High Level Innovations in the Association
The SLA Leadership Summit, held this year in
Savannah, GA, is an annual two-day event with a primary focus on bringing new
leaders into the fold. The Chapter and Division Cabinets also have a
chance to meet collectively at this event. There is some annual
conference planning as well; and, of course, the Association Board meets.
A good chunk of the Summit is orientation to what unit
leaders are responsible for. There are, of course, deadlines, and form
and reports and responsibilities. The Summit is a good place to bone up
on these matters and a great place to pose questions, quandaries, ideas,
complaints and approval. And, by the way, the Summit is open to
all. You do not have to be filling a unit leadership position to
attend. The Summit is much more intimate than the annual
conference. You really have a chance to network with lots of folks.
At this year’s Summit, my second, there was a lot of
buzz. Everyone was excited about the Association’s 100th
anniversary. We also heard a lot about the Association’s "Alignment
Initiative" which has taken some powerful strides since the report out at
last year’s Summit in Louisville, KY.
Last year in Louisville there was ice on the
sidewalks. Brr! Likewise there was a rather tepid response to the
progress of the alignment efforts as reported at that event. Though the
weather once again dipped below freezing at least one night of the Savannah
event, the conference room was glowing with warm sentiments following the
report out on progress from February 2008 to January 2009.
I wanted to share with you some of the keen stuff we heard
at the Summit. I’ll address several points of change in the Association
and at HQ. I’ll review the "Alignment Initiative" at a high
level, sharing some of the tangible research efforts that have been
executed. I’ll toss out some bits and pieces from the Keynote Speaker’s
address. And of course, I’ll highlight key Centennial news in the
following article.
Here are bullet points of some major news, changes and innovation
coming from HQ. The Staff and Board are doing a great job of proactively
meetings our uncertain times face-on. Go team!
•In case you hadn’t heard, there is a new dues tier of $35
annual membership fee for members earning under $17,000. This is a full
membership qualifying for all member benefits. Over 100 new, non-North
American members have joined since this was instituted!
•SLA is now over 11,000 members strong with members in
over 70 countries.
•Click-University is now FREE – all live and replay
courses are available to members at no charge!!!
•HQ
has taken measures to adapt to our uncertain economic era. There will be
no salary increases at HQ this year. And staff will adopt a co-pay system
to defray health care costs. These measures have enabled the organization
to maintain the staffing that is in-place. Yea team!
•Again for costs containment, publication of Information
Outlook will be reduced from 12 to 8 times
per year.
•Once more, to control costs, there will be no Salary
Survey in 2009, which is a very costly production.
•Association Board meetings will be run virtually to a
significant degree. Face-to-face meetings will still happen at the Annual
and Summit events.
Alignment Initiative
My interpretation of the purpose of the Alignment
Initiative is to bring cohesiveness of self-identity to the Association.
Yes, we are many and diverse in professional purpose. But while the many
variables we deliver as projects, tasks and responsibilities, what our specific
skills and titles say about us may be enfolded into the description of our
profession, those are not what we must "sell" to our organizations as
our worth. With the Initiative, the Association is looking for, and
facilitating, a shift in member self-reference. We are moving from an
identity of a knowledge worker with XYZ skills and capabilities to that of a
key corporate contributor who brings significant ROI to their organizations.
If your first thought on the above is to remark that
we need our organizations' management-think to change, I challenge you to
ponder how that is going to happen. If you think you can't do it alone,
then consider what the alignment and integration across the members and an
11,000-strong professional association can do. With the Initiative we are
being propelled toward a re-thinking of our meaning as professionals, that we
may express an essential identity and core purpose in common. From this
we will be empowered collectively to speak of a common framework for
communicating our value.
From the Association's website:
"The need to generate a sharper focus on the
perceived value of the Association and the profession is pressing …"
"…SLA has embarked on a thorough examination to
bring clarity and unity to the core identity and values of the Association and
the profession. We are working with a multidisciplinary team of research and
communication professionals, led by the international communication firm, Fleishman-Hillard, and supported by futurist Andy Hines
of Social Technologies and the information analytics firm, Outsell Inc.
Toward this end, a body of research has been
executed. This global research has been conducted in the U.S., the U.K.,
Australia, and Canada. The following are two examples of research that
have already been conducted that were presented at the Summit:
"Positioning Statements": In this exercise, statements about the
profession and the association were evaluated by info pros and other
professionals, including middle and upper management of some major organizations.
