TTGassociations Publications January 2019 | Page 9
The sudden exit of ICCA’s CEO took members by surprise and highlighted
the critical need for succession planning in associations, a smooth leadership
transition, and clear communications to members. By Caroline Boey
“When you have a strong and
capable management team
with a track record of con-
sistently delivering results,
leadership succession be-
comes less of a concern as
you know the organisa-
tion will continue to
operate successfully
during the
transition.”
Mario Hardy
ruary 2019, and the new person joining
on March 1, 2019.
Mario Hardy, CEO of Pacific Asia Trav-
el Association (PATA), said: “When you
have a strong and capable management
team with a track record of consistently
delivering results, leadership succession
becomes less of a concern as you know
the organisation will continue to operate
successfully during the transition.”
But he noted that associations need to
ensure that its executives have a notice
period long enough to adjust to the new
landscape, and sufficient time with the
new leadership for a proper handover.
“Ideally, if at all possible, you would
want both leaders to work side by side
for a few months to ensure a smooth
transition,” Hardy said.
A clear vision for the future of the
organisation, what type of experience and
skill-set best fulfils that need, and what
type of leader would be required to de-
liver on that vision are critical, he added.
“For the past few years, I had been
most concerned with the financial
sustainability of the organisation. As we
have now stabilised the finances of PATA,
my focus has shifted to the growth of the
organisation and increasing the influence
and its impact on the future of the travel
and tourism industry.”
As all associations have their own
unique needs, Gary Grimmer, CEO and
strategic consultant, GainingEdge, said
leadership succession is an issue of board
governance, to ensure there are regular
opportunities for new people to serve
and ensuring diverse representation in
terms of geography, gender, culture and
member type.
“I feel that it is a good idea for as-
sociations to have succession planning
for their CEO, but there is never a single
right answer. Some succession plans will
call for the development of a designated
internal successor. However, other organi-
sations will find that their strategic needs
change and will be seeking ‘new blood’
or people and perspectives from outside
the organisation or even sometimes
outside the industry in question,” said
Grimmer.
He added: “The other major issue that
I think most associations should be fo-
cused on is the question of disruption in
the professions they serve and how their
business models relate to that. Between
creative business applications, new com-
mercial models, robotics and artificial
reality, there are forces that will cause
disruption in most professions as well as
in the associations that serve them.
“Anticipating disruption and form-
ing strategies to deal with it are one of
the most important things associations
should be talking about.”
At AIPC – International Association of
Convention Centres, its administration is
delivered under contract rather than by
dedicated full-time staff where the prin-
ciples of accountability are the same, its
executive director, Rod Cameron, said.
“Operational continuity is the most
important single issue for us as our board
needs to know that there is a clear point
of departure for any new administration
should they elect to move in a different
direction structurally.
“The most important elements of
succession planning for us have been to
make a change in administration possible
without major disruption … and that re-
cords and ‘organisational history’ are also
entirely up to date and readily accessible.
“The membership is in fact the whole
basis for the existence of any organisation
– and that can sometimes be forgotten.”
CEO, Pacific Asia
Travel Association
W
hen Martin Sirk, CEO of
the International Congress
and Convention Association
(ICCA) announced in late-
June 2018 his exit in a month’s time, after
16 years at the helm, members across the
world were taken by surprise.
A familiar face, Dennis Speet who is
ICCA’s chief value officer, quickly as-
sumed the role of acting CEO while the
association got to work in search of a
replacement.
Leadership change is unavoidable,
acknowledged ICCA members, but told
TTGassociations that a smooth transition
is critical and the new leadership must
recognise the needs of global members
and that they are different region to
region.
Outgoing ICCA president Nina Freysen-
Pretorius said the ICCA board would be
transparent and share the profile of the
CEO with members and staff, and she
wanted members to share their wishes
and priorities with the board.
A new CEO profile was created and
the job was advertised in October with
shortlisting to take place in January/Feb-
Foreseeable succession