Posts by Sherry Budziak
Hiring a Consultant Can Be a Make or Break Relationship—Here’s How to Court Success
When you sign a consulting contract on the dotted line, the stakes are high. You’ve called in the experts to guide a project that will have a significant impact on your association’s future. It’s almost always a highly visible, big-ticket item. People across the organization are invested in a positive outcome. None more so than…
Read MoreGive Your Team Something to Shout About—Move Strategy to Execution
Watching the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team beat England, it occurred to me that the game was a perfect example of strategy in action. A great team was testing their skills and tactics on the pitch, fully prepared to meet unexpected challenges. Granted, business will never have the flash of World Cup soccer. But strategic planning…
Read MoreLiftoff or Crash Landing? Prepare to Launch a Successful Digital Transformation
Digital Transformation Series, Part Two Reading your monthly membership report can be like getting a bad diagnosis—over and over again. The meeting registration is no bowl of cherries either. But there is a bright spot. The board has agreed that it’s time for action. That tired, old AMS that’s been limping through its paces is…
Read MoreThe Human Face of Digital Transformation
You installed a new LMS, CMS and AMS; redesigned the website; migrated to the cloud; and purchased the latest computers, printers and tablets for your staff. Was it a digital transformation? Sorry, you’re only about halfway there—maybe not even. You’ve got the technology covered. It’s the transformation process that’s trickier to understand. Googling digital transformation…
Read MoreEliminate Roadblocks to Planning—Integration Transforms Strategy into Action
Strategy Meltdown—The screen play INT. The corner office of the Association for Ad Hoc Planning – Afternoon The executive director and membership team are seated at a conference table. They are hunched over laptops. The executive director is frowning. The membership manager looks like a deer in the headlights. Executive Director These numbers are (pause)…
Read MoreFrom Beast to BFF – Getting the Media to Eat Out of Your Hand
Is snagging an article in the Wall Street Journal a superpower? Do you need a genetic mutation to catch a reporter’s eye? If the media keeps turning up its nose at your association’s newsworthy accomplishments, it might seem that way. Getting your organization in print (in a good way) doesn’t require magic. During her recent…
Read MoreBuilding a Dream Team Starts at the Top
An effective organizational culture is that powerful energizer that can mean the difference between progress and stagnation. It’s the invisible, but potent, force that makes the office either a place where employees develop what’s best in themselves and others or a situation so broken that negativity is the most tangible product. Several CEOs that my…
Read MoreTo Invite Innovation, Make Friends With Risk and Change
The book was inspired by changes that we were seeing in our consulting business. When we were new entrepreneurs, you could fit the scope of technology into the same neat boxes that contained the hardware and software that made it run. We watched those containers explode as IT pulled everything from communications to continuing education…
Read MoreA Shared Path to Success
Most associations experience some degree of tunnel vision. I am the person who turns a picture you’ve been staring at for years upside down and forces you to see it differently. I enjoy being a guide to these new environments. Over time, I’ve discovered that my clients reshape my vision as much as I change…
Read MoreReady to Grow Your Association? Freelancers Are Waiting to Help
Actually, the event occurred in the U.K. I think U.S. freelancers have yet to be honored with a designated holiday. But, mark my words, this new iteration of entrepreneurship is already redesigning the employment landscape. For associations seeking minimum risk with maximum impact, this pool of unencumbered talent could represent the next growth spurt. Surprising…
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