There are a lot of myths that circulate in the association world, one of which is that an association leader’s job is easier there because there’s an inherent clarity around mission. Everybody on staff and the board knows what they’re there for, so everybody’s pulling in the same direction. 

Of course, anybody who’s experienced a healthy number of board meetings and cross-functional team sessions knows how easily the gears can grind. A shared sense of mission is important, but it’s not enough.

Management expert Dave Garrison, author of the new book The Buy-In Advantage: Why Employees Stop Caring—and How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Give Their All, suggests that focusing on mission alone—what he calls “compelling purpose”—neglects other important elements. “You also need empowered people and aligned actions,” he says. “Aligned means ‘not siloed.’ Empowered means people know what the rules are, what the values are, and they’re empowered to make decisions.”

Associations’ mission focus, he says, tends to make for a lopsided three-legged stool. “When I look at associations or nonprofits, they usually excel at compelling purpose, and are much weaker in areas of empowering their people and having aligned actions.”

So what gets all three parts in sync? Garrison shared three ideas about how to achieve balance with staff and boards.

1. Recognize that people want validation beyond pay. Garrison says one impact of Covid was prompting people to rethink their expectations of work, a perspective that has spread across generations. “A new generation is entering the workforce that values other things in addition to money—an alignment with purpose. They also have a desire to be heard in terms of how things get done.” To that end, leaders need to be curious about what gives people a voice and a sense of accomplishment.

2. Emphasize criteria, not decisions. Leaders are decision-makers, but if everyone on the org chart is unclear about your process and expectations, nobody feels empowered. Emphasize clarity about your criteria for success, Garrison says. “If I bring you [the CEO] 10 alternatives for how we’re going to increase membership, you might look at six of them and go, ‘Those will never work. We’re not doing those.’ You might look at three and say, ‘Interesting.’ You might look at one and go, ‘I really like that.’ You are using a checklist in your head, and you just assume that everybody sees the world that way. It’s easy to forget everyone brings a different set of experiences and a different set of criteria to the party. If you are clear on the criteria and expressed it well, any decision will work, as long as it meets that criteria. So leaders actually free up their time to work on the really important stuff.”

3. Defuse tensions with questions. With a difficult board member, Garrison suggests, it can be easy to deem their pushback as problematic. More, often, though, there’s a misalignment in understanding about what the criteria of a discussion is. “People are willing to listen when they feel heard,” he says “Managers tell and leaders ask. When you hear their ideas, ask, ‘What led you to that idea?’ You’re considering and then having a conversation about criteria, not about solutions. Because if my solution is different than yours, and I think you’re totally missing this mark, all it means is I’m using a different set of criteria.”

More information about the book, along with an online assessment tool, is available at its website.