"I've done it so I can run it" is a dangerous shortcut in association leadership

Across the membership sector, one assumption keeps repeating itself. It rarely gets spoken aloud, but it’s there, in the subconscious of nominations committees, appointment panels, and interview rooms. The belief is simple: if you’ve practised a profession, you can run the organisation that represents it.

It feels like common sense. Members want leaders who understand their world, who have faced the same challenges, and who can “speak their language” and boards therefore often assume the safest option is “one of our own.”

But this assumption is flawed, and dangerous. Running a membership organisation is not the same as practising the profession. Chief Executives and Executive Directors are not there to relive their career history; they are there to lead an organisation, steward a strategy, safeguard governance, and deliver value to members.

The time has come for boards and appointments committees to stop confusing credibility with capability. If we continue to indulge the “I’ve done it, so I can run it” mentality, we will only weaken our organisations.

Why This Assumption Persists

Before challenging it, let’s acknowledge why it feels so compelling:

• Members expect credibility: They like to see “one of their own” in the top job. It reassures them that the organisation won’t lose touch.

• Boards are made of practitioners: Volunteer directors, drawn from the profession itself, often unconsciously replicate their own worldview when recruiting.

• Some sectors lack professional pathways: With no accredited status or clear qualification route for association executives in some countries, boards don’t always see association leadership as a profession in its own right.

• The retirement myth: Too often, the CEO role is framed as an “easy run-in to retirement.” Panels see it as a comfortable reward for long service in the profession, i.e., a gentle final chapter, rather than a demanding executive post.

This is why so many appointments default to insiders, but the safe choice often turns out to be the risky one.

The Role of the Membership CEO

Being a Chief Executive in a membership body is not a continuation of practising the profession but a distinct and demanding discipline. The CEO must:

• Support the board in its fiduciary duties;

• Deliver strategy, balancing short-term pressures with long-term sustainability.

• Oversee finance and commercial operations, ensuring the membership model is viable and diverse income streams are developed.

• Lead and manage staff teams, shaping culture, performance, and delivery.

• Engage stakeholders, from regulators and policymakers to the media, partners, and members themselves.

• Drive innovation, especially in digital transformation, member services, and governance modernisation.

These are not incidental skills picked up along the way in a professional career. They are leadership competencies, honed through deliberate experience, training, and practice; and this is why the perception of the CEO job as a semi-retirement option can be so damaging. It encourages underpowered leadership at precisely the moment when members need transformation and growth.

The Risks of Appointing on Lived Experience Alone

When boards indulge the “done it, can run it” mindset, several risks follow:

• Underpowered leadership: CEOs who lack governance and management expertise may quickly find themselves out of their depth.

• Narrow perspective: Leaders may over-identify with one type of member, failing to represent the breadth of the community.

• Short-termism: Without strategic experience, CEOs may firefight issues instead of building sustainable futures.

• Reputational damage: Amateurish leadership erodes member trust and external credibility, undoing the initial advantage of insider status.

• Organisational drift: When the role is miscast as a comfortable capstone, the organisation stagnates. Members pay the price in missed opportunities, poor services, and diminished influence.

What "Good" Looks Like

The strongest membership organisations take a different approach. They recognise that:

• CEOs are professionals in their own right: running a membership body is a career, requiring specific expertise.

• Credibility and capability can co-exist: practitioner insight is valuable, but it must be paired with leadership skills.

• Sector outsiders can succeed: many of the most effective CEOs come from adjacent sectors, bringing transferable skills while learning quickly about the profession they serve.

• Boards must take responsibility: it is not enough to say “the members wanted one of their own.” Directors have a duty to appoint leaders who can actually run the organisation.

A Call to Action for Boards and Appointments Committees

If you are on a board or appointments panel, here is what I recommend you do:

1. Stop defaulting to insiders: Challenge yourself to look beyond the profession when recruiting. Ask whether the candidate can actually run the organisation, not just talk about the profession.

2. Recruit against governance competencies: Define the role of CEO in terms of leadership, finance, governance, and strategy and not just professional background.

3. Reject the “retirement role” mindset: The CEO job is not a ceremonial reward for long service. It is one of the most demanding positions in the non-profit world, requiring energy, resilience, and vision.

4. Support professionalisation: Invest in clear training, qualifications, and pathways for association executives. Treat membership leadership as a recognised profession.

5. Blend experience with expertise: Don’t exclude practitioners but expect them to show evidence of leadership development and governance skills, not just lived experience.

6. Be brave: It takes courage to appoint someone who isn’t the obvious insider. But bravery at appointment often pays off in stronger leadership, better governance, and more sustainable organisations.

Membership bodies matter. They represent professions, influence policy, regulate standards, and serve communities. They deserve professional leadership, not amateur compromise. The subconscious assumption that “I’ve done it, so I can run it” might feel comfortable, but it is a false economy which boards and appointments committees must resist. Credibility with members is important, but without leadership capability, it crumbles quickly. The CEO role is not an “easy run-in to retirement.” It is a demanding, high-stakes executive position. Appoint accordingly, because if we keep choosing CEOs on the basis of lived experience alone, we will only undermine the very organisations we exist to protect.