Strategy | Planning | Leadership Development | Organizational Growth
Association Support
Associations are unique. If you serve one in any way, you know that the passion that associations inspire brings many excellent ideas and more than a few strong opinions that can pull resources in many different directions. It can be challenging to align resources and make quick progress. Finding the balance between engagement and effective action can be difficult. We know, we’ve been there. Yet, with a clear vision, a limited number of well-articulated strategic goals, and strong teamwork across the organization, associations are a force that can move mountains.
At Essentiam, we help you align and enable all of your resources for maximum mission impact so you can do your best work and make those mountains move.
Having supported more than 50 associations, societies and accrediting bodies across all types of industries and professions, we have the experience and perspective to guide you and your team to achieve more powerful outcomes more quickly and with less organizational friction.
Vision & Mission
Associations are in the business of supporting an industry or profession. That’s a big job, and to do it well you need a clear vision of what you want to accomplish as well as some parameters that help define your role in making that vision a reality. Establishing a clear vision and mission, and revisiting them every few years is one of the most important responsibilities of the board of directors. After all, if the board doesn’t set the direction for the organization, who will?
We believe establishing a clear vision and mission and effectively communicating them is one of the most powerful strategic imperatives of a board of directors. It’s also a place we excel. Over the years, we have honed a number of techniques and exercises that will help the passionate, intelligent, invested professionals on your board of directors look beyond their current horizons to see a better future and a path for making it a reality. Creating this rallying cry to bring focus to the whole organization is empowering and exciting – and in itself can create clarity, purposeful action, and alignment.
Strategic Planning
Combine a clear vision and mission with a well-articulated strategic plan and you have a roadmap for exponential success. A strategic plan outlines the critical few outcomes that require focused energy and attention from the entire organization over the next three to five years to dramatically move toward achieving your vision and mission. Establishing a limited number of strategic goals that represent your most important work and aligning the organization around them makes moving mountains more realistic.
Essentiam can help you take this next step through a proven, collaborative strategic planning process that engages stakeholders, analyzes the current state, effectively envisions the future, identifies and prioritizes opportunities, develops an actionable roadmap, and inspires your team to come together around a shared set of desired outcomes. Our process is part research, part facilitation, part business consulting, part change management, and part operational enablement. But it is all about your organization, your people, your passion, and your future.
Leader & Team
Development
Especially in an association, people and teams are everything. Relationships are one of the key driving forces within any association. The relationships among members, staff, leaders, volunteers, and industry stakeholders are what create opportunities and make things happen. But teams and relationships are complex, and sometimes a little training and development can be critical to make them function effectively.
Whether it is helping your board of directors think and act more strategically, or bringing together your key committee and task force leaders to ensure organizational alignment, we are here to help you prepare for strategic success. We know nothing happens without good leadership. Leveraging our 20+ years leading cross-functional teams and guiding volunteers, we can help ensure your team is functioning at peak performance. From leadership training, to retreat planning, to team building, to individual coaching, count on Essentiam to help you make the most of your talent and passion with structured programming or customized interventions.
Learn More
To learn more about how we think and our approach, we encourage you to explore our Blog. Or, give us a call. We love talking with association industry professionals and volunteers about their observations, challenges and opportunities – after all, we all learn from each other!
Get Started
Ready to take the next step toward exponential success for your association or society? We’re here to help. Please reach out via email or phone at 312.343.0074, we would be happy to help guide you on that path.
© 2019 Essentiam
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