Governance Inspection
Explore the structures, roles, culture and practices guiding your association.
Inspect Your GovernanceAuthor: Jim Thompson
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Nearly 15 years ago, a gentleman by the name of Stan Phelps entered my world. He had worked for years in marketing and had recently written a new book. He was looking to make an entry into the association community. His book? Purple Goldfish. There have been numerous books that have stayed with me over…
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It was about a year ago this month that I realized things were not going the way I had anticipated in my role as President of the Wake Forest Area Chamber. The toxic staff behavior, coupled with a completely dysfunctional board, had me in a place emotionally where I had not been in a long,…
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This week, I will travel to Durham, North Carolina, to sit down with key leaders from three nonprofit organizations whose mission is to help move people experiencing the crisis of homelessness into stable housing as quickly and responsibly as possible. These discovery conversations are part of a project I am working on through Moss &…
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It was just a few weeks ago that I wrote a blog post about how “weight is just a number.” And in fact, there are many numbers that matter when it comes to tracking our overall health. Over the last few months, there has been an additional reason why I needed to schedule several visits…
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Am I the only one who still geeks out walking the aisles of Office Depot or Staples? It completely takes me back to my days of going back-to-school shopping. I remember hoping to find the Trapper Keeper in my favorite color or the cool Matchbox-branded pencils with the case and built-in pencil sharpener. And there…
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When it comes to discussions around weight, health, and wellness, you often hear people say: “Weight is just a number.” And that is very true. There are countless examples of people who weigh a certain amount and have a BMI that classifies them as overweight or even obese. Yet, when you look at them, you…
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Football fanatics have the Super Bowl and now the expanded college football playoffs. Basketball fans have the Sweet Sixteen and the Final Four. Golfers have the Masters and the U.S. Open. Music and film lovers have the Grammys and the Oscars. Well, for me, as an association geek who truly geeks out on membership statistics,…
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I didn’t have a chance to write a blog post on Tuesday, which is usually reserved for my professional journey. So, I thought I would blend the professional and personal into one post today because this subject matter crosses both. Let’s talk about AI. I will dig deeper into the recently released Membership Marketing Benchmark…
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As I sit here during this first full week of July 2026, I am shocked that it is already the middle of the year and five months into starting my own business. And I am absolutely brain-fried. I can’t, for the life of me, think of something creative to write. Since starting Tying It Together,…
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Several months ago, I unveiled my House of Governance™ framework during a webinar hosted by Ed Rigsbee, CSP, CAE. During the Q&A portion, Ed asked me about one of the domains of the House: Culture, Candor & Accountability. The question was really more like a challenge. “How do you maintain a positive culture on a…