CRN PRESIDENT & CEO STEVE MISTER:
I had the privilege of addressing CRN’s membership at our annual executive conference last week. And the message I offered goes well beyond our members, so I thought I'd share highlights with friends and colleagues on LinkedIn as well.
Drawing on my countless hours on a bike, I offered six lessons that apply equally to cycling and charting the course for a trade association:
#1: You need a destination, and a roadmap.
At CRN, that means VISION 2030, a strategic plan to guide our work over the next three years. We’ll breathe life into these ideals through:
- Advocacy—because we need to shape the policies that determine whether our companies can innovate and whether consumers can access our products;
- Credibility—because the trust of consumers is our currency; and
- Growth—because our job isn't simply to protect what we've built. It's to create an environment where responsible companies can thrive, innovate and adapt to whatever comes next.
#2: Cycling takes resilience.
Reaching any destination requires persistence and tenacity, but it also means being able to absorb the unexpected, the potholes and setbacks. At CRN, we're playing the long game, keeping the big picture in view and pressing on.
#3: You don’t just show up for a big ride; you train.
Long rides require preparation. CRN members know we show up to advance their interests armed with facts and science to back up are arguments and the integrity and authority to speak with confidence.
#4: There’s more than one way to get to your destination.
At CRN, we adapt and use a full range of capabilities: relationships with regulators, grassroots advocacy, shoe-leather lobbying, formal comments, citizen petitions and, as a last resort, litigation. We’re also exploring ways to be more financially sustainable and adapt to the realities of nonprofit stewardship.
#5. You get there faster and easier in peloton.
We are stronger together. Collective wisdom matters. As we welcome new companies to CRN, we remain committed to collaborating with like-minded groups to advance the industry’s goals.
#6: Divisiveness hurts our cause.
“A house divided…,” well, you know. Division creates weakness. We’ve seen that there are forces that benefit when this industry is divided; when large companies are pitted against small ones; retailers against brands; one trade association against another; or reasonable policy disagreements become tests of who is sufficiently “pro-industry.” A divided industry is easier to restrict, dismiss and defeat. We should work for unity.
So I called on our industry not only to meet in the middle and find common ground, but to build responsibly. The industry we get is the one we choose to build. That’s how we create an industry that advocates confidently, earns credibility and is positioned for growth.