This is a guest post from Eric Lanke, the CEO of the National Fluid Power Association. This is the fourth in a series of posts he’s writing about how he, as a CEO, is building and sustaining an intentional culture in his organization, a national trade association. His first three posts were on:

• The use of very specific language in the office to help ensure staff are focused on the needs of actual members, not on their possibly misinformed ideas about who their members are.
• How professional education in the industry or profession your association represents can help association staff develop a greater understanding and appreciation for the world of your members.
• Outsourcing tasks–like meeting planning–that get too much in the way of your staff people engaging with your members and developing a deeper understanding of their needs and preferences.

Today, I’m going to talk about another way I’m trying to help my association develop a culture that actively seeks to understand the world of our members. Bringing people with industry experience into our office and into our planning processes.

This is very much a work-in-progress, and still in its initial stages. A former employee of one of my association members is now working in a strategically-aligned external organization, and both of us have recognized the value to both of our organizations in more closely coordinating our activities. What that has meant for my organization is that this individual, and the significant industry knowledge and experience he possesses, is part of our planning discussions and even serving on some of our work teams.

It’s not a perfect arrangement. It’s challenging the organization’s current understanding of what’s inside and what’s outside our sphere of influence and responsibility. People are confused about what to share, who to include, what to take ownership of, and what to rely on others to do. From my point of view, these are natural growing pains associated with the entry of any new player on the team.

But I am already seeing the benefit of his inclusion. His is a voice that can speak up when one of our discussions begins to move away from the realities of our members’ marketplace. If he doesn’t understand something, we can explain it to him–which helps to sharpen our own perspective on what we’re trying to accomplish. In return, he can better explain what such a strategy might look like from the perspective of someone we’re trying to serve, and help us brainstorm and better answer or path forward.

His presence is also making me think about other ways to bake this kind of interaction into more of our program planning and execution teams. In an association world that is rushing towards micro-volunteering and short-term engagement opportunities, ad hoc industry advisors that can sit-in for an hour or two, listen as staff develop and coordinate their plans for programs designed to serve member needs, and offer their honest feedback and insights, seem like an idea whose time has come.

Some associations have people from the industry or profession they represent permanently on their staff rosters, but many do not. If yours in one of the latter, I would encourage you to find some way to incorporate this expertise.