Happy Friday! Who’s ready for the weekend? Now that both NFL and college football seasons have officially started, I finally feel like autumn has arrived, despise the still-warm temperatures in the area. Who else is ready for fall to get here???

There were some interesting developments in the tech world this week, notably the unveiling of Google’s Instant Search. There were also some great blog posts in the association community. Here are a few of my favorite for small staff association professionals.

1. Joe Flowers, who’s a small staff association professional himself, discussed a communication breakdown that occurred in his association’s office. Between preparing for a national conference and doing a complete Web overhaul, the seven-staff association is strapped for time. They depend on volunteers to get a lot of things done, and I’m sure many other small staffs out there can relate to this conundrum Joe describes.

2. At Thanks for Playing, Elizabeth Engel finished off her Big Questions for Associations series with part three: How will we manage the change from a preset package of options (membership) to an individually negotiated exchange of value?, she asks. The membership model for many associations is changing, and stakeholders should be investigating ways to engage non-members if they’re willing to pay for value.

3. At ASAE’s Acronym blog, Lisa Junker kicked off their newest endeavor, “bookblogging,” with a review of Zappos founder Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness. She writes, in real life, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget that we have the option to do things differently–essentially, to switch tables. This book is on my Amazon wish list, so I was glad to read Lisa enjoyed the book. I think small staff association professionals could learn from this book, which also discusses “conscious and deliberate effort.”

4. At social media blog Mashable, Features Editorial Assistant Erica Swallow put together a great post about emerging social platforms and how businesses can use them. Small associations can benefit from taking a look at this list, too, since it encompasses many trends in social media that should be on their radars going forward.

5. While not a blog post, I still think this article from a recent Associations Now is good reading material for any small staff association professional. Leila Faucette, the sole employee at the Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Midwives, shares how she manages the 1,650-member organization. She shares some great tips, such as answering the phone personally, improving the website quickly and giving every member prompt attention should they need it. Good stuff.

I hope you all enjoy your weekends — find some time to kick back and relax! And feel free to share your favorite blog posts from the past week in the comments. Have a great weekend!

So after discussing why passion transforms a good leader into a great leader last week, I wanted to discuss one more important quality: humility. Case in point: the recent Facebook privacy situation. Obviously, Facebook is a huge company with millions of users, but it doesn’t matter how big or small your organization is – every leader needs a healthy dose of humble.

Some background: After a lot of backlash involving its latest privacy changes, Facebook has responded by saying that the company made mistakes and will overhaul privacy features to make them simpler and easier to understand.

(I first wrote about Facebook’s new privacy settings a few weeks ago.)

In a column for the Washington Post, Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg clarified some user concerns and said the company would work on simplifying its privacy settings.

Although it took a little bit of time to elicit an official response from Facebook, it’s difficult to admit to the world that you made a mistake, as Zuckerberg did. Perhaps the company could have responded quicker, but I think the statement served a good purpose.

So, in addition to humility, I think organizations and leaders can learn a few lessons from this incident.

Ask members for input. It’s important to take members’ opinions into consideration before implementing sweeping changes. It’s better to be up front with members and ask for input to avoid backlash than to deal with a possible public relations headache that could easily have been avoided.

Respond quickly. Zuckerberg and Facebook took a few weeks to respond, which is a fairly long time in the digital world. A more immediate response demonstrates that you’re invested in the wants and needs of your members, and that you’re listening to them.

Be transparent. It’s vital to be transparent and approachable, especially as you begin to integrate social media tools into your communications.

If you make a mistake, admit it humbly so everyone can move past it. And by “everyone,” I mean everyone – members, staffers, board members and volunteers. Owning up to making a mistake is professional, courteous and should earn you some respect.

No matter how big or small your organization is, everyone makes mistakes from time to time and part of being a leader is admitting it and taking responsibility for your actions.

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of serving on a panel for one of ASAE’s Component Relations webinars: “Using Social Media for Chapter Events.” It was such a fantastic learning opportunity for me that I wanted to give back even more to the association community.

