leadership is a multifaceted role that requires a diverse set of skills and a deep commitment to the community.

It has been suggested that the chamber leader who can communicate to a multiple set of audiences at any given time will do well.

Here's a breakdown of key aspects:

Key Responsibilities of Chamber Leadership:

 

Strategic Vision: Developing and implementing a long-term vision for the Chamber that aligns with the needs of the business community and the overall economic development of the region.

 

Advocacy: Representing the interests of Chamber members and the business community to local, state, and federal government officials, advocating for policies that support business growth and a healthy economy.

 

Membership Engagement: Building and maintaining a strong membership base by providing valuable services, fostering networking opportunities, and ensuring member satisfaction.

 

Community Development: Engaging in initiatives that enhance the quality of life in the community, such as supporting education, infrastructure improvements, and cultural events.

 

Financial Management: Overseeing the Chamber's finances, ensuring responsible budgeting, and exploring diverse funding sources to support its programs and initiatives. 

 

Collaboration: Building strong relationships with businesses, government agencies, community organizations, and other stakeholders to work together towards common goals.

 

Communication: Effectively communicating the Chamber's value, impact, and initiatives to members, the media, and the public.

 

Essential Leadership Qualities:

 

Visionary: Ability to think strategically about the future of the Chamber and the community, and to inspire others to work towards that vision.

 

Advocate: Strong and effective advocate for the interests of Chamber members and the business community.

 

Connector: Skilled at building relationships and fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders.

 

Communicator: Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to articulate the Chamber's message effectively.

 

Problem-Solver: Ability to identify challenges facing the business community and develop creative solutions.

 

Engaging: Passionate and enthusiastic leader who can inspire and motivate others.

 

Ethical: High ethical standards and a commitment to transparency and accountability.

 

Effective Chamber Leadership:

 

Understands the local business environment: Deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing businesses in the community.

 

Builds strong relationships: Cultivates strong relationships with key stakeholders, including business leaders, government officials, and community organizations.

 

Empowers volunteers: Effectively engages and empowers volunteers to contribute their skills and expertise to the Chamber's work.

 

Embraces innovation: Encourages innovation and explores new approaches to address community challenges and support business growth.

 

Measures and evaluates: Tracks the Chamber's progress and measures the impact of its initiatives to ensure effectiveness.

 

By demonstrating these qualities and fulfilling their responsibilities effectively, Chamber of Commerce leaders can play a vital role in fostering a thriving business environment and building a strong and prosperous community.

Becoming a Strategic Leader

Have you thought about what kind of leader you are? Are you a strategic leader?

Becoming a strategic leader is a journey, not a destination and it doesn't happen over night.

It takes time, effort, and commitment to develop the skills and mindset necessary to be successful.

The following tips are a starting point in making you a strategic leader:

• Develop your strategic thinking skills. This involves being able to think long-term, see the big picture, and identify trends. You can develop your strategic thinking skills by reading books and articles on strategic leadership, taking courses, and practicing.

• Become a visionary leader. This means having a clear vision for the future of your organization and being able to articulate that vision to others. You can become a visionary leader by thinking about what your organization could be in the future, and then working to make that vision a reality.

• Be a risk-taker. Strategic leaders are not afraid to take risks. They are willing to experiment and try new things. You can become a risk-taker by being open to new ideas, and by being willing to fail.

• Be a good communicator. Strategic leaders are able to communicate their vision to others in a clear and concise way. They are also able to listen to feedback and be open to change. You can become a better communicator by practicing your public speaking skills, and by being mindful of your body language and tone of voice.

• Be a good collaborator. Strategic leaders are able to build relationships and work with others to achieve common goals. You can become a better collaborator by being open to feedback, and by being willing to share your ideas with others.

• Be a lifelong learner. The world is constantly changing, and so must strategic leaders. They are always learning new things and adapting to change. You can become a lifelong learner by reading books and articles, attending conferences, and taking online courses.

Becoming a strategic leader is not easy, but it is definitely possible. By following these tips, you can develop the skills and mindset necessary to be successful.

