Contents Winter 2010

Relationships Built on Trust
Trust empowers talented AEs to take risks and make unconventional moves. So how do you gain the trust of your leadership and members? Veteran AEs offer advice.
By Masha Zager

Chair Report: Today’s new transparency.
By Dave Phillips, RCE, CAE, AEC Chair

Briefing: REALTOR® association news, events, people, and programs.
By Carolyn Schwaar

From the Field: Let’s all just get along.
By Alice Martin, RCE, CAE

Yes, Anyone Can Innovate

How can you meet more demands with fewer resources? Or adapt old offerings to serve new needs? Or use an existing organization to address a changing industry?

Think outside the box. Be creative. Innovate.

A Smooth Exit Strategy

Each year, the REALTOR® organization loses some of its most experienced and iconic association executives to retirement. Although we are greatful to AEs who have dedicated their professional careers advancing association management, REALTOR® organizations need to ensure that when retiring AEs walk out the door, all their years of valuable institutional knowledge don’t leave with them.

Trust Your Lawyer

By Michael Thiel

Lack of trust is very often at the root of any association’s legal work. Legal counsel reviews vendor contracts because people don’t think they can trust those vendors to deliver on all of their promises.

Counsel participates in professional standards proceedings because the parties need an attorney present so they can trust that the hearing will be fair. It would seem, at first glance, that the law is all about lack of trust.

Evaluate to Motivate

It’s the one meeting most managers—and employees—dread every year: the performance review. But now, with some guidance, performance reviews can be not only valuable, but relatively painless.

To provide an effective performance review, it’s imperative that both you and your employees establish goals to meet within the year. (If you don’t have staff, see the sidebar on tips for small-board AEs.) Goals should be S.M.A.R.T., that is: Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Timely.

From the Head to the Heart

by Saul Klein, e-PRO, GRI

As a REALTOR® association executive, you’re not only responsible for constantly improving your leadership skills, but also for growing and cultivating your volunteer leaders’ skills. It’s your duty to instill in the mind of the novice volunteer the traits, characteristics, and examples of effective leadership, as well as what I refer to as the Three Core Principles of association management and leadership: