I would like to share a few thoughts on the provocative subject that there might be too many associations.

First: by sheer numbers, there are an enormous number of nonprofit organizations.

Second: there is obviously too much duplication and wasted effort within these numbers

Third: the pressures which will likely force consolidation among associations.

Fourth: the difficulties of merging associations.

Fifth: outside help for mergers and critical evaluations.

According to the Urban Institute, there are about 75,000 (c) 6 associations and more than a million (c) 3s. The number of (c) 3s has grown by more than 50 percent in the last ten years. I realize the (c) 3 number includes an awful lot of groups we don’t normally include in the sphere of associations, i.e., charities and foundations. At least half that 1,000,000 number, however, probably fall into our definition of associations.

You have to admit that is an awful lot of tax-exempt organizations. That should raise a red flag all by itself. There are more than 35,00 different organizations of war veterans alone.

In the past, the IRS has made an occasional foray into clamping down on the tax exempt non profits. These efforts have not been all that aggressive outside of the law which created the Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT).

In this current climate, don’t be surprised to see more action on the part of the IRS to question the validity as well as the purpose and activities of nonprofits. The game is on to increase tax revenues.

Our current economic situation is already putting strong pressure on many associations and may well be a clarion call for associations to carefully examine the possibility of gaining more stability by considering consolidation with one or more other organizations. Survival of many associations may well depend on pursuing this course of action.

In many industries or professions there are certainly many organizations that do not need to operate independently to serve essentially the same membership. Amalgamation would serve the industry far better.

In the reality of a struggling economy there are only so many dollars companies, as well as individuals, will be willing to continue committing to join and participate in associations and their functions. It is almost impossible to find any group who have increased membership or convention attendance this year.

It is not likely these forces will change very soon. Consolidation, amalgamation or merger may be heresy to a lot of people. If you are not considering it, some of your members may be. Doing it, of course, is not easy and has many problems and pitfalls.

I have personally been involved with several attempts to merge associations. Each one was a struggle and left a lot of broken noses and hurt egos along the way. You have to be careful in considering joining forces whether in fact it is a merger or an absorption. The cultures of each group is a vital consideration. The important decision point is whether you can still accomplish your goals and serve your members.

My first introduction to an attempt to merge two groups was really absorption. Of course, in the initial proposal it was not framed that way. One group was essentially an industry social organization. The other was a more program-oriented operation which had difficulty having any social functions because of the other group.

This first attempt failed mainly because the ego of the past presidents said “I’ll be past president of a group that no longer exists”.

A few years later a second attempt finally succeeded. It happened this time because the large industry leaders who were the main support of both groups saw the wisdom of the combination and openly encouraged their people to support it. The results were a definite benefit in creating a more cohesive industry organization.

What do you think?

I never slept well the night before I had decided to let someone go. This was after stewing over the decision for much longer than was necessary or productive.

It took me a long time to recognize that the longer you delay, the more costly it is for you in terms of productivity, the damage to your nervous system and time lost from your principal goal of building an effective organization.

At the same time the longer you delay this uncomfortable task, the longer you are keeping that person from finding their right niche. If you’re not happy with their performance and you don’t feel the situation has any hope of resolution, letting them go is really in their best interest.

In retrospect, it is interesting to try to understand why I was so conflicted the night before I decided to terminate someone. To be honest, I’m sure most people would characterize me as a “confrontational person” so why did I dread these encounters?

My best guess is that my confrontational personality comes into play as a reaction to being challenged or by someone trying to intimidate me on an issue. When I had to initiate what could be a confrontational situation, I was less comfortable.

We used performance reviews every six months and I believe as imperfectly as we probably performed them, they were, in general, very helpful. Poor reviews were often received very defensively by employees. However by the time we got to a separation interview, 75 percent or more of the people knew it was coming.

Very few people were honestly surprised when you finally told them “this isn’t working”.

I usually waited until the end of the day to address this scene, hoping it would cause the least commotion. I’ve never been sure if that was the right time.

In one situation I was so tired from lack of sleep that as one employee droned on in their defense, I almost fell asleep.

In another situation I had a review with an employee who had performed sort of an O.K. job on a somewhat shorthanded event. At the same time she had demonstrated what I believed was inappropriate behavior with one of our clients. I was very tired after this long event and probably not thinking very clearly. During the review I offered her a raise and a bonus, but did not address the behavior, mostly because I didn’t know how.

