I have no problems with bringing in consultants/biz school folks if
that is what it takes, but the bottom line is that the executive
director should have management capabilities such that a large number
of consultants or consultant $$ should not be necessary. It would be
great to find a soaring pilot with the appropriate skills. But IMHO
this is a problem with Hobbs, it is not "executive-attractive" for
recruiting, with all due respect to Hobbs. This is another reason why
the SSA office should be located in a different location. Things I
would think about related to a good location would be (1) a location in
which it would be reasonably easy to convince a good ED candidate to
relocate to; (2) a location that is easy to reach via commercial
flights, preferably at or near a hub/hub equivalent, for both board
members and volunteers, and (3) a ready base of local volunteers or
near-local volunteers who can easily drive in. What you inspect
people respect.
Janice Armstrong

wrote:
My understanding is that years ago when the SSA "worked" it was run by
young dynamic leaders who loved soaring (e.g. John Dezutti) who took a
position like ED almost right out of college/B-school, spent several
years learning the ropes of running a large organization, then moved on
to bigger and better things (notice the success of the 83 Worlds
organized under a tight timeline following the UK's scuffle with
Argentina/Falklands Islands in this timeframe). They were probably
also cheaper than the six figure ED's we've had lately. I'm all in
favor of this plan, and hell, I even know where you can find one (or
more) individuals who fit the description.

2c


wrote:
Greg Arnold wrote:
If the SSA survives, it really needs to hire an outside consultant who
is an expert on non-profit membership organizations, and who can advise
about the proper governing structure.

A good idea, but it might be even better to see if we could get help
from Harvard, Stanford or similar Biz School alumni on a volunteer
basis. I know both Harvard and Stanford have programs of this nature to
help non-profit organizations run more efficiently. One of my good
friends does this through Harvard's program and he is a first rate
consultant, much better than SSA could probably afford to hire. (He's
the former CFO of a public company.) And he puts in a fair amount of
time on his projects. It's not just a "look good" thing.

A big question is whether there are any such people willing to work on
SSA, esp given its remote location. Maybe there are some such people on
this site??