Here are some additional tips on how to become a strategic leader:

• Set clear goals and objectives. What do you want to achieve as a strategic leader? Once you know what you want to achieve, you can start to develop a plan to get there.

• Be proactive. Don't wait for things to happen. Take the initiative and make things happen.

• Be persistent. Don't give up easily. Keep working towards your goals, even when things get tough.

• Be positive. A positive attitude is contagious. When you're positive, it will motivate others to be positive as well.

• Be humble. Don't be afraid to admit when you're wrong. Be willing to learn from your mistakes.

Good luck on your journey to become a strategic leader and successful in achieving your professional and organizational goals.

LEAD-ER-SHIP: No Regrets. No Retreats.

The following post is based on William Canary’s new book titled, LEAD-ER-SHIP: No Regrets. No Retreats.  For a copy of the book go HERE.

After reading the book, I wanted to post a “Leadership Is” list of nuggets that jumped off the pages for me that I want to share.  I hope you enjoy!

Leadership is leading by example.  Trust those you lead as partners, not employees.  Put people in a position to succeed with the resource they need to succeed.

Leadership is not about titles.  Leadership is about being authentic.  Be a teacher, educate and motivate your team members.  Create an atmosphere where people can make a difference.

Leadership is about communication.  It’s also about being a great listener.  And when communicating - be clear, be concise and use words your team can embrace.

Leadership is about optimism.  I personally like to quote a leader in the restaurant business I had the privilege to meet, IHOP Founder Al Lapin, who used to tell me, “Raymond, in business, there are no challenges, only opportunities.”

Leadership is about welcoming dissent based on well informed principles.  Not everyone will align with your goals all the time.  Leaders know how to respond.

Leadership is about failing forward.  Good leaders know their risk tolerance when deciding on a pathway forward.  William quoted Winston Churchill in this chapter, “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”

Leadership is about thinking outside the box, or as the author states in Chapter 7, “Thinking Ahead of the Box.”

Leadership is about challenging the status quo.

For blogs I follow on leadership, go to the right navigation bar down the page titled LEADERSHIP BLOGS.

Your Road to Yes! How the Best Leaders Create a Culture of Trust & Belonging

Justin Patton, President and CEO, Justin Patton, LLC, is one of my favorite presenters and this blog post are based on my notes from his session at the recent ACCE Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.

He started by asking the question “What is Trust?”  The unwavering belief that you are going to have my back.

Trust is money.  Not time is money!  Trust is your biggest competitive advantage.

When you have trust you have:

• Candor
• Security
• Productivity
• Engagement
• Loyalty
• Opportunity

Trust is what keeps people coming back!

Trust is about:

• Transparency – do you take people with you along the journey?
• Emotions - I feel, Thoughts - I believe, Decisions - the reason I/we
• Tact – do we create a safe space for people to open up?
• Togetherness – do you take people feel less alone in the world?

The toxic five that ruins a culture:

• Disrespectful
• Non-inclusive
• Unethical
• Cutthroat
• Abusive

Emotional Bank Account

• Put empathy before information
• The best leaders communicate to build trust!
• “Trust is built in the doing.  One yes at a time!”

For me, trust is about telling the truth and doing what you said you were going to do.  To me, it’s that simple!

For more information on Justin Patton go HERE and for a copy of his book Your Road to Yes! go HERE.

Chamber Leadership

In Dave Adkisson’s book, Horseshoes vs Chess (Chapter 1), he talks about the many different types of leadership styles chamber executives may possess and what that means.

I’m going to focus on four; Surrogate Leader, Catalytic Leader; Aspirational Leader, and Servant Leader.

Surrogate Leader – Dave talks about this style of leadership is for the metro chamber who is hired to manage complex issues dealing with the chamber, government, and the community at large.

Catalytic Leader – as describe in ACCE’s Horizon’s 2025 Initiative, this executive is described as a CEO who can accelerate change for the community.

Aspirational Leader – is the leader who always works to see things to improve, get better for the community.

Servant Leader – is the executive who leads from the middle (my term).  Dave talks about this type of leader must be able to lead out front or from behind.  As Dave states, “this leader is dedicated to a cause of building an effective chamber and improving one’s community is the best underlying indicator of a true servant leader.”