After pacing the floor all night, I realized I had made a terrible mistake. She shouldn’t be rewarded.

The next day I admitted my mistake and told her I thought it best if she were to leave. It was my mistake, so I told her to keep the bonus and was generous in my offer to continue her salary for several months. One way or another you pay for your mistakes.

Any position of responsibility is never easy. There are some benefits to management positions of course, but there are tasks you do not enjoy as well.

What do you think?

Right before the real estate depression hit a few years ago, I sold my condo to move to a larger one where I could have a retirement office and it would be a little more conveniently located.

The people who bought my unit were two of the sweetest, most adorable senior lovebirds, who had met at church, recently retired and had just married. They were a most likeable couple who were finding happiness late in life.

They loved my condo and wanted to buy a lot of the furniture I wasn’t taking with me. During escrow, they called a few times to ask if they could just come and sit in the living room for a while.

So, I moved out and they moved in. A few weeks later I got a call from Mrs. Pissaro and I thought, “oh God, what’s wrong?”

Mrs. Pissaro said, “Did you by any chance leave some money in the desk you left?” Now, how do you answer that kind of question? It seems obvious I must have, but I sure didn’t remember doing it.

After a bit of fencing, it finally come out that she had found $2,000 in the desk and if I could come by she would be happy to give it to me. Now, you ask, what were you doing with that much cash in your home? It’s a long story, but basically I kept it there because, on occasion, I or someone else from the office had to travel on short notice for business or family emergencies.

It was all hard to believe, but I did go by to retrieve the money and thank her as profusely as possible. I insisted she take $500 to give to her church. She got all teary-eyed and couldn’t stop hugging me. I wanted to hug her for her unbelievable honesty.

We don’t meet or interact with these kinds of people very often, but it warms your soul to know there are some wonderful people in this world with integrity and compassion. Knowing this really keeps your faith up and at the same time challenges you to ask if you’ve been as outgoing to others as you could be.

As we observe the fraying of the value system all around us, as well as the warring factions all around the world, you have to believe there is hope there are enough good people to win out.

What do you think?

My life experience tells me that, despite some evidence to the contrary, there is hope for the human condition. There have been two incidents in my recent history that have reinforced the faith I have in my fellow man (or woman, as was actually the case.)

On one occasion I went to a meeting at a hotel I was familiar with, but the area around it had changed considerably. I parked in a big garage in back of the hotel and went merrily along to attend my meeting.

A few hours later, I went to retrieve my car. When I presented myself to the garage attendant, he informed me that the validation from the hotel was not good in this garage. Okay, so I goofed. Then he told me the parking fee was $35. I gulped and snarled and reluctantly reached in my wallet for a credit card, only to be told, “We don’t accept credit cards.” Is that possible?

Next I went back to my wallet to find I only had $18. Now I was really in a pickle. Annoyed with the garage for not taking credit cards and more mad at myself for parking in the wrong garage—as well as not have any cash with me—I was pretty ticked.

With some amount of disgust I went off to an ATM machine only to discover I didn’t have a pin number for this credit card. My wife is always changing credit cards to take advantage of mileage promotions.

Now what? There was not a bank nearby that I did business with and a nearby bank just shrugged me off. After hearing my tale of woe, a kind security guard suggested I go to the market a block away, buy some stuff and get cash back.

Great idea. I trudged off the market, scooped up a bunch of groceries and got in line to check out. The cashier tallied up my purchases and asked for the pin number on my credit card. Here we were, back where I started.

I told the cashier I didn’t have a pin number so I couldn’t buy the groceries. As I stood there feeling like a total fool and trying to think what I could do, the store manager came over to show the cashier how to reverse the sale. I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I asked to speak to the manager.

I explained to her that I was a frequent shopper at one of their other stores (I really was) and I was in this desperate situation to get cash for the parking garage. Maria, the store manager, listened sympathetically and told me to follow her. She went to the phone on her desk and called the bank on my credit card. After a long conversation she handed me the phone and said, “They’ll give you a pin number”.

Terrific I thought. Finally a break. I got on the phone and the bank lady said, “We’ll be happy to give you a pin number. You’ll get it in the mail”, she said, “in five to seven business days.” Back to the depths of despair.

Maria wasn’t discouraged. She said she could make another call. I don’t know who she called, but it didn’t work out any better. Depression mounted.

