Graham says size of ASAE17 is ahead of estimates; at learning session, executives told the right temperament is key

Photo: Jennifer Roberts

More than 4,500 people are attending the ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition in Toronto, CEO John Graham said at his annual meeting news conference Monday. The event runs through today.

The crowd of 4,563—including 2,476 association executives—is ahead of expectations, given that Toronto is an international destination: Some associations, particularly smaller groups, don't reimburse for foreign travel, Graham said.

But this is the fourth time ASAE has met in Toronto—the first in 1952, the last in 2009—and Graham praised the welcome mounted by the city. He again contrasted the atmosphere of travel to Canada with the more restrictive posture being adopted by the U.S.

Attendance in Toronto this year is about 12 percent ahead of that eight years ago.

Graham introduced incoming ASAE board chair Matthew Shay, CEO of the National Retail Federation, and noted the new chair-elect is Sal Martino, CEO of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists and the new secretary-treasurer is Pat Blake, CEO of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Toronto skyline

Emotional intelligence

"CEO Temperament and Leadership Success" was the topic of a learning lab Monday morning, led by Pamela Kaul, founder and president of recruitment firm Association Strategies, Henry Chamberlain, president and COO of Building Owners and Managers Association International and Nathan Monell, executive director of the National Parent Teacher Association.

Kaul said the qualities required of an association CEO have changed dramatically over the years.

"There is a generational change," she said. "The leadership skills, the behavioral skills and the temperament that are needed today are vastly different from what they were when I started this business 30 years ago."

Key attributes CEOs now must possess include a broad intellectual curiosity and emotional intelligence, she said. Leaders also have to realize that offhand comments or gestures that are perceived as negative get magnified in importance by staff, and that they will be judged by their actions.

"You can't talk your way out of a situation you behaved your way into," she said. "Saying you're sorry isn't enough," Kaul said.

Attendees capped off Monday at The Classic, the annual fundraiser for the ASAE Foundation, held this year at Rebel, a Toronto entertainment venue on the Lake Ontario waterfront. Musicians Alan Frew and Tom Cochrane performed.