New Nominating Process Will Identify More Potential Leaders

Change can be challenging and difficult, and lesser organizations often avoid it. But the wisdom and vision of the AAFP’s Congress of Delegates always impresses me.

Last year, the COD embraced an intentional, disruptive change in how family physicians are nominated for AAFP Board elections, even though it required moving away from longstanding and deeply ingrained processes. 

Our previous system worked well, until it stopped producing as many candidates as it had in the past. When I ran for the Board of Directors in 2012, I was one of six candidates. In the decade that followed, the COD never had that many options again.

I grew through the intense process of presenting myself to the COD as five other eager candidates did the same. Each one of us had to adapt to the real process of showing who we were and what we had to offer in a way very different from campaigning ahead of time. Happily, every year we have outstanding family physicians willing to make the sacrifices required to serve at this level of leadership. However, given the growth of our specialty, and the diversity of our membership, expanding the choice of representative voices before Congress was the key driver of this change.

At this year’s Congress of Delegates, which is scheduled for Sept. 23-25 in Phoenix, delegates will again have six candidates to consider for three director positions.

One of the most impressive and affirming aspects of this new process was the number of potential candidates that we were able to consider. It is important to recognize that this number occurred essentially spontaneously after the COD authorized the Nominating Committee, without any formal recruitment efforts. It is clear our Academy is blessed by a breadth and depth of qualified family physicians who are ready to serve the AAFP and its members.

Individuals, organizations and systems need to adapt over time. This is a foundational principal in the AAFP’s advocacy efforts. A critical advocacy effort is in finding, nurturing and launching the next generation of family physician leaders. I am excited that this new process of vetting candidates for the Board of Directors will get us to a new and, I think, better place. Not everyone who is nominated will move forward on their first try. That is the nature of the process, and it is designed to ensure that those members who become candidates have the requisite skills and experience to succeed at this highest level of AAFP leadership.

As family physicians we are all leaders at some level. We each need to determine the right place and right time to move into a potential new role. One of the most important benefits for our chapters from this new process is that members who would likely never move through our previous hierarchical nomination pathway can be discovered now!

One challenge for chapters is to decide how to take advantage of this new process. Chapters will have new resources to tap into and should actively consider how best to work with these up-and-coming leaders to benefit them and the chapter. These family physicians are the next generation of chapter board members and officers, commission members and legislative advocates. We should not let anyone who is willing to serve miss the chance to do so. We just need to nurture them, help train them and find the right roles at state, regional or national levels.

Nominating Committee members realized we had blind spots about “leadership” from our own personal experiences with the traditional, chapter-based process of nomination. As we vetted nominees, we more clearly saw that leadership comes in many different forms and in unexpected venues. We worked to avoid falling back into the concept of whether a nominee followed the “usual” path of being “chapter supported.” Our opportunity was to see that the paths less traveled still got to the goal. 

We recognized that leadership experience can happen in many ways, in other organizations, as well as within our own infrastructure beyond commissions and chapter presidency. These are obviously valuable experiential points, but others can carry similar weight.

This new process is actively evolving. During this year’s COD, I expect us to hear about strengths as well as opportunities for continued growth for this work. We will be considering some essential criteria, such as minimal professional credentials, commitment to organizational goals and community needs, and specific kinds of leadership experience. Even more important, Board candidates must demonstrate high-level executive function.

Directors do not have to be content experts. Rather, they must demonstrate the ability to hear different perspectives, absorb facts and data, and ask the right questions to get to the desired action. The ability to work collaboratively with other Board members and stakeholders, and to utilize excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including emotional intelligence, are essential qualifications. We must continue to work on developing ways of identifying both specific as well as executive function qualifications in a consistent and transparent fashion.

I have been blessed and honored to serve as founding chair of this innovative committee. I am excited to see how this new process evolves, at national and chapter levels. I have two asks:

• Please reach out to me or other members of the Nominating Committee with questions, and consider nominating yourself for a Board position. Working through this process is a valuable leadership development experience. 

• Leadership in all chapters should be discussing how best to engage members to help them develop and start leading now. 

I hope to see many of you in Phoenix at COD. If you can’t make it, stay tuned for what I know will be exciting news about the next group of Board members. More to come!