The Company:
Our client is a privately held membership organization of chief executives who are driven by the belief that the world needs better leaders. Each member has achieved significant leadership success in their industry and have a passion to become better leaders and better people through peer learning and exceptional experiences in an inclusive community of open sharing and trust.
The Opportunity:
Serving as the President for the organization you will provide leadership to ensure long-term success and relevancy for the organization by delivering on the vision and strategy to help members become better leaders and positively impact the world. You will be a passionate advocate for member leaders and management working in common cause to drive peer-to-peer connections in a safe haven to engage, learn, exchange ideas, and contribute to their individual leadership journeys.
You will be a highly engaged and inspirational leader, building and retaining an outstanding professional workforce based in Toronto. You will facilitate the national platform of peer connections, maintain the aspirational relevance of the organization as the premier leadership organization in Canada, protect the brand and nurture a safe haven to inspire members and management to engage, learn and contribute to their individual journeys.
Specifically, the CEO will be responsible for:
• Board Relations. Acts as a servant leader, partnering with the board, made up of several members to establish a long-range and visionary strategic plan that ensures the organization continues to drive a relevant value proposition while achieving the organization’s mission. Accountable to the organization’s Chairman (founder), the CEO partners with Boards, committees, and member champions to ensure priorities, budget, and staff are aligned with the organization’s strategic objectives.
• Spokesperson. In conjunction with the Chairman, serves as a dynamic spokesperson and advocate for the organization before key external audiences including media, government officials, educators, and business leaders nationwide. Passionately protects and promotes the organization’s vision, strategy, and priorities while maintaining a high level of visibility for the organization through interviews, speeches, meetings, briefings, and programs.
• External Relationships. Develops strong working relationships with a wide range of constituencies, in both the public and private sectors. Forges strategic partnerships and coalitions with organizations worldwide that align with the organization’s values and priority objectives.
• Member Engagement. Optimizes the value of membership and opportunities for leadership through the organization’s platform on a global basis through the organization’s engagement channels and member-to-member connections. Champions the organization’s culture attributes of mutual respect, trust, inclusion, growth, impact, and servant leadership among diverse stakeholders, including members, member champions (volunteers), management, member’s families, and others.
• Organizational Leadership. Engages inspires, motivates, and serves the organization’s professional workforce. Effectively attracts, mentors, and retains extraordinary, multi-cultural, customer-centric talent to effectively implement the organization’s mission, direction, and policies. Protects the organization’s Safe Haven principles to foster trust, sharing, and learning. Models and coaches trust-building behaviors and leadership competencies to member leaders and the management organization.
• Operations. Partners with the Board to deliver a highly functioning organization by defining operating targets through effective planning, clear direction, a positive and professional culture of excellence, with strong people, technology, and process systems. Sets the direction of the organization’s internal operations to drive efficiencies, measure effectiveness while maximizing resource utilization including human capital, intellectual property, finances, systems, and assets. Develops annual business plans that ensure fiscal integrity and prudence, including oversight of internal audits of financial and operating systems.
Qualifications:
You will be a charismatic, innovative, and entrepreneurial leader, capable of protecting and promoting the strong legacy of the organization with the global membership community. The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 10 years of relevant senior executive level experience in national or global, multi-discipline organization of similar scale and complexity. S/he must possess strong executive gravitas, essential for promoting the organization as the premier membership organization for business leaders nationwide before myriad audiences including members, key stakeholders, government officials, and the broader business community.
Specific experience and qualifications will include:
• Experience in a professional membership organization preferred. Must have the agility to balance complex situations, manage ambiguity, and ability to drive multi-party consensus among myriad stakeholders, disparate cultures, and interests.
• Demonstrated experience leading operational transformation including digital technology integration, organizational design, optimization of stakeholder relationships, and customer and member engagement.
• Strong global experience, including the ability to exercise diplomacy and cultural sensitivity.
• Superior interpersonal and persuasive skills with the ability to inspire, motivate and influence a broad range of leaders.
• Outstanding communication skills to protect and promote the mission of the organization builds trust quickly and commands the respect of his/her audience, even in the absence of authority. Proven abilities in change management communications to engage and influence stakeholders. Multilingual abilities preferred.
• Unquestionable integrity and strong personal character. Operates with the highest levels of moral and ethical behavior. Exemplifies the organization’s principles and is effective as a role model and coach for members and management.
• Strong business acumen and analytical skills. Tech-savvy with first-hand knowledge of how to apply new technologies and tools in supporting an organization’s strategy. Demonstrable change management, emotional intelligence, and diplomatic/facilitation skills, as evidenced by prior successful transformations.
• Effective management of an organization similar scale and complexity. Experience building, leading and retaining top-caliber professional talent. Strong human relations and interpersonal skills.
• Commitment to servant leadership and doing what is right. Sublimates personal ego for the good of the organization balanced with a willingness to stand alone based upon purpose and values. An active learner who maintains a great sense of humor.
• Willingness and ability to travel on business, including nationally, approximately 50% of the time.
