Building a Movement of Leadership for the Sustainability Industry
Purpose: Facilitate global leaders through association model evolution
Executive Summary: Global Meetings Industry Council they have been a growing global organization for the past five years and they are consistently looking for ways to grow and support their chapters with limited resources. Leadership Solutions International created for them the inaugural chapter leadership summit in 2011 that brought leaders together to be educated, connected and inspired.
Problem: The association has a limited staff of 1.5 people and 11 chapters around the world. Staff desires to support the growing communities and doesn’t have the bandwidth to help the with chapter formation to chapter growth.
Client Goals: Build and share with the association the importance of chapters while balancing the limited association resources to provide ongoing training for each chapter. Build an association where the chapters felt empowered to use the leadership tools online Create a community where leaders would source each other for powerful solutions to the questions and challenges they were having.
Process: Offer a half day leadership workshop was leaders could first get to know each other. Learn a little bit about each other personally as to why they were a member of the association. Then learn about the unique chapters the leaders represent from Las Vegas, USA to Portugal.
The initial session offered in 2011 was half day. The session opened with the International President sharing truths about the organization, it’s vision, mission and the collective charge they all shared. The leaders were invited to me the Executive Director. Next Leadership Solutions International came in and facilitated round tables where leaders could connect on education programming, membership engagement and communications as the primary areas of challenge at the local level.
After each round table leaders were invited to report out the collaborative solutions.
The day ended with a review of the tools the headquarter office was providing with the encouragement as volunteer leaders they not try to recreate the wheel but instead to use the tools already created, thus saving precious volunteer resources.
Client outcomes & Leadership Solutions: As a result of this session the association met their goals. Leaders had expanded their global network of fellow leaders and began their year of leadership with clear direction of how to expand their message of green and sustainable meetings.