This article is the second in a three-part series on what effective association leadership requires today—and how leadership is evolving for the future. Read part one here.

Some of the most important lessons about association leadership only emerge once you’re in the role, leading through complexity, uncertainty, and decisions that rarely have a perfect answer.

Members of ASAE’s Executive Management Advisory Committee (EMAC) share perspectives they wish they had known earlier about leading organizations, working with boards, and managing the competing demands of association leadership.

Leadership Means Making Hard Calls Tori Miller Liu, MBA, CIP, FASAE, CAE, president & CEO at the Association for Intelligent Information Management says, “You will have to make heartbreaking decisions. It’s best to make those quickly and empathetically. Do not draw it out. That helps no one. The organization always comes first. Be open and clear about that with staff.” “It’s okay for there to be a ‘sanity tax,’” Liu adds. “You can’t prioritize everything. What should organizations pay or give up to keep their CEO and staff sane?”

Action: Evaluate decisions objectively through the lens of mission, strategy, and organizational health. Programs that once worked may no longer align with strategic priorities, and leaders must sometimes make difficult choices between competing organizational needs.

You Are Not the Member

In member-driven organizations, leaders can easily assume they understand what members want, but the loudest voices are not always representative. “You are not the target market,” points out Rebecca O’Brien, MBA, CFRE, CAE, executive director of the IREM Foundation.

Kelli Baxter, MS, founder and managing partner at KG1 Consulting Group, adds: “Boards don’t know everything. When you come in as a new executive leader, you assume they do.”

Action: Gather data, seek diverse perspectives, bring context to board conversations, and work backward from member needs.

Authority Doesn’t Equal Trust

“Trust has to be earned and built, and positional authority is not sufficient,” says Rhea M. Steele, ODCP, FASAE, CAE, chief of staff and VP of Strategy & Governance at the School Nutrition Association.

Jose F. Segarra, MNA, CAE, vice president of Industry Relations & Events at Bostrom, emphasizes, “When things go bad, trust between the chair and the executive is extremely important. Learn to build that trust.”

Action: Listen carefully, acknowledge mistakes, follow through on commitments, and create shared understanding with boards.

You Can’t Do It Alone

“One of the hardest lessons in association leadership is realizing you cannot force progress on your own,” notes vice-chair of EMAC and CEO of Momentum Association Management Matt Ott, MS, CMP, AAiP, FASAE, CAE. “Early in your career, it is easy to believe that if you work hard enough or know enough, you can push initiatives through yourself. But associations do not work that way. Success requires trust, buy-in, and shared commitment from your staff, board, and members. Without that alignment, even good ideas become difficult to execute.”

Emily Reineke, MA, CAE, chief member and chapter services officer at CREW Network, adds, “Teamwork is a choice. While you likely have the skills to do it yourself, you do better work and do it faster when you brainstorm and collaborate with others. Doing it alone might be easier in the short term, but it reduces your impact and effectiveness in the long term.”

Action: Become a learning leader. Create the conditions for others to contribute their expertise, solve problems, and shape solutions.

Leaders Help Others See the Bigger Picture

Leadership requires helping others understand how decisions, stakeholders, and priorities connect. “Systems thinking doesn’t come naturally to everyone, which makes it a critical leadership responsibility,” says Lindsay Currie, CAE, executive officer of the Council on Undergraduate Research and chair of EMAC.

Action: Model how you evaluate decisions and make connections between issues so others can learn to see the bigger picture.

Change Leadership Doesn’t Need a Hero. It Needs a Network.

“Resistance to change is predictable, and you will ruffle feathers,” says Rhonda Payne, CAE, CEO of Flock Theory. “The leaders who navigate it most successfully don't command and control their way through it. They build a diverse change leadership network from the start and together lead the human side of change before they manage the implementation.”

Payne observes that organizations often want change in theory, but not always the discomfort that comes with it.

“Change rarely happens without some friction,” she says. “That isn't defiance. It's insight trying to surface. Meaningful change usually involves feelings of loss about the status quo: predictability, identity, power, relevance. When diverse change leader styles are at the table from design through adoption, friction becomes insight rather than opposition, something to decode collectively rather than overcome alone.”

Action: Engage diverse perspectives early and throughout the process to build understanding, ownership, and commitment.

The CEO Role Is Not What You Think It Will Be

On becoming a CEO, Meredith Ellison, DBA, CAE, executive director of AAAI, says, “It wasn’t what I thought it would be. How do we prepare new CEOs for what to expect?”

Ellison reflects candidly on the realities of the role. “A key fact to keep in mind is that boards change every year and with that comes new personalities and dynamics that can quickly shift priorities. I think this is why being agile and adaptable are two key strengths that CEOs must possess. I would also add that all boards are different, so your experience with one probably won’t be the same with another.”

Action: Treat each new board as a fresh start. Establish shared expectations early and invest in onboarding.

So, What Does This Mean for Leaders?

As a former association leader turned executive coach, I’ve seen how often leaders believe they need to have all the answers.

The reality is they don’t.

Professional associations, committee service, peer cohorts, and executive coaching create opportunities to reflect and learn from others. The strongest leaders continue learning. They make time to step back, think through difficult decisions, and seek new perspectives—even if they may differ from their own.

ASAE’s Executive Management Professionals Advisory Council is composed of senior association leaders who guide and recommend content for ASAE programs, events, publications, and other resources related to the needs and interests of CEOs and senior staff executives.