Then, from out of nowhere, came the surprise. Maria said, “I’ll personally loan you $50.” I could hardly believe or absorb what she said, nor adequately thank her. Finally I stammered that all I needed was $20.

She gave me the twenty, I got out of the garage and returned the next day with $25 and a note calling her my saint.

If you think that was terrific, wait until you hear the other story.

What do you think?

With “ER” moving into the dust bin of old TV shows, all we have left is “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice.” They both seem more occupied with their hookups and spending their time talking to each other than treating patients.

So, let me tell you a few things I’ve learned about dealing with the medical community to achieve better health care.

First, next time you go to your doctor (you do have a doctor you go to with some regularity, I hope?) look at the size of your file. Pretty thick isn’t it? How easy will it be to find something in there?

1. Keep your own records, either on your computer or on a spread sheet so you can see your baseline test results quickly and spot any patterns or trends. At the very least, you should keep track of your blood pressure, weight, glucose, uric acid, cholesterol, thyroid and, for men, PSA and testosterone.

When all the doctors get around to computerizing their files, life for everyone will be simpler and more effective. Time will be saved by the doctor and staff and questions will get more accurate answers. Unfortunately the computerization of records isn’t happening all that fast, especially with old-time docs.

2. If you’ve been advised you have a problem, seek more information and more than one opinion.

3. The Internet, of course, is a great place to start. It can help you understand more about your problem as well as the procedures and drugs that have been recommended. Background information is also available on doctors who you may want to consider for future consultation.

In addition, the Internet can also help formulate the questions you want answered when you seek additional or other medical opinions.

4. For each problem you encounter, start a separate file folder so you can keep all your pertinent information, test results and notes from meetings, etc., in one place.

5. If you are going to a doctor to discuss a problem, bring someone with you. It is amazing how much more productive two sets of ears are than just one.

6. If you are helping older family or friends with doctors or especially in hospitals, you have to be an advocate, not nasty, not angry, but positive and persistent. The hospital experience will be unbelievably better for the patient if someone fills that role. One more thing: If you can’t do it, find someone who can.

Stay healthy.

What do you think?

The prophetic words of Yogi Berra would seem to fit our point in time perfectly.

The last election was historic in many ways. I believe it also tells us quite a bit about future elections. The common assumption is that elections run in cycles with each party taking its turn. There may still be cycles but the transformation of this last election could alter these cycles dramatically.

The colorful Cajun, James Carville, one of President Clinton’s chief political strategists, has written a new book in which he projects the Democrats will control national elections for 36 or 40 years.

Sound outlandish? Maybe not. Consider two sets of facts.

First, the Republican Party is locked in a struggle to find or create a consensus. The conservative wing feels the party has to strengthen its conservative principles and expand that base. That essentially was the strategy of President Bush and his political advisor, Karl Rove.

The moderates in the party, on the other hand, look at the last election results and argue that the party must project a more socially and culturally moderate position in order to appeal to a wider range of voters.

The second set of facts tend to support the view of the moderate, as well as Carville’s predictions.

Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Ronald Brownstein said, “Population changes that favor the Democrats are redrawing America’s electoral map.”

He goes on to say that the most reliable voting blocs in the Democratic Party have grown and will continue to expand. These groups, according to Brownstein, are Latinos, African-Americans, Asians and other minorities. The conservative blue collar voter base that tends to support the Republicans, on the other hand, is declining dramatically.

Add to this the advent of citizenship for currently illegal aliens and the pot begins to boil over.

Brownstein’s conclusion is a bit scary: “Any GOP coalition too narrow to welcome back voters who share moderate views is almost certainly too narrow to dislodge the Democrats.” If in fact we are headed for effectively a one-party government I am not sure this can be a healthy thing for the country.

Is it time for a third party? That is a subject for another time.

What do you think?

Aye, that is the question. Do you as the chief staff executive want love or respect? Writing in the New York Times, David Brooks reviewed a series of studies about the characteristics of successful CEOs that shed a lot of light on the modus operandi that executives bring to their jobs.

A recent study by Kaplan, Klebanor and Sorenson, according to Brooks, relied on detailed personality assessments of 316 EEOs and measured their companies’ performances. They found that strong people skills correlate loosely or, even, not at all with being a good CEO. Traits like being a good listener, a good team builder, an enthusiastic colleague and a great communicator do not seem to be very important when it comes to leading successful companies.

