To contact Sue Stratton Email: suzystrat@aol.com
Phone: (517) 627-1856

Strategic Planning Services for the Not-for-Profit Association

Boards that attend to vision are more certain

 to address that which has enduring importance.

John Carver


If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there, but if you want to maximize the impact of your association on its industry, you need a focused approach, a road map and accountability in the vision. Sue Stratton will work with you to develop your association's vision and mission statement, then follow through with a step-by-step strategic plan to achieve your vision. The finished plan will include timelines, delegation and how to evaluate progress and success. A unique aspect of Leading Edge facilitation is that the Board focuses on Governance and Leadership concerns and considers how the committee structure can bring a value-added role to the initiatives. As a result, the Board reviews the governance role as well as the means of the association. Support services available include member survey construction. The final report, of course, is prepared by Leading Edge Mentoring.

 

A unique quality of Stratton’s facilitation is that she walks with the group in its process.  During the process, Stratton works to synthesize the individual contributions and develop a simple statement that conceptually captures the sentiments of the group.

Elected Leader Education

Dreaming is not only permissible for leaders, it is obligatory.

Yet Board members lose their vision as they tend to operational issues.

John Carver

Ultimately, the board is responsible for its own development, its own job design, its own discipline, and its own performance. But nothing changes if nothing changes. Shifting the attention of the Board is a process which takes training and consistent focus of the organization's leadership. Leading Edge Mentoring can provide the third party voice which helps the Board to realize its proper role as the moral trustees of their industry, focused on broad strategic direction and connection to the community membership.

Elected Leader Education content might include:

  • The Nature of Associations
  • Roles & Responsibilities of the Board
  • Aligning the Board and Committee Communication
  • Introduction to Policy GovernanceŽ
  • Enhancing the Board's Group Process
  • Team Building
  • Skills to Govern

Here are some comments from recent attendees of Stratton’s workshops:

  • Sue is inspiring.  She knows her stuff.  I try to catch every class she leads!
  • Sue is always enlightening and I always come away from a “Sue Class” enriched and better for spending time in her presence.
  • Relaxed and interesting speaker.
  • I like how Susan found out a little about us prior to the workshop so that she could address the different issues that the majority of us were facing.
  • Sue was excellent.  Her information was presented in a concise, thorough and understandable manner.
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, a good comment collector and redirector.
  • A good orator
  • Forward thinker

Policy Governance Consulting

  • Is your Board confused about what its job really is?
  • Has your Board lost sight of its duty to the membership?
  • Is your Board stuck in operations and micromanagement?
  • Are the structural boundaries of your organization caving in or nonexistent?
  • Is the energy of your Board stagnant?
  • Do you ever think there just has to be a better way?

If you answered "yes" to any or all of the questions above, Policy GovernanceŽ just may be the answer you are seeking. Attend an "Intro to Policy GovernanceŽ" session with key Board people to evaluate if there is something in the model for you to explore further. Contact Sue Stratton at (517) 627-1856 for current dates and locations. If your Board is already a Policy GovernanceŽ Board, consider Leading Edge services to help educate and maintain the board's focus on responsible and rational governance. Policy audit, Ends facilitation, Board assessment and Board coaching services are available.

Other Services Available

 

ˇ        Professional Educational Curriculum Design

ˇ        Distance Education Course Design

ˇ        Facilitation of Community Dialogue

ˇ        Vision Facilitation

ˇ        Team Building

ˇ        Coaching the Public Speaker

ˇ        Coaching the Board in Effective Group Process

ˇ        Style Analysis Profiling
Current and Recent Projects

 

AMIR 2.0:  Developing Economic Opportunities for Jordan, funded by the United States Agency for International Development and implemented in partnership with the Jordanian private sector and government.    Stratton’s projects included technical assistance to several business associations in marketing and member benefit packages, as well as business plan development.


School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan, funded in part by a W K Kellogg Foundation Grant.  Project focuses on governance and management consulting including bylaws, board policy, personnel policy development, board and staff training, strategic plan facilitation.


Governance Transitioning

  • General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of the United Methodist Church
  • Unitarian Universalist Association

Curriculum Development and Instruction

  • Certified Association Executive (CAE) Exam Preparation
    • Co-authoring the CAE Study Guide with the Michigan Society of Association Executives
    • On-line course facilitation for CAE Candidates (twice annually)
  • Township Governance Academy (TGA), sponsored by the Michigan Townships Association
  •  New Employee Series, owned by Managing Education Resource Group (MERG), sponsored by 16 insurance agent associations around the United States.
  • Associations 101 and Basic Meeting Planning sponsored by the Michigan Society of Association Executives

Strategic Planning Projects

  • Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association (Jan 2006)
  • Comprehensive School Health Coordinators Association (Mar 2006)

Online Education - Developed by Sue Stratton

 
Self-Managed Mentoring - a self-study, web-based course, located at www.kon.org
   
Reflective Human Action - computer-mediated, self-study or faculty-facilitated, web-based course, located at www.kon.org
   
New Employee Series for Property - Casualty Insurance Agencies, including:
 
  • New Employee Orientation for Insurance Agency Personnel
  • Delivering Quality Service to the Customer and the Employer
  • Personal Lines Coverage Basics
  • Commercial Lines Coverage Basics

    All courses in the series are computer-mediated, faculty-facilitated courses, and available at www.mergonline.com.

  Courses are delivered via the Managing Education Resource Group (MERG), in conjunction with marketing partners located around the country. Marketing partners include affiliates of the Professional Insurance Agents and the Independent Insurance Agents of America.
CAE Exam Preparation - owned by the Michigan Society of Association Executives
A 10 week program, reviewing the recommended readings, the five domains of knowledge as determined by the CAE Commission, case scenarios, quizzes, sample exams, a library of supplementary reading, and an exam bank created by participating students.
   
Board On-Line - owned by the Michigan Society of Association Executives
  A 10 week Board development program, covering key areas of knowledge that every board member should have. All weekly assignments direct the Board to review home documents in light of the theory presented. Can be customized to a specific board or facilitated in a multi-association format.
   
Carver Orientation On-Line - owned by Kappa Omicron Nu Honor Society
  A 6 week orientation for Board members new to the Policy Governance® model developed by John Carver.
New Trustee Education - owned by the Ohio Association of Community Colleges
  A series of powerpoint and word documents focused on shortening the learning curve of community college trustees and Board chairs, located at www.ohiocc.org/trustee education/ trustee orientation course