So, later this month, on Tuesday, May 25 and Wednesday, May 26, I’ll be hosting two webinars on incorporating social media into your organization’s communications strategy. (Click the date to sign up!) I’ve learned so much since I started blogging with MemberClicks and I truly believe that no matter how small your organization, it’s possible to successfully utilize social media tools.

I’ll be talking about a few specific things, such as how to find the social media “superstars” already within your organization, the time commitment necessary for social media (it’s not as much as you think!) and a few tips for using social media for events.

If your organization is lacking staff members and short on time, I promise this webinar will be worth your while. (Both sessions will cover the same topics, so there’s no need to sign up for both.)

I’m looking forward to the discussion, and hope you’ll join us!

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Happy Friday! I hope everyone’s week has been happy, productive and fun. I’m still in disbelief that we’re just about halfway through May – where did the month go?! Of course, there were lots of fantastic posts and ideas around the association community this week. Here are a few of my personal favorites.

1. The CAE exam was one week ago, and KiKi L’Italien chronicled her study process at her blog, From Failure to Fabulous. Her reflections on the exam were so inspiring, especially after she took the exam last December with undesirable results. It’s been great to read about her journey, and I would encourage anyone thinking about taking the exam to read her archives there.

2. At the Idea Center, Peggy Hoffman wrote about adhocracy and how, despite the term’s popularity, organizations have been slow to adopt it as a practice. Defined, adhocracy means “episodic volunteering,” and Peggy writes that associations should redefine what it means to volunteer and not be afraid of conflict.

3. I love love loved Frank Fortin’s post about the difficulty of breaking silos. He writes that every new communications channel in an organization requires silos to break down and shares an example from his own organization. There’s no magic pill. There’s only one way revolutions happen – one conversation at a time. Definitely a must-read.

4. Deirdre Reid had a fantastic post published at SmartBlog Insights yesterday – she discussed how association professionals can foster new ways of associating for members. First and foremost, it’s the members’ association, she points out, and reminds us that younger members want to contribute and be heard just as much as “older” ones.

5. Jeff Hurt wrote about the five different memory lanes in our brains and how event organizers can provide great, memorable experiences to attendees. There are different strategies the human brain uses in different situations, and Jeff provides several tips and suggestions to take advantage of each strategy.

What were your favorite posts from the past week?

Whatever your plans are this weekend, we hope you have a great one!

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It’s a common cliché that my dad used to say to me all the time if he thought I was giving him “attitude.” But in reality, it really is how you say something, rather than what you say, that people remember.

Whether you’re a manager in your organization or you’re the youngest person in the office, remember that what you do for people isn’t as important as how you make them feel. We’ll generally remember those feelings longer than we remember actions. And how you communicate with people will contribute to that.

For example, if you frequently interrupt others (whether it’s intentional or not), you convey the message that what they’re saying isn’t important enough.

There are a few basic styles of communication:

- Listener: A people-person, generally don’t delegate well, can be slow decision-makers, believe there is more than one way to get a job done

- Creator: Enthusiastic, like public speaking, can be persuasive, impulsive, have trouble following through with ideas

- Doer: Assertive, pragmatic, competitive, verbal, can be arrogant or a poor listener

- Thinker: Detail-oriented, like rules, can be slow decision-maker, low risk-taker, analytical

All of us tend toward one or two, but different situations call for different approaches.

I think it’s good to occasionally reevaluate your communication style – both verbal and nonverbal. (I’ve had people ask me why I’m angry when I’m not mad at all. I think my brow’s natural state is furrowed, so I make an effort to fix this so I don’t walk around looking angry all the time.) We all know not to sit with our arms crossed in meetings because it makes us look closed off, but how many of us still do it unconsciously? We all know that we should make eye contact and smile, but sometimes distractions can get the best of us.

Communication matters no matter what industry you work in, what position you hold or who you’re talking to. You could be speaking to your boss or your organization’s newest member, but the way we communicate with others directly affects our careers and relationships.

What’s your communication style?

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