Blogs

Strategic Transformation: Playing to Win

By Bobby Peralta posted yesterday
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I was researching on strategic transformation and found this article from Emeritus, an organization that specializes in making accessible and affordable high-quality education by collaborating with top-tier universities worldwide. The article, “Everything You Need to Know About Strategic Transformation,” provided me with a simple definition and context, together with a separate case study by Prof. Roger Martin, former chairman of Tennis Canada (TC), the governing body of the sport, which did a strategic transformation a decade ago and is now reaping the fruits from its success. A true strategic transformation is not limited to isolated or cosmetic changes ...
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Getting the Board Onboard and Aligned

By Bobby Peralta posted 6 days ago
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In a recent webinar organized by BoardPro entitled “How to Get your Board On-board and Aligned,” I gained insights on building an effective working board from Lisa Cook, founder and managing director of Get on Board Australia, an Australian board management software provider and board portal. Liza presented a three-step framework, “I AM” which stands for “ I ntegrate, A ctivate and M otivate.” To remember this framework easily, Liza suggests to have in mind statements like: “I am ready to serve the board”; “I am ready to be part of a high-performing board”; and, “I am ready to be successful.” The three-step framework calls for the following: 1. ...
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Associations and Japanese Life Philosophies

By Bobby Peralta posted 15 days ago
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I have always been fascinated by Japanese philosophies, culture and traditions since I first set foot in Japan in the early 1990s and took many more trips over the years. It always amazes me that people I’ve met and became friends with have been in touch with me even until now. Values like thinking first of others, respect for elders, decision-making by consensus, knowing your role, and doing your best are some of the things I have learned from my Japanese friends. So, when I read “14 Japanese Concepts that Will Help You See Life in a Different Light,” written by Mihai Andrei and featured on the Zem Science website, I thought I’d share five concepts or philosophies ...
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A Three-pronged Approach to Making an Impact

By Bobby Peralta posted 24 days ago
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I was a guest recently of the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association in its in-person general membership meeting and induction of its new Board of Trustees 2023-2024. HSMA is the country’s premier organization of hotel sales and marketing leaders, with 150 members comprising of heads of sales and marketing of accredited hospitality properties nationwide. During the event, HSMA president Loleth So presented the new Board’s strategic thrust, “#TheWayForward.” It consists of these three guiding principles that will help shape the organization’s ambition to make an impact, not only to its members and to its industry, but also to the country, in general: 1. ...
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Fundraising: A Board Member’s Responsibility

By Bobby Peralta posted 26 days ago
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I was sorting by topic the publications on association management and governance that I have acquired over the years when I saw this ASAE booklet, “Fundraising without Fear: A Board Member’s Guide to Raising Money” by Karla Taylor. I thought the concise and useful content of this guide is worth sharing to associations. Why raise funds? As an association’s work and advocacy evolve and expand over time, there is need to raise money for initiatives that membership dues cannot cover, e.g., research, scholarships, visibility campaigns, and other projects to ensure that the association is able to serve better the industry or profession it represents. Why ...
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Building Resilience

By Bobby Peralta posted 26 days ago
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The pandemic has spawned a plethora of words, terms and phrases. Resilience is one that I have used a lot, signifying my desire to look beyond this crisis, rise up, and be more progressive. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands. So when I chanced upon a TED Talk entitled, “Three Secrets of Resilient People” by Lucy Hone, a resilience expert and researcher, I watched it with keen interest. I thought of adapting the ...
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Leadership

By Bobby Peralta posted 26 days ago
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Two years of crisis navigation has impacted the governance of associations, both for the better and in challenging ways. For many of association board leaders, reflecting on how their association was able to thrive (or even survived) at the height of pandemic is in no small part because of their contribution that has deepened loyalty and commitment. A big part of this contribution is investing in board leadership which starts right after a member is elected to the board. This includes three processes: orientation; refresh; and, onboarding. This was tackled in the first monthly webinar of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executive ...
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Decision-making Don’ts

By Bobby Peralta posted 03-02-2023
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I have always enjoyed reading Dean West’s blogs, which are insightful and laced with a bit of humor. Dean is founder and president of Association Laboratory Inc., a US firm that provides quality information and strategic insights to association leaders. Below are my takeaways on common decision-making mistakes by associations from Dean’s recent blog Associations Pronounced Dead by Unanimous Decision, combined with my own experiences. Having many decision layers that don’t add value. More often than not, many associations have multi-tiered decision making process that involves different committees in approving, say, a service provider contract. There ...
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ROI and COI: A Tale of Two Metrics

By Bobby Peralta posted 27-01-2023
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Most of us are familiar with the term “return on investment,” or ROI, a metric that helps us understand the profitability of an investment. ROI is the ratio of net income (over a period) to investment (costs of investing a resource at a certain point in time). A high ROI means the investment has made significant gains compared to its cost. In a recent vlog, Australian-based Futurist Gihan Perera introduced the concept of “cost of inaction,” or COI. “When creating a plan, you calculate the ROI for taking action but, unless you also calculate the COI, your plan lacks context,” Gihan says. “ROI answers the question, ‘What are the benefits of this change?’ while ...
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Making Association Leaders Matter

By Bobby Peralta posted 20-01-2023
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January, named after the Roman god Janus, is the time for beginnings and transitions. It is the first month of the year when you start planning and set new goals. The pandemic, however, has added a new dimension in the way organizations now plan and operate. So when I read “What matters most? Six Priorities for CEOs in Turbulent Times” by Homayoun Hatami and Liz Hilton Segel on the website of McKinsey & Co., I thought their findings would resonate to associations as well. Resilience: The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from adversity. The pandemic has made businesses move much faster and for their leaders to deploy speed across six dimensions ...
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Of Horses, Eagles and Other Tales

By Bobby Peralta posted 15-01-2023
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Last Christmas, our good neighbor Bo Sanchez, a well-known author, podcaster, entrepreneur and missionary, gifted us with his latest inspirational book, “This and That: Tiny Choices to Uncomplicate Your Life.” The 200-page, 31-chapter book is full of stories on making life’s simple choices plus reflection points and actionable tips. I have adapted four tales from it which I thought I’d share with associations: 1. The Horse and the Donkey —Selfishness or Selflessness. A horse and a donkey were best of friends. One day, a group of bandits kidnapped them to carry their stolen loot. The gang put all the load onto the donkey to carry while put nothing on the ...
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‘Same old same old’ in the New Year?

By Bobby Peralta posted 15-01-2023
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The expression “same old same old” means the same thing has always happened, been done, or talked about but not acted upon, which implies that such thing tends to be monotonous, boring or unacceptable. In the context of the New Year and in the midst of the pandemic, having a “same old same old” approach, theme or topic for your association may prove detrimental or even disastrous. Here are a few things I have learned the past year from American association management expert and consultant, author and professional speaker Mary Byers: On value proposition. When members ask what they are getting for their membership dues, many associations reply by showing ...
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Kick-Start 2023: Be a Future-Ready Leader

By Bobby Peralta posted 30-12-2022
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If you have a motorcycle, then you know that to make its engine run, you need to kick-start it by pushing a ratcheting lever with your foot. Figuratively, “to kick-start” is to kick off a project or initiative, i.e., start a process and get things in motion. To kick-start also means to make something happen more quickly or improve on it. The year 2023 is coming up and after almost three years of the pandemic, many organizations, including associations, are gearing up for business. The “living with Covid” world will continue to bring massive disruption, change, and uncertainty. As a leader, you can’t guarantee certainty, but you can give your organization more ...
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Associations and Social Enterprises: A Correlation

By Bobby Peralta posted 25-12-2022
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A social enterprise is a business organization created to advance a social purpose in a financially sustainable way. If you take out the words “enterprise” and “business” from the first sentence, doesn’t it sound like a definition of an association? Here’s more: it is believed that the organizational and legal principles in social enterprises came from non-profit organizations. In this context, associations, which are non-profit organizations that usually relied on members’ financial support, have now diversified their revenue generation to promote their societal causes. In effect, an association, much like a social enterprise, uses business skills for social ...
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The Association CEO as a ‘VIP’

By Bobby Peralta posted 18-12-2022
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The Chief Executive Officer is the highest-ranking officer in charge of the overall management of an organization. In the association context, the CEO title varies (President, Executive Director or Secretary General). Based on my experience working with associations for over 30 years, I have learned at least six essential traits an association chief executive should possess. I collectively put these into the acronym, VIP CEO. V: Visionary. A visionary CEO has a clear picture of how they envision the future of the organization. They set concrete steps to plan and execute the vision and lead the organization toward accomplishing these. For this to happen, ...
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Staying Ahead with LEAD

By Bobby Peralta posted 10-12-2022
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In my experience in over 30 years—and counting—as an association executive, I have come to the conclusion that leadership is about people, planning and passionate execution or what I call the “3 Ps of Leadership.” This is sub-divided into four elements with the acronym “LEAD.” L: Level with people. Starting with your members, your Board and the staff, being fair, accountable and transparent are hallmarks of good leadership. I remember when I took over as chief executive of an association many years ago, my first proposal to the Board was for it to have a retreat to review our organization’s purpose, mission, and vision, as well as to draw up a strategic ...
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Starting a Sustainability Journey

By Bobby Peralta posted 10-12-2022
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Sustainability used to have different meanings at different times to different people but gained a more universally common and acceptable definition over time. The term “sustainability” is derived from the Latin word sustinere , which translates “to sustain” and means to maintain, support, uphold, or endure, connoting the ability to continue over a long period of time. The modern use of the term, however, was strongly influenced by the 1983 United Nations (UN) Commission on Environment and Development, also known as the Brundtland Commission, in its 1987 report titled “Our Common Future.” In the 4th Annual Sustainability Summit of my organization, the ...
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The ‘5G Association’: Old and New

By Bobby Peralta posted 10-12-2022
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Never has digital technology development and innovation for associations accelerated than during the Covid-19 global pandemic. New and enhanced video-conferencing platforms, learning-management systems, association-management software, online communities and the like proliferated in the association world in such a short time. Digital technology, though, is only a part of the solution as associations seek ways to engage with their members, organize online events, be more efficient in their operations and generate new sources of revenue. While technology is the enabler of these activities, relevant content, member experience and organizational culture are essential ...
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Associations and Kaizen

By Bobby Peralta posted 20-11-2022
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In this 300th column (thank you, BusinessMirror, for this milestone!), I will touch upon a topic close to my heart as this has been a part of my work and advocacy on association management. The term kaizen is a fusion of two Japanese words that translate to “good change” or “change for the better.” Eventually, kaizen has evolved to mean “continuous improvement,” becoming a Japanese business philosophy that entails people involvement and productivity in a gradual and methodical process. I personally experienced the kaizen way years ago when I attended the “Executive Corporate Management Program” in Tokyo, Japan, organized by the Association of Overseas ...
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Associations and Banking

By Bobby Peralta posted 20-11-2022
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There is no arguing that associations and business organizations learn from each other on management practices and models. For example, some businesses have adopted the associations’ membership-like activities while some associations have undertaken business-like revenue generating ventures. Coming from a banking background, I ‘m sharing some banking terms that may create ideas for associations: KYC (Know Your Customer). KYC requires that financial institutions make an effort to verify the identity, suitability, and risks involved with maintaining a business relationship. Tweaking KYC into KYM (Know Your Member) in the association context, not from the ...
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