Seven;Means;for;Lifelong;Learning
Tips from Kathleen O’Loughlin, DMD, executive director and COO, American Dental Association
For Kathleen O’Loughlin, DMD, having the top position at the
ADA doesn’t mean she’s fully arrived as a leader. It means she
has even more reasons to continue growing and developing.
“I work on leadership skills constantly,” she says. “Listening,
being patient and gathering all the data necessary for a good
decision are always things to work on.”
How does O’Loughlin accomplish this? Access the full
article in the fall 2011 issue of the CEOnly Newsletter, avail-
able at associationforum.org > Resources > CEOnly Resources
> CEOnly Newsletter, or read the following excerpt —
O’Loughlin’s seven-part ongoing learning routine:
1.;Read as many management books as is… manageable.
O’Loughlin’s favorites this year include: Race for Relevance:
Five Radical Changes for Associations by Harrison Coerver and
Mary Byers; Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates
Us by Daniel Pink; Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can
Transform the Way You Lead by Charlene Li; and The Dragon
Fly Effect: Quick, Effective and Powerful Ways to Use Social Media to
Drive Social Change by Jennifer Aaker, Andy Smith, Dan Ariely
and Chip Heath. Her all-time favorite business book is Good
to Great, which she says has “had a tremendous influence
on my managementstyle.”
2.;Interact with leaders whom you admire. “I try to model
myself after leaders I respect and who I believe are authentic, humble and confident in their abilities to lead people,”
O’Loughlin says.
3.;Identify role models. O’Loughlin gathers inspiration from
different leaders for different reasons: She admires Oprah
Winfrey’s ability to communicate, Winston Churchill’s tremendous perseverance and Malcolm Gladwell’s sharp mind
and ability to digest an issue. She also has great respect
for Nelson Mandela, Warren Buffet and Cisco CEO John
Chambers.
4.;Participate in formal professional education. O’Loughlin
attends programs and takes courses offered by numerous
groups to keep up with new regulations and governance
issues.
5.;Lean on staff to remain current. According to O’Loughlin:
“I listen to my senior staff and consider them expert advisers who have the content knowledge I lack. I try to hire
people who are smarter than me.”
6.;Consider a 360-degree performance assessment. This
assessment involves systematically collecting opinions
about an individual's performance from a wide range of
coworkers that may include peers, staff, association members and board members. The benefit of collecting this type
of data is acquiring a panorama of perceptions rather than
just self-perception to provide a more complete picture.
“Although humbling, it is a great way to continue to build
on strengths and effectively manage things that potentially
get in the way of being an effective leader,” O’Loughlin
says. “My goal is to go through a 360-degree assessment
every couple of years and work on leveraging my strengths
and not focusing solely on my shortcomings.”
7.;Stay physically fit. In addition to expanding her mind and
building new intellectual skills, O’Loughlin says sharpening
her leadership involves staying physically fit to avoid letting the stress of her job impede her effectiveness.
When striving to become the best leaders they can be, CEOs
must understand they are “a work in progress,” O’Loughlin says.
“Keep focused on the future. Leverage strengths and keep an
eye on areas of ineffective behavior and compensate for those,
remembering that no one is perfect. Give yourself and others
around you permission to be authentic, and forgive mistakes if
they lead to better performance and enhanced learning for the
organization. Always do what is in the best interests of the
organization and its people and base decisions on integrity,
ethics and fairness.”
Meet;Harrison;Coerver,;author;of;Race for Relevance,;at
Holiday;Showcase;on;Dec.;15!
Coerver will discuss some of the findings in his book
including what approaches and models organizations
must embrace to welcome change and its ensuing success. Reserve your spot for the CEOnly breakfast at
Holiday Showcase, complimentary with full-day or edu-cation-only registration, by visiting holidayshowcase.org.
Access;the;entire;fall;2011;issue;of;the;CEOnly;Newslet-
ter;or;archived;CEOnly;issues;at;associationforum.org;>
Resources;>;CEOnly;Resources;>;CEOnly;Newsletter
