What qualities are needed in the new AOTA Executive Director?

​One critical function of the AOTA Board of Directors is to choose an Executive Director for the
Association. With the retirement of Executive Director Fred Somers there are some very knowledgeable and experienced shoes to fill. Given the time frame the new AOTA officers who will take office on July 1 may be involved in the final decision. For this reason I am sharing my thoughts about how I would approach interviews of final candidates. I have much experience over my roles as a manager, as a Program Director of an educational program and as a Board of Director member of a community-based organization in hiring at many different levels. My typical focus is an experiential-based approach asking candidates to give examples from their background and experience to tell me about the type of employee they would be.
 
An Executive Director of a health related professional membership organization such as the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) needs to be someone with a documented history of strong leadership and effective organizational management. I’ve been involved in a lot of hiring and searches in my career. I tend to use a behaviorally based interview approach. I would look for someone who can give examples from their experience of when they have been able to or would be able to:
 

1. Combine transformational leadership with transactional leadership. The evidence on effective organizational leaders tells us that highly effective leaders help those they lead to connect their everyday work to the greater mission and vision (transformation) and at the same time are able to help them overcome obstacles and see clear paths forward to achieving operational goals (transactional).
2. Lead groups in large scale strategic planning, visioning and using values to make tough organizational choices.
3. Assess the needs of various stakeholder groups and be able to speak the language of each group and varied audiences including within the profession, in other professions and our consumers.
4. Have an understanding of the landscape of the varied systems that members of AOTA must navigate including health systems and policy, educational systems and policy, governmental and NGO systems (e.g. NIH, American Heart Society, American Cancer Society, National Alliance on Mental Illness etc.).
5. Plan, implement and manage complex budgets on the scope of AOTA including the ability to address contingencies and respond to shifts in the economy and the stock market (i.e. AOTA investments).
6. Demonstrate an awareness and operational command of varied types of law including human resources, real estate, contracts, health law, disability etc. and show a shrewd awareness of when one must rely on experts and consultants to give expert advice.
7. Demonstrate strong interpersonal skills and be able to effectively interact with a wide scope of stakeholders. The ED needs to be able to operate smoothly in the Boardroom, in the classroom, and in front of large audiences. They need to be strong listeners and strong communicators. They must be comfortable with conflict and skilled at both managing conflict and managing agreement.
8. Understand our past and envision our future, to build upon our successes and to confront our challenges (e.g. diversity, apathy and engagement, workforce development etc.).
9. Lead and guide quality initiatives both within the Association (e.g. with the paid staff such as Lean approaches, continuous quality improvement etc.) and understand the application of quality approaches in the varied settings in which occupational therapy practitioners work.
10. If not experience in the development and growth of the membership base, at least a strong understanding of approaches and strategies to assess and meet member needs in order to maintain and grow our membership. This means a working appreciation of the needs of student members, occupational therapy assistant members and occupational therapist members across multiple generations.
11. Effectively develop and lead multiple teams. AOTA has a relatively small paid staff and the top leadership (what has been called the “Facilitating Team”) including the CFO, the COO, the Chief Academic and Scientific Affairs Officer etc. each lead a diverse group of projects and teams. The ED MUST be highly skilled at teaming.
12. Clearly and articulately communicate the distinct value of occupational therapy to varied stakeholders and audiences and show a passion for affecting the quality of life and occupational performance of individuals, groups, communities and populations.

 
During my two terms on the AOTA Board I was involved in the annual performance review of the ED six times and have a good understanding of the duties and responsibilities. I’ve had the opportunity to directly witness great successes and times when things could have gone better. I hope to have the opportunity to be involved in the hiring of the new ED although that process could be complete or near complete by July 1. I also hope that we may find an occupational therapy practitioner with the skills, experience and qualities to take the lead, but association management is a field within itself and the best candidate may not be an occupational therapy practitioner.
 
If others have something I left off of my list that you would be looking for?
 
Thanks!