I’d suggest you don’t have to be tied to one leadership style.  It all depends on your situation at a given time.

It’s about adapting your style to make change for your chamber and community.

Designing Strategy for Sustainability

The following blog post are my notes from a recent webinar I attended sponsored by Institute for Organization Management with Dr. Steve Swafford and Dr. Jill McCrory of Leadership Outfitters.

The session was focused on designing a strategy for sustainability for yourself, staff, leadership/volunteers and organization.

They started out by asking the question, what is your chamber’s greatest strength?  The sample of responses from participants:

• Storytelling
• Mission minded
• Advocacy
• Relationships
• Communication
• Community builder

Then they turned and led a discussion on focusing on strengths.

 

Yourself – pay attention to yourself because the team is paying attention to you.

 

Staff – identify your staff’s strengths through Clifton or other aptitude tests, do some team assessment and get the right people in the right seats.

 

Leadership/Volunteers – what are the leaders best at?  What are their aspirations?

 

Organization – do you have a clear vision and mission?  Where are you going, why?  Do you have clear achievable goals?  How will you get there?

 

They then talked about the SOAR Framework, a twist on the SWOT analysis, that most folks are familiar with, and how you should look at your staff leadership and organization through this SOAR lens as a tool to maximize performance in the areas mentioned above.

 

Strengths – what do you do well?  What are you excellent at?

 

Opportunities – what are the opportunities here?  Even those not in your control.

 

Aspirations – what do you aspire to become or do?

 

Results – what are the measurable results and outcomes?

 

To me, the SOAR Framework is very much like the Hedgehog Theory in the book Good to Great – which asks the following three questions:

1. What do you have passion for?
2. What are you the best at or can you be the best at?
3. Where do you make money?

Where those three intersect, that is the business you should be in.

They also talked about strategic leadership and the three components they feel make up that process – strategic thinking, strategic acting, strategic influencing.  What possibilities can you see?  Maximize your strengths.

 

They pivoted to address the question, what’s coming down the track – change catalysts?

 

They have identified four big areas that organizations are dealing with - you don’t want to get hit by the train!  The key is to be proactive before you see the trains light.  You need to anticipate what’s on the horizon for your organization in these areas.

1. Virtual and tech
2. Social and cultural
3. Legislative and regulatory
4. Financial and economics

I did a recent blog post on Foresight that addresses this concept.  Go HERE for that post!

For more resources on strategy for chambers and associations from Steve and Jill go HERE.

Trust: As a Leader This is a Must

I always enjoy Justin Patton's presentations on leadership.  The latest was no exception.  He started off talking about one’s “Presence vs Leadership Presence.”

He said we all have presence but that is very different then leadership presence.  Some individuals have a presence that has a negative impact on others.

 

Justin talked about trust and stated that, “trust is the unwavering belief that you have my back.”  He defined trust in terms of loyalty, security, engagement productivity.

He went on to talk about how ego (arrogant, condescending) is the biggest detriment to becoming a great leader and losing trust by lying, not being consistent, or accountable.

 

He then spent some time giving advice on how leaders who have lost that trust can take steps to repairing the trust they’ve lost.

 

• Take full accountability for your part;
• Ask for or extend forgiveness;
• Demonstrate a change in behavior; and
• Be willing and available to talk.

 

He went on to talk about how you can create your own roadmap to trust and offered the following comments:

 

Truth - people interpret the truth differently.  Your truth is not the only truth.

 

• Actions of truth - candor, consistent, track record, take accountability.

 

Transparency - clarity.  People fill in the holes with fear.

 

• Actions of transparency - share intentions, explain the why, be available, admit mistakes.

 

Tact - ability to manage your intensity (passive vs aggressive).

 

• Actions of tact - manage intensity, listen to understand, pause before responding, be aware of body language.

 

Togetherness - ability to put the relationship before yourself.

 

• Actions of togetherness - demonstrate empathy, honor boundaries, extend trust, apologize when needed.

 

He ended the webinar with the comment that the best leaders “Communicate to Build Trust, not Compliance.”

