A journey of excellence.

This year's ASAE Key Award winner considers peak professional accomplishment a continuum rather than a destination.

Resting on her laurels is just not possible for Anne L. DeCicco CAE president of the Luggage and Leather Goods Manufacturers of America (LLGMA), New York City. For this advocate of strategic governance, peak performance, and the future of the global association community, the pursuit of excellence in association management is not only a profound source of joy and personal fulfillment but an unending quest.

Striving to be the best - and accomplishing it - is one of the reasons DeCicco was selected as the 1999 ASAE Key Award winner. ASAE's most prestigious honor goes to association chief staff executives who demonstrate exceptional leadership qualities in their own associations while displaying exemplary commitment to voluntary membership organizations as a whole. The same single-mindedness that captured the annual award also makes it possible for DeCicco, an ASAE Fellow and 21-year veteran of association management, to accomplish a daunting personal and professional workload, and feel good about it. But she's also savvy enough to know when she needs a mental health day to recharge.

Since coming to LLGMA three years ago from a New Jersey health care association, DeCicco's accomplishments range from increasing trade show income by 55 percent to crafting a new ethical framework. A tireless champion for strategic governance and for the development of a global association community, she played a pivotal role in working with ASAE to create the International Summit, an annual conference of national societies of association executives worldwide. The first American to earn the European Certificate in Association Management, DeCicco has served ASAE and its allied societies as well as the European Society of Association Executives, is a frequent speaker at ASAE meetings, and is author of Achieving Excellence in Governance (ASAE, 1996).

Here DeCicco talks about some of the issues that have captured - and benefited from - her creative vision and the inspiration that keeps her focused.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: As a chief executive officer and chair of the ASAE Governance Evaluation Committee, you have played a key role in redirecting governance functions to focus on strategic direction and policy. Why is strategic governance, in which a board focuses solely on strategic issues, so critically important to associations today as they prepare for the future?

DeCicco: Most important, it is the only appropriate system if you are concerned about raising the level of accountability of the organization. Second, it forces a clearer delineation between the board's role and the executive's role. Fortunately, it also has tremendous appeal for board members because it respects their time and the particular gifts they bring to the board table. This system provides the very best link between the board's work and the board's thinking about the future.

My board meets twice a year: for two hours in June, and for one-and-a-half days in December. But one whole day of the December meeting is devoted to strategic thinking. Under strategic governance, board members are prepared differently for board meetings. On each of the strategic issues to be discussed, board members get a brief from me in advance that outlines the issue, its background, key questions on the table, and my recommendations. Board members like this system. It makes them feel successful because they can actually make a decision.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: What can chief executive officers do to support a strong governance system?

DeCicco: The CEO must have a very clear vision of what association governance should be in his or her own organization, and then needs to find advocates on the board for this governance system. The CEO really has to have the vision to drive the agenda and make the agenda important in the directors' eyes. I was very lucky in taking the [LLGMA] board to this new place; the transition was in great part due to the chairman of the board, who is someone with many years of very strong nonprofit governance experience.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: Your career demonstrates a long-standing interest in international affairs. Why is global awareness so important to the profession of association management?

DeCicco: First, we have to understand that everything we do has to be looked at in a global context. Certainly, the Internet is driving that, as is the global economy. Second, the association community in the United States is just so sophisticated and has such impact, directly and indirectly, on American society and, therefore, on the rest of the world. Association executives have a leadership responsibility in building a global community of associations. We also have a role in bettering society worldwide.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: You recently launched an initiative to rework your association's code of ethics. What told you it was time to take action and what were some of the specific changes?

DeCicco: When I started with this association, many of the issues I heard being raised by members and retailers had an ethical base. I encouraged board members to sit back and create some context for the [existing] international code of ethics and to decide how to get to where they wanted to go in the future.

We looked at how ethics fit into our overall strategic framework and decided we had to create an ethical framework - an organizational values statement - that we could use to monitor association activities and test decision making, not only at the board level but at the member and staff levels. From that effort, we made a commitment to emphasize teaching and learning - that is, the educational aspects of ethical behavior - rather than the punitive aspects, which are more apparent in our existing code.

Our goal is to explore each of the statement's values (integrity, ethical standards, excellence, innovation, fair practices, compliance, and corporate citizenship) with our entire industry, and raise a consciousness about fair dealing in business practices and ethics as a personal and business responsibility. We're also looking at our code and rewriting it to better fit within the ethical framework we've constructed.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: What techniques helped you increase your association's trade show income by 55 percent in just three years?

DeCicco: When I came here, the show was celebrating its 50th anniversary. What I said to the staff was, "Let's celebrate this 50th birthday, but then let's throw everything away. For the first time in 50 years, let's go ask the customers what they want." The show had historically been planned by manufacturers for their customers with absolutely no customer input. We reversed that.

My chairman also gave me the greatest gift an association executive could ever receive: He believed in reinventing the show. He understood that the staff could do it and that it wouldn't happen any other way. For the first time in the organization's history (three years ago), we no longer had a show committee.

We did everything from creating sponsorship programs to reviewing long-standing contracts with specific vendors in order to identify areas for cost-savings. We surveyed past attendees, increased the number of exhibitors and the show's square footage, and established a fee for on-site registration.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: What time management strategies enable you to meet your demanding personal and professional obligations?

DeCicco: You do what you have to do, first of all. That's always been my philosophy - one my parents taught me. And you work until the job is done.

Lots of people complain about the pace of work today that has resulted from technology and the speed of communication. I actually think electronic communication makes it easier to manage my time because it gives me more flexibility. I can squeeze more things into the day and get more work done because I don't have to do it all between 9 and 5 or just from my office.

So, I'm not that concerned about the pace. I do think, however, that one has to be continually aware of refreshing oneself. I take mental health days - I believe strongly in them - and encourage my staff to do the same.

Part of time management is integrating home and work. My children [ages 24, 22, 15, and 13] have often traveled with me. It allows me to spend time with them and still get my job done.

ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT: What has inspired you to excel in association management?

DeCicco: There are heroes in this profession who have been role models - some are previous Key Award recipients. They are high achievers, risk takers, and leaders, in every sense. They had a vision for their association and took both their volunteer leadership and association membership in that direction. Getting to know them through my involvement with ASAE and admiring what they were doing made me realize what I wanted to bring to my own association.

I was also raised by parents who believed that "good enough never is." That's my philosophy and it's one that I expect my staff to embrace as well. I can't imagine not wanting to at least try to be your best. Excellence - striving to be truly the best at what you do - is an endless journey.

Linda Daily is contributing editor of ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT. Anne L. DeCicco's e-mail address is [e-mail].