The results were arrayed using a typical quadrant rating with axes of
Favorability (of perception of term) and Frequency (of use of term).
"Dial Sessions" were another form of
testing in which statements about the profession and Association were recorded
by Association staff and leadership. These were then analyzed by various
listeners who ranked impressiveness or effectiveness of the statements.
We were able to view various segments of dial rating overlaid on recorded
sessions. Some of the results were predictable, but some were startling.
Next steps in the Alignment project are to determine how
to re-focus our image. The membership is to steer this effort with
support from the Association. There are no details at this time. Of note:
While an ad campaign is anticipated, it will not be in a televised
format. Think "virally," such as U-tube.
For more information on purpose, process and results about
the Alignment project, see the Association's website. A link to the Alignment project is found on
the home page. Of note: new information has been added since the Summit.
Keynote Speaker
Stephen Garvey was our keynote speaker, addressing us on
the fundamentals of "Influence." He invoked the adage that
"perception = reality" and invited us to take ownership of that matter
in any given circumstance. To understand a current state is to give
possibility to a future state and to begin to speak to a future state.
Language is our key form of influence in the professional sphere. And
Stephen’s invocation was to the effect that positive communication has the
highest degree of influence, especially in a volunteer organization. To
influence behavior, influence imagination. Get beyond facts and stimulate
the imagination using the "story factor."
To test this yourself, check out the following art
communication. I’ll be interested to hear if – regardless of ideology –
you don’t find the communication gets through to your heart. (-; You've
got to use the down arrow button underneath the visible "Hot on Dipdive"
list. "Yes We Can Song" is about 11 clicks down. http://dipdive.com/.)
There was a lot more to this presentation. Garvey’s
presentation is to be posted to the Association website.
Want to review a few of the references Garvey cited?
•Fleming, Coffman & Harter. “Manage your
Human Sigma.” Harvard Business Review
Jul-Aug 2005. Free at http://qep.nova.edu/gallup/forms/human_sigma.pdf .
•"What the Bleep Do We Know?" [documentary;
available on CD] See http://www.whatthebleep.com/ .
•Zaltman, Gerald. How Customers Think. Harvard Business School
Press, 2003
•Author John C Maxwell writes on leadership
["read anything of his."]
Centennial Activities
A really lovely display has been designed in honor of the
Centennial. It reflects our legacy and our future. It is a mini
replica archive of events and publications, people and accomplishments.
It will be traveling, so keep your fingers crossed SA and SF will be able to
get on the travel calendar.
A centennial tool kit is being developed with useful
resources for units. It is an ever aggregating source of "then &
now" info, digital photo archive, factoids, stump speeches for us to use,
sponsorship proposals, etc. The centennial toolkit will be relocated to
the PR wiki after the centennial year.
This tool kit can be found in the wiki space under the
"SLA Community" drop-down list on the main page of the Association
website <http://www.sla.org>. Check out the wiki labeled
"Centennial Celebration Ideas." [You will need to log in as a
member to get to the wiki spaces.]
Never been to the SLA wiki space? Check out the wiki
"sandbox" – a place for getting your feet wet [dry? (-; ] in
"wiki-land" http://www.sla.org/content/community/wikis/index.cfm.
In honor of the Centennial, an oral history project is
underway. Budget for this year’s activities was approved by the
Centennial Commission. A core body of work already exists, courtesy of
work done in the 1990’s by none other than San Andreas Chapter! Doreen
Cohen’s work includes interviews with four members of the Chapter. These,
and a projected five new interviews, are expected to be available in transcript
form – perhaps with some sound bites – by the 2009 Annual Conference.
The PR Council will outreach to all units during
2009. There will be an international centennial event in the fall.
No details on this yet.
Going to DC? Keep your eyes on the Centennial
year wiki at http://wiki.sla.org/display/SLA2009/
OR not? Check out what the Centennial Commission is
up to at http://wiki.sla.org/display/CentCel/Centennial+Commission
Or simply visit the Association’s Centennial
website: http://www.sla.org/centennial/
Here’s to a super-charged Centennial year!
Leslie R. Fisher
President, San Andreas Chapter
Leslie.fisher@gilead.com
