AIMS President Peter Murday updates members on all the latest news at AIMS.

Being a leader

With all of the talk in Canberra over the past week I have thought much about my own role as President of the AIMS.

Leadership is a common and truly simple word but I have found it quite difficult to come up with a meaningful way of explaining it. According to Bass (1981) leadership can be defined in different ways but the definition that best fits my role is the one that says that leadership is “an act of influencing the activities of an organised group in its quest to set goals and also to achieve certain goals”.

A good leader is one who doesn’t know everything or purport to know everything  and as much as the final decisions and responsibilities often lie with one individual, effective leadership entails finding the means to gather other peoples’ opinions or views and give them due respect before making a final decision on an issue.

It’s important to take into account all points of view and willingness to change a policy, program, or cultural tradition that is out-dated, or no longer beneficial to the group as a whole.

The AIMS conference is now behind us and its success has invigorated the team and motivated us all to keep the feeling of success in all that we do.

The Institute is truly finding its feet now and for the first time in our history we have secured a permanent office which we will move into in the next few weeks. Meetings can be held here, members can visit and our records are secure in one place and all Executive members have access. We have systems in place to better manage our membership and students and our financial situation is good. It feels like the time is right to set our sights a little higher.

I turn to my AGM promise to our members that we will work to be more inclusive, provide value for money through benefits to members and generally promote our industry and its members to our region.

In order for the Executive team to do this we need to find out what members really want from the Institute. Good leaders also need to see feedback as gift.

Our EO has finalised the operating budget and it is intended that an amount of funds be set aside to provide services to members. In the coming weeks another survey will be sent to all members asking how you would like to see this money spent. Your input will determine the activities we carry out over the next year.

Over the past month or two I have had conversations with members and there has been talk of branching into other parts of our region, most particularly New Zealand and Singapore. Some of our members believe this will encourage a more diverse membership which will enable a greater exchange of ideas and work practices as well as hopefully provide practical business opportunities for members. This appears to be a good idea and certainly the time is right to get more involved in our region and promote our high standards of survey. What do our members think of this? Could we tie this in with our 30th Anniversary?

Our Executive Officer has continued to press insurers for a better deal for members and has two firms now actively working on a deal that includes income protection and public liability cover as well as sponsorship. Determined as she is I often point out to her that many have gone before and failed but, should we keep trying? Anecdotal evidence says this is what the members want so, yes we will.  

Now is the time to let us know what issues are important to you. Our survey earlier this year showed that an overwhelming majority of members want more networking opportunities - how, what why and when? Please send your ideas to execoff@aimsurveyors.com.au and we will do our best to put some of them into action.

 

Peter Murday

President