2002 Leadership Meeting Focuses on Centennial

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—CAS leaders gave high marks to this year's CAS leadership meeting, held here on March 26. With an eye on the centennial year 2014, CAS leaders discussed the future vision of the Society.

Each year the CAS president-elect hosts the leadership meeting, which, in the past, has centered on committee management issues and the roles and perceptions of the actuarial profession in the business world. This year, however, CAS President-Elect Gail M. Ross chose to envision what success would look like for the CAS at its centennial. Ross noted that while the CAS has a strategic plan, the CAS does not have specific benchmark targets that can measure the Society's progress toward its vision.

Ross teamed up with Stephen P. D'Arcy, chair of the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC), to review proposals and conduct interviews with several firms vying to facilitate this year's leadership meeting. They finally decided on Tecker Consultants, LLC of Trenton, New Jersey.

Most meeting attendees, who included Regional Affiliate presidents, committee chairs, and LRPC members, met the night before for a reception and dinner hosted by members of the Executive Council (EC) and CAS staff. For the full-day meeting, attendees were grouped randomly with either a member of the LRPC or the EC seated at each table.

Tecker Consultants' facilitator, Jean Frankel, began the meeting by highlighting some of the challenges facing associations today. Frankel said that associations must become more businesslike in their dealings while retaining the service orientation of associations. Organizations should honor the past (the original reasons for forming the organization) and look to the future (consider how to sustain, improve, and succeed with the organization).

Thought-generating exercises led up to a brainstorming session on the "Big Audacious Goal"—a challenging objective that is well outside an organization's comfort zone but still attainable. Working together in the small groups, attendees developed vivid descriptions of what it would be like to achieve this aspiration. While the meeting concentrated on consensus building, dissenting opinions were welcome since arriving at final decisions was not the goal of the day.

Tecker Consultants will prepare a report for the LRPC and the Board based on the ideas brought forth at the meeting. The LRPC will use the report in reviewing the CAS strategic plan and developing benchmarks for success. The CAS Board is scheduled to have a similar retreat later this year, which will include evaluating the input from the Leadership Meeting.