Measuring up: separating good from great.

• Author: Scher, Kimberly

The Ohio Society of CPAs has been named one of nine "remarkable associations" in management excellence following a national study directed by Jim Collins, best-selling author of Built to Last and Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... And Others Don't.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Collins worked with The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and The Center for Association Leadership for three years collecting and analyzing data from a universe of 1,500 associations nationwide. Research results were published in August in the new book, The 7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don't

Who is the visionary giant in your association? Many would say it's the CEO.

That's only partly true, however, according to the recently published book 7 Measures of Success: What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don't While CEOs certainly may be visionary leaders, it is more important that they inspire and facilitate visionary thinking in others throughout the association and rely upon that thinking to shape success. The CEO should be the "broker of ideas."

This leadership trait and six other measures of success were derived from a national research study tailored to the association community's needs.

"Like the mortar that holds the bricks of a building in place, associations go largely unnoticed, yet they do much to hold the entire structure of society together," says Collins. "I am particularly passionate about the time I got to work with The 7 Measures of Success Task Force." Collins also notes that greatness is cumulative. "When you build something great, there is no one single great moment."

7 Measures of Success describes seven success factors common among visionary nonprofits.

1. A customer service culture

   Remarkable associations build their structures, processes and interactions--their entire culture--around assessing and fulfilling members' needs and expectations. No one presumes to know what a member needs without first asking and then listening to the answer.

2. Alignment of products and services with mission

   Remarkable associations speak passionately about fulfilling their mission and constantly test their ideas for products against that mission. The study found that remarkable associations view members as a population to serve, rather than a market to sell to. In fact, they reject products or services that fail to directly aid their members--even if they might generate revenue.

3. Data-driven...