It makes me wonder a few things about your association…

1. What kind of action could your association take to create an equally loud public response?

• Do you regularly analyze the impact of the decisions your board makes?
• Before taking the vote?

2. Cheering is happening in social media outlets as Komen’s components distance themselves. 

• How do you keep your components in the loop when decisions are made that may impact them?
• If you are taking a strong stand for unpopular change, what price are you willing to pay?

3. I am a member of Zeta Tau Alpha – a long time supporter of Komen’s Race for the Cure. The Zeta Facebook page is alive with members wanting to know (right now) what the leaders of the fraternity are doing? Will Zeta’s take a stand as well? If yes, what will it be?

• Do the organizations you have a relationship with give you a heads up before making major changes public so you can plan your potential response to member concerns?
• Are you prepared for a rush of concerned members who may passionately flex their social media muscles when wanting to hear from you?
• How would you handle members forming protest groups on platforms like Facebook to demand their voice is heard?

(To the credit of the Zeta Tau Alpha staff, they are communicating with members on the Facebook page and encouraging them to share their opinions directly with leadership through a provided email address.)

Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision and the aftermath is a fascinating case study to learn from.

There are a ton more potential issues at play here than what I listed above.

What other questions and issues should associations consider based on what you are seeing and experiencing?

This August, I spoke at the ASAE 2011 Annual meeting in St. Louis.

As a speaker for one of the learning labs, I taught association executives and staff how to embrace their Lazy Leaders to create a surplus of volunteers.

They learned:

• The difference between Lazy Leaders vs. martyr leaders
• How to potential volunteer hot buttons
• How to look at opportunities in ways today’s volunteers want to help out.

The program was based on my book, The Lazy Leader’s Guide to Outrageous Results and the work I often share at association leadership conferences.

I just got an email from ASAE staff telling me my learning lab was the HIGHEST RANKED for the meeting!

This is a huge honor as many of the speakers who shared their wisdom at ASAE St. Louis are leading content experts.

Some of the comments my program generated from the association executives and staff included:

• Cynthia did a wonderful job. She provided examples, take aways and was interactive with her audience.
• Cynthia was awesome!  She kept everyone engaged, presented a serious topic in a humorous fashion, and gave good reference material follow-ups.
• Loved that Cynthia had relevant content, didn’t speak from slides, and engaged the audience!
• Provided very practical tools, a dynamic speaker, and great format with working examples.
• Cynthia was fantastic.  I wish the session was longer.

As I said, it’s very fun news!