| Of Service to the NSCAA (September 2008) |
Leadership of the Association flows from its 26,000 members
By Al Albert
More than a dozen years ago I ran for an NSCAA office and joined the Board as one of our now non-existent regional representatives. I can no longer remember what motivated me to take on the responsibility of that office. Quite honestly, it was probably that I figured I was coming to the Convention anyway, and this would be a nice way to combine business with pleasure and give me another reason to attend.
As I enter the final four months of my year as president, I look back and cannot even relate to those early days as a neophyte Board representative. The NSCAA has changed so much in just the last 10 years, from a mostly volunteer effort to a highly professional operation, carrying out sound business practices.
In 2008 the NSCAA is run by a competent staff of 16 full-time employees. Our office is in downtown Kansas City, Kan., in a 20-year-old office building that formerly housed a title company. We moved there last fall and are in the process of paying down our debt and purchasing the building. With about 10,000 square feet of space, double the size of our previous location, we are in a position to expand without leaving the premises.
The staff is led by Jim Sheldon, who was hired as our first full-time employee and executive director back in 1992. A number of our employees – Sandy Williamson-Smith, Kay Baker, Steve Veal – are from Kansas City and have been with the association for a number of years. Continuity has been a trademark of our staff. Assistant Executive Director for Communications Craig Bohnert also has been with the organization for a number of years.
Our most recent additions have been a controller – Ivan Scholz, CPA, MBA – who manages the accounting staff and watches over the $5 million dollars a year that passes through our books. In addition, the Education staff, led by Jeff Tipping, our director of coaching education and development, has just hired an assistant director of coaching education and development, Doug Williamson, a long-time NSCAA Academy staff member.
The NSCAA continues to evolve from an all-volunteer army with only a stipend for a part-time executive director to a professionally administered and managed company. As I see it, this trend will continue with no looking back. However, there remains a critical need for new blood to come into the organization, as well as a need to retain the knowledge and energy of former leaders – past presidents, committee chairs and others. Toward that goal, we recently created opportunities for members to get involved at the committee level with our Finance and Website committees. We will continue to develop other ways for members to get involved.
Although full-time professional staff and contract employees do much of the day-to-day work, the 17-person NSCAA board guides its strategy and philosophy. Within that group, the six-person Executive Committee spends a substantial amount of time sifting through emails, participating in conference calls of various committees and assisting with searches and negotiations. The structure of the Executive Committee is such that once elected as Secretary, an individual has a year to get his or her feet wet and start to understand how the core of the organization operates. After standing for election for one of the three vice president positions, the next three years are spent overseeing a specific part of the Association. Paul Payne now oversees education amongst his other duties; Randy Waldrum, awards and convention; and Marcia McDermott, communications and marketing. All three of these coaches, as well as Secretary Ralph Polson, will be well prepared by this experience to become president when their term begins.
Because the involvement of the officers in the operation of the NSCAA is so important, we need to continue to attract quality members to serve. Participation on the full Board prior to becoming an executive officer is not required, but nominees often are drawn from those ranks. If you know of someone that you think would make a great president of the NSCAA someday, please ask them if they would consider being nominated to a board position. If they are elected as Secretary, they would be on a track to become president five years later.
As with any successful organization, the NSCAA depends upon its members to provide continual leadership. I can attest from personal experience that although it is a great deal of work, it is a tremendously rewarding experience. If you have any interest in serving the NSCAA and have questions about how to get involved, feel free to email me at aalbert@nscaa.com. We welcome your involvement, and I am certain that we can find an opportunity for you to participate in service to the organization.
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