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The Association Field Guide: Five Pillars of Association Performance
Paperback
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Apr 17 2026
Pages: 102
Weight: 0.28
Height: 0.21 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
You were great at your trade. Then one day, you were put in charge of an association.
Suddenly, you were responsible for staff, budgets, bylaws, board politics, and decisions that affected hundreds-or thousands-of members. No one trained you for this role. No one taught you how to manage a board, handle strong-willed personalities, or keep the organization from drifting into dysfunction. You were expected to figure it out.
Drawing on more than two decades as a CEO of a 501(c)(6) trade association-and hard-earned lessons from working with boards that rubber-stamped the status quo, entrenched leadership, and untrained staff-Dennis Madden lays out a clear, practical system for running an association when you don't have formal business or governance training.
This is not a theory book. It is a survival guide.
The book organizes association performance around Five Pillars that must be mastered in order: Purpose, Bylaws, Finance, Staff Training, and Industry Direction. Miss one, and the organization drifts. Get them in the wrong order, and nothing sticks.
You'll learn how to:
- Define a purpose that actually guides decisions (instead of sitting on a wall)
- Use bylaws as guardrails-not weapons-for board control
- Prevent entrenched leadership so fresh ideas can reach the boardroom
- Simplify finance so it predicts problems instead of reacting to them
- Train staff so execution is consistent and aligned
- Keep the association relevant as the industry changes
Concise, direct, and grounded in lived experience, The Association Field Guide replaces confusion with clarity, politics with structure, and drift with direction. It's the book the author wishes he had when he stepped into the role-and the one today's association executives need before small problems become permanent ones.
Much of what's here also applies directly to small business owners facing the same people, systems, and clarity problems-just without a board.
What respected association leaders are saying:
I just read your entire book and loved it! The Field Guide is really well written and thought through. I recommend it to all association staff executives and elected member/leaders. As past president of the National Speakers Association and a board member for 10 years, plus years in the US Junior Chamber of Commerce from the local level to the national staff, I have seen the effect of good and bad leadership. I've also conducted training or given speeches to over 2,000 associations over a 50 year period. Dennis is telling the solid proven truth!
My own program 'Meeting with Success' explores how to hold productive meetings. This book confirms my observations. Read this more than once and share it with all who serve your association.
- Jim Cathcart
Past President, National Speakers Association
Founder, Cathcart.com
Author of Relationship Selling, The Acorn Principle
Coauthor of Hi-Rev for Small Business (with Dennis Madden)
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