What mattered, it turned out, were execution and organizational skills. The traits that correlated most powerfully with success were attention to detail, persistence, efficiency, analytic thoroughness and the ability to work long hours.

In other words, warm, flexible, team-oriented and empathetic people are less likely to thrive as CEOs. Organized, dogged, anal-retentive and slightly boring people are more likely to thrive.

“These results are consistent with a lot of work that’s been done over the past few decades,” Brooks said. In 2001, Jim Collins published a best-selling study called Good to Great. He found that the best CEOs were not the flamboyant visionaries. They were humble, self-effacing, diligent and resolute souls who found one thing they were really good at and did it over and over again.

That same year, Barrick, Mount and Judge surveyed a century’s worth of research into business leadership. They, too, found that extroversion, agreeableness and openness to new experience did not correlate well with CEO success. Instead, what mattered was emotional stability and, most of all, conscientiousness—being dependable, making plans and following through on them.

All this work is a reminder that, while it’s important to be a sensitive, well-rounded person for the sake of your inner fulfillment, the business world doesn’t really care. Your world wants you to fill an organizational role.

The market seems to want CEOs to offer a clear direction for their companies. There’s a tension between being resolute and being flexible. The research suggests it’s more important to be resolute, even at the cost of some flexibility.

What these traits do add up to is a certain ideal personality type. The CEOs that are most likely to succeed are humble, diffident, relentless and a bit uni-dimensional. They are often not the most exciting people to be around.

You, of course, can model yourself in any direction you choose. The eventual molding of your style will come about partly through the direction you choose and partly through the circumstances and variables that you find yourself dealing with.

The bottom line is that you have to be comfortable in your own skin.

What do you think?

I spent almost 40 years in the association management and trade show business. It was an exciting, stimulating adventure. There were, of course, some ups and downs, but all in all it was a great fulfilling ride.

Do I have any regrets? Yes, I do, but only two. First, I regret that I did not continue some kind of regular exercise program. You know the story: I was always too busy. Even though I constantly lectured people that there were 168 hours in a week and if you broke it down there was time to do anything you really wanted to do, I did not follow my own advice.

There were those middle years when I was still full of energy and woke up at four or five in the morning and started to jog. It lasted for a while and then I got “busy.”

A little further along I played some tennis, but just playing once a week with no additional program to say in shape wasn’t very effective.

Then, in my later years, I said, “I’ll really do it when I retire.” I have tried but quite honestly I’ve developed too many handicaps and you can’t, at this late date, get in the kind of shape you always thought you could.

My wife had a very long and active career in the apparel industry—no easy gig. At the same time she made the time to swim a mile four or five days a week. In semi-retirement, she added weight training and other aerobic exercises and cut back on swimming. The difference in her conditioning and physical shape has been overwhelming.

The other regret was that in looking back I think I short-changed my family somewhat. Yes, work was my first priority, but like the exercise program I was always too busy for, I didn’t set aside regular time with the family. It doesn’t even take days or weeks. It can be simple things like spending some time alone with each child—going to breakfast, seeing a movie, visiting a museum, anything.

There is another idea that I believe has a lot of merit: family night. Any night will do. Everyone comes home for dinner and spends the evening together, playing games and talking—no TV.

It’s a pretty good life when all you can come up with are two regrets.

What do you think?

I know you’re busy, stretched in a dozen different directions, but don’t let this amazing time of historical transformation pass you. Regardless of your political affiliation or leanings you need to absorb the impact that we are living in probably the most transformative time in American politics and government.

Think about what has happened in the last two years. This kind of change was unimaginable just a few years ago.

It all started with the presidential election, a uniquely historic event in a number of ways that will affect politics for many years to come. It’s not important who you voted for or if you voted at all. I don’t believe we have ever had an election like it. Consider the extraordinary moments:

• Hillary Clinton was an absolute shoe-in up until the winter of 2007/08

• John McCain was written off as a primary candidate in the summer of 2007 and again as a presidential candidate in the summer of 2008
• Barack Obama was not only the first electable African-American candidate, but also:
  • He came from nowhere with little experience and no strong party backing and captured the imagination and fervor of an exploding electoral base

  • He ran what I believe was the most effective campaign we have ever witnessed by utilizing the Internet to its fullest and by preaching the mantra of “change” that you could interpret any way you wanted
  • The campaign talked only in generalities with very few specifics. It worked unlike most campaigns in my lifetime. We probably knew less about how he might govern than any other elected president
• Then there was Sarah Palin. Talk about coming out of the blue. Forget whether you agree with her politics or her qualifications, she electrified the sinking campaign of John McCain and energized a huge supportive base of support like no one else who has ever popped up on the horizon

What an election cycle—wow!