 

For more information about Justin Patton go HERE.

The Trim Tab Concept in Leadership

There have been many articles written over the years, on the “trim tab” affect in leadership, and how it can transform your organization.

Peter Senge talks about it in his book The Fifth Discipline but it is widely known that Buckminster Fuller coined the term, when it relates to leadership, many years before.

As written in Wikipedia, “Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aerodynamic forces and stabilise the boat or aircraft in a particular desired attitude without the need for the operator to constantly apply a control force. This is done by adjusting the angle of the tab relative to the larger surface.”

The bottom line, and my translation, small well focused actions you take can make a big difference in your chambers.

Think about an entire ship being moved by 1% of its mass.  The small trim tab on a ship can make it turn completely in the opposite direction while maintaining a stable environment.

Or said another way, change can be implemented by small step/s.

For more information on the trim tabs metaphor in leadership go to the Buckminster Fuller Institute HERE or HERE.

Intentional Leadership

One of the best speakers I've ever heard, over my 25 years in association management, was Carla Harris, a Keppler Speakers presenter on Intentional Leadership at the ACCE Annual Meeting in Long Beach.

She started by giving one of her pearls.

"Currency comes in the form of performance and relationships.  You need a sponsor within the organization, which is not your mentor."

Once you perform, you now get to relationship currency.  You need to build relationship currency with everyone you touch in the organization.

Yes, it’s office politics!  She defines that as you must invest in relationships in your professional environment.

She then went on to talk about the 8 things that defines Intentional Leadership!

• Authenticity - your competitive advantage.  You can only be you!  The ability to meet people where you are, what you live and understand who you are.

• Building trust - go to territory’s unknown.  You must deliver, that’s how you lead, that’s trust.  They will follow you!

• Clarity - you must build clarity around something (quarter, month, week, day).  Explain that here’s where we’re going and you can help.  Today, we’re just trying to do this!  Define the goal.

• Create other leaders - to help you execute your program of work. Allow your team to shine.  You must be willing to let go!

• Diversity - you need diversity in your teams.  It’s a way of thinking.  Lot’s of ideas are needed from different perspectives.  Perspectives are born from experiences.  You need to start with a lot of perspectives (generational, cultural, etc.).

• Innovation - you must be intentional on innovation and teach your team to fail.  Push the envelope.  Celebrate the failures.  You learn from failures and you build on that for your next successful endeavor.

• Inclusion - solicit people voices.  You need to get their input.  Look at all sides of an issue.  People want to be heard, I hear you, I see you!  

• Voice - you must exercise your voice.  When it’s not right, call a thing a thing.  You must speak to the pink elephant in the room.

Success does not just happen.  You must be intentional on creating and defining your own scorecard and over deliver on it.

Carla's final statement, "you must own you!"

Board Relations and Leadership

I recently attended a session on the title of this blog presented by Steven Worth with Worth Consulting.

He started off by asking the question, do we have a problem?

He referenced a Stanford study that 69% of the people surveyed identified a challenge over the past 10 years mainly in: fundraising; financial stability; the executive director leaves unexpectedly; and attracting new board members.

He broke the session down into four areas and I took away the following comments or best practices in each of the areas discussed.

Governance

Remember the duties of board members:

• Duty of Care;
• Duty of Loyalty; and
• Duty of Obedience.

For an entire blog post on the subject matter go HERE.  And don’t forget the fiduciary responsibility when it comes to your finances.

Board Leadership Development Needs

Boards can be representative vs strategic.  While both can be productive it’s key to get the right board members involved in your organization.

There are a number of challenges that can be counterproductive which include, a board member pushing their own agenda, not knowledgable, the naysayer, etc.

It's critical that you continue to asses your current board for skill sets and position your organization to elect new board members where you may be lacking (i.e. knowledge in finance, marketing, education, leadership).

Membership and Financial Challenges

We are membership organizations.  Stay focused on your mission!

Markets change and the board needs to stay focused on that market otherwise the board and members will become obsolete if they don’t stay in tune on their market sector.

