CTRL+C CTRL+V: Trade Associations Must Redefine the Paths to Leadership

Over recent months, the UK trade association sector saw a slew of new CEO announcements and each had something in common: a middle-aged white man taking the helm.

I am categorically not questioning the abilities of the appointees because each individual brings invaluable experience and dedication to their new organisations; but when the outcome is always the same, it tells us something important about trade associations, i.e., their leadership pathways are too narrow and too underdeveloped.

The Problem Beneath the Pattern

Trade associations often recruit CEOs from within their member industries. In sectors such as engineering, construction, or finance, those pipelines are themselves male-dominated. Without alternative leadership development routes, the talent that rises to the top looks homogenous.

I don't believe that the issue is deliberate exclusion. Rather, it is structural. Boards reach for people who feel familiar. Successive generations of leaders are drawn from the same circles because those are the only visible and “ready” candidates. The real problem is what isn’t visible, i.e., the potential leaders who are never nurtured or encouraged to step forward.

Why Pathways Matter

Leadership does not appear fully formed. It is grown, tested, and shaped. Associations need CEOs who can manage complexity, influence government, and command credibility with members. Those capabilities don’t emerge overnight. They are built through opportunities, mentoring, and exposure.

If the sector does not invest in those pathways, we should not be surprised when the shortlist always looks the same. Underdeveloped leadership routes are not neutral; they actively narrow the future and the consequences are clear:

• Legitimacy gaps: Associations risk losing credibility when their leadership does not reflect the diversity of their members or the public they influence.

• Lost talent: Capable leaders with different experiences are overlooked because they never had the chance to gain the “right” track record.

• Stalled renewal: Without new voices, associations can feel static, recycling the same approaches while industries and society move forward.

Moving Beyond the Familiar

Boards sometimes talk about diversity as though it were a box to tick at the point of appointment, but by then it is far too late. The work must begin years earlier by developing the breadth of people who might one day be considered credible candidates. That means:

• Supporting deputies and directors: Invest in leadership development for second-tier staff within associations, particularly women and people from under-represented groups.

• Opening routes in: Bring in professionals from outside the immediate industry, those with transferable skills in policy, regulation, or member engagement.

• Sponsorship and mentoring: Senior leaders must take responsibility for championing diverse successors, not just waiting for them to emerge.

• Reviewing governance structures: Ensure boards don’t unconsciously replicate themselves by defining roles too tightly around past incumbents.

A Call to Boards

The next time an association appoints a CEO, the question should not be “who looks most like our last leader?” but “what have we done to create genuine choice in this field?” Boards should ask themselves:

• Have we invested in developing credible candidates beyond our current networks?

• Have we provided opportunities for potential leaders to gain experience of governance, strategy, and external representation?

• Do we have a succession plan that reflects the breadth of our membership and society, or only a narrow slice of it?

If the answer is "no", then the responsibility lies not with the candidates but with the system that failed to prepare them.

A Personal Reflection

As a 46-year-old white man, I am acutely aware that I match the very demographic so often appointed, but that only strengthens my conviction that leadership pathways must be widened. Trade associations cannot thrive if they only ever draw from the same well.

The challenge is not to criticise today’s appointees. It is to ensure tomorrow’s leaders look more representative, more varied, and more prepared. That will not happen by chance. It will only happen if boards take deliberate action to develop and support those pathways now.

The leadership profile of the trade association sector tells a story about the future it is building. At the moment, the story is one of missed opportunities, i.e., pathways not built, talent not nurtured, diversity left untapped.

We can change the narrative, but only if we treat leadership development not as an afterthought, but as a strategic priority.

The call to action is clear: build the pathways now, so that the next generation of trade association leaders reflects the full richness of the industries, memberships, and societies they serve.