Now we have finished the traditional first 100 days and it has been nothing like the first 100 days we have ever seen before. It’s unbelievable. Think about it:

• Obama is still campaigning. He is everywhere, every day, preaching his message with his convincing personality. Again and again we hear plans sketched in broad generalities with few or no specifics.

  There have been three “press conferences” in the first 100 days—More than any previous president has held. But they have not been press conferences as we have ever seen before. They have been carefully orchestrated opportunities for the president to expand. Each conference has had 13 questions from pre-selected correspondents in about 45 minutes. In other “press conferences” there probably would have been 30 or more questions in 45 minutes in what would have seemed a lot more like a free for all.

• The Obama White House has sketched out the most far-reaching significant programs to transform education, energy and health insurance. They have come with requests for huge funding without a real plan.

  In effect they have said to Congress, pass our funding requests and then you write a plan. Without the pressing economic crisis they probably could not have gotten away with this approach. The have cleverly portrayed these proposals as a way to help our long-term economic growth.

• The administration addressed the current economic crisis in the housing debacle, the moribund banking industry and the big three auto makers, and their approach has been pretty much the same: Propose broad principles of reform, throw a ton of money at it (the “Disneyland Solution”) and work out the details later.

  Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, has said what appears to be the guiding principle of this administration so far, “never let the opportunity of a crisis pass you by.”

• In the process of all of this activity our president has taken on the presence of a rock star and created more adulation in the U.S. and all over the world than we have ever seen or probably ever will again. It is magical and it has served him well.

You may or may not agree with all this administration is trying to do, but it is transformative. As Katy Kay of the BBC said, “They are rearranging the furniture of government.”

We are witnesses to the most amazing period of historical transformation in our history. Don’t be too busy to let it pass you by.

What do you think?

The music of your career doesn’t have to stop when you retire, it just give you the opportunity to play some different tunes.

Since there are less invites and the recognition begins to dwindle, at the same time there are less demands, commitments and obligations. As Sherry Lansing, former head of Paramount Studios said about management executives, “People don’t retire, they rewire.”

From my personal perspective as a now ten year retiree, there are three stages you will likely pass through in retirement. None of these passages last a specific length of time. Each person’s stage time is different in length and character.

The first is the Transition. This is the time you decide how you want to live, where you want to live and what you want to do. If you’re smart you started working on this long before the gold-watch day.

For me it led with a few false starts. I tried launching a number of business ventures, none of which materialized. Also witnessed a number of other recent retirees try to start new or competing organizations with little success. I tried some teaching, but found the effort to deliver some understanding about entrepreneurship and marketing to fresh out of high school students very unfulfilling.

I was able to start enjoying some personal travel and fell into what became a multi-year consulting assignment through a former employee. I also took up golf which easily made up for all the frustrations I left behind at the office. About the same time I found out about doing consulting projects for USAID, the United States Agency for International Development.

One problem I have observed which seems to hold back a number of retirees in transition is their difficulty in letting go of their ego and understand they are not in demand any more.

My transition lasted about three years or so and led directly into my Optimum retirement. Life was great. My health was good and afforded me the opportunity to exercise, play golf, go on bike trips and have an active social and entertaining lifestyle. It was at this point, I referred to myself as “a happy has been.” I was traveling sixteen- plus weeks a year on USAID projects as well as personal trips that inked about fifty-five countries on my passport.

The USAID projects took me to Romania, Egypt, Bulgaria, Hungry and Thailand. The mission was to help third-world business people understand and prosper in a free market economy. These four- to six-week projects also provided the opportunity for extended travel in the region.

Writing in Associations Now, retiree Regis Delmontagne—after thirty years with NPES, the Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies—said, “I have happily discovered that there is no need to leave your valuable experience behind when you retire.”

In the last two years my unsolicited Adjustment period began. Although not life threatening health issues started to encroach, I have cut out the USAID projects (I didn’t want to go to Iraq anyway) and cut back on travel, exercise and golf.

Hope to resolve the limiting health problems in the next six months or so and get back to a more active lifestyle, although at a somewhat slower pace. All in all, it is still a good life and very enjoyable.

I still like the music.

What do you think?