CEO Blog: 2020 Kickoff

I’ve understood the importance of a solid business plan for as long as I can remember. I learned those lessons early in my working life from my dad in his corner grocery store. When moving on to a more formal office job, I learned from expert leaders, who set expectations and gave me the flexibility to make them reality.

As I reflect on the history of your ATA, especially the past 20 years, it’s clear that lots of planning and hard work got us to where we are today. More recently, we underwent a formalized strategic-planning process. Along with your Board of Directors, we defined who we are and who we want to be, and then ensured our actions aligned with those definitions.

We’ll refine those items every year, and each time we evolve the plan we’ll keep your input in mind. We’ll never please everyone, but I assure you that your Board and staff will always act with the industry’s best interests in mind.

When joining ATA in 2017, I was fortunate to inherit an exceptional foundation. It would’ve been simple to ride past success and see what happened, but that’s not my nature. Experience taught me that sitting tight tends to speed organizations to failure. Maybe it’s my sales-leadership history, but I try to behave as if we’re in second place. Chasing that top spot, no matter what the data says, benefits any business.

As we close out 2019, prepare to convene in Indy for #ATA2020, and look ahead to the next fiscal year beginning April 1, I focus on how to continuously improve your ATA. The driving message behind my focus is simple. Our goal is achieving an organization that industry members want to join and engage.