The PPAI Board of Directors, executives and staff directors, and executive strategy consultant Seth Kahan traveled to Washington, D.C. ahead of L.E.A.D. to discuss the Association's strategic plan.

The PPAI Board of Directors, executives and staff directors, and executive strategy consultant Seth Kahan traveled to Washington, D.C. ahead of L.E.A.D. to discuss the Association's strategic plan.

The PPAI Board of Directors, PPAI executives and staff directors convened on Sunday and Monday in Washington, D.C. to discuss and update PPAI’s Strategic Plan. The session, which was the culmination of several months of preparation, was led by Seth Kahan, a Washington-based executive strategy consultant.

Over the two-day discussion, Association leaders worked together to determine and discuss current and potential disrupters, and think strategically about how PPAI needs to prepare to meet the future and best serve its members and the industry. The result is a new PPAI mission statement, and a fresh set of goals supported by a number of strategies. PPAI’s current strategic plan was developed in 2012; the Association’s practice is to update its plan every three years.

Left: Rick Brenner, MAS, immediate past chair; Tom Goos, MAS, chair and Mary Jo Tomasini, MAS, chair-elect take in the spectacular conference room view during a break. Right: The process to develop PPAI’s Strategic Plan included a number of small-group exercises involving board and staff members.

Left: Rick Brenner, MAS+, immediate past chair; Tom Goos, MAS, chair and Mary Jo Tomasini, MAS, chair-elect, take in the spectacular conference room view during a break. Right: The process to develop PPAI’s Strategic Plan included a number of small-group exercises involving board and staff members.

Among the new goals is one that focuses on specifically strategic foresight. “With the velocity of change coming at our members, the industry and our Association, the board made a strategic commitment to this goal to help us stay on top of emerging trends, constantly scan our environment, monitor opportunities, and help our members prepare for and stay ahead of dramatic changes,” says PPAI Chair Tom Goos, MAS.

Goos says he’s thrilled with the meeting’s process and its ultimate outcome. “We set out on a journey,” he says of the four months of meeting preparation and the two days of intense discussion, “and emerged with an exceptionally strong three-year vision and strategic direction for PPAI.”

Left: PPAI Chair-Elect Mary Jo Tomasini shares ideas from one of the group exercises during the strategic planning meeting. Right: PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, opens the strategic planning session.

Left: PPAI Chair-Elect Mary Jo Tomasini shares ideas from one of the group exercises during the strategic planning meeting. Right: PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, opens the strategic planning session.

The mission and strategic plan will be fine-tuned over the next several months and presented to the PPAI membership in Fall 2016.