Don’t become a social party for your members, stay focused on the mission and serve the market whichever direction it goes.

Suggestions on how to stay focused:

Through surveys, discover the facts (quantitative vs qualitative) and do some benchmarking.  Constantly re-examine your strategy (annual strategic planning session) and always be recruiting new and keep getting new members, the bell curve 25-55 is the main working age and should be represented in your membership numbers.

Confusion Over the Board's Role

Create a job description for prospective board members so they know what they are getting into and what the expectation is if selected.  For a sample job description go HERE.

Do you continue to ask your board members on how they're doing and if they understand their role on the board?

Are you promoting your board members?  Recognition is very important in what you give back to board members for their service.

Have you created a scorecard matrix that has the board self evaluate their performance and which also identifies their skill set.  This is a simple exercise that will give you the information you need to build a strong board.

In the last part of the session we discussed how finding friends or partners with other organizations, think your chamber and other entities within the community to:

• Share resources
• Expand your network
• Do well by doing good
• Develop new ways of working
• Gain additional credibility

Final quote on leaders – they inspire others to do more than they thought they ever could do.

Something to think about!

What Makes a Great Chamber Executive?

Much has been written on this subject matter over time.

For me, I'd like to focus on the following four areas I believe make a great chamber executive:

1. Leader;
2. Visionary; 
3. Communicator; and
4. Flexibility.

Leader - a leader in our field understands that the Board sets policy for the organization and the CEO's job is to implement that policy with his or her staff.

Visionary - a visionary is a person who is able to see how the organization will implement the policy set forth by the Board to maximize the resources available within the organization to benefit the members.

Communicator - if you can't communicate what you and your staff are doing on behalf of the members, you will always be playing catch-up. Keep your communications clear and consistent.  Tell your organizations story to your members and the community.

Flexibility - in your program of work not everything will go perfectly, if it did you wouldn't be challenged and you would become bored. Flexibility will allow you to meet your goals, even though it may be different then originally planned. 

I did a blog post earlier titled "Owners, Managers, Customers."  It's important that you understand this concept.

It's been stated many times before why most executives get fired?  They get on a different page than their Board, a Board member, or there is a financial issue.

Don't let that happen to you!

Likability and Leadership

I remember reading Tim Sanders' book The Likability Factor many years ago and was reminded of it when I recently attended an educational session led by Bill Graham on The Power of Likability Leadership.

Bill talks about "open face" and how the simple fact of raising the eyebrows allows those people you're communicating with into your circle.

The other points he makes is that "communicating is not an activity but a result."  He went on to say "it's all about what I leave in your head."

Tim talks about how people want to do business with people they like.  In my opinion, that's no different than what Bill's talking about with his "open face" communication concept.

At the end of the day, we should make sure we're imploring both in our communications with members and potential members.

I agree with Bill when he suggests practicing the "open face" technique, you instantly become likable and people will react to what you're saying.

That's an effective two-punch communication strategy.

For more information on Tim Sanders go HERE and for more information on Bill Graham go HERE.

Being likable is being a winner!

Young Professional Groups

Why do we divide up our membership and is it the right thing to do?

If your chamber is like most chambers you’ve started, thought about starting or you’ve already disbanded your young professional group.

The concept sounds good, start a young professional group to bring in fresh faces and grow your membership.

The challenge is why commit to a program that is separate and many times has a different focus than your mission.

At least early indications show that many young professional groups were just another networking event at the local watering hole amongst them-selves and did nothing to help the bottom line of the chamber or its mission.

Shouldn’t they be networking with your seasoned members? Creating new contacts across generations? That’s how I was taught to get ahead, network with people who have more experience than you and more contacts than you.

To me we’re just creating a new silo within our organizations. Speaking of silos, haven’t we spent the last ten years trying to dismantle them?

Our chambers should be promoting programs that benefit all our members not just certain segments, right?

In the financial world we’re very aware of the transfer of wealth for the aging baby boomers to their kids.

Shouldn’t the same concept hold true for the next generation of business leaders? Where else will they go?

They should network with your current members. We need to be in the business of raising the tide for all our boats (members).

Just a thought!