Michael Cornelison, DPM, FACFAS
ACFAS President
endless backlog of emails I’ve accumulated over the years, I found myself in an exercise that seemed a lot like one of those stereotypical scenes of someone opening an old chest and finding objects that suddenly evoke vivid memories from the past (the one I’m currently thinking of is when Clark Griswold is inadvertently locked in his attic in Christmas Vacation). In this case, what I came across was the pdf-format letter I received from then President-Elect Glen Weinraub, DPM, FACFAS congratulating me on my appointment to my first ACFAS Committee. If I were asked to think of the most important event that would point me down the path that would culminate with me serving as ACFAS President myself, it would most certainly have to be my appointment.
I think many Past ACFAS Presidents would agree that their progression through the College’s committee structure of years of volunteering played a major role in preparing them to lead the College. Indeed, most Presidents had served several years in committees or through the ACFAS Region (or previous Division) leadership before their election to the Board of Directors. In a sense, the committee and regional governance structure at ACFAS has become a de facto leadership development program. This does make sense — individuals who have spent considerable time volunteering within it probably understand the most about ACFAS governance, short of ACFAS Staff, that is.
But is this really the best model to identify the best future leadership of ACFAS, and to best prepare them to optimally lead for the benefit of the college and its membership? Certainly the pool of committee members and regional leaders is a very good one, but does it include all of the best candidates? It very likely does not, and my own thoughts on why would greatly exceed the space this message is allotted.
ACFAS has recognized the challenge, and the result has been the development of the ACFAS Leadership Development Program. The primary goal of the Program is to provide ACFAS members with the knowledge, resources, mentoring and networking opportunities to acquire and enhance key skills needed to succeed as future leaders and ambassadors of the specialty and the College. It will be a progressive process, beginning first with programming to provide an introduction and orientation to ACFAS governance and the “Strategic Compass,” followed by modules intended to introduce and cultivate skills in both general leadership and those specific to the College, then finally completing with projects to refine the individual leadership skills of prospective candidates.
Constructing this program has been no simple task. The development team undertook extensive research that included surveying leadership programs in place at other organizations in the health professional space, but also conducting several focus groups among our own stakeholders to determine both the need for, and the content of, a program specific to ACFAS. The preliminary results are impressive, and I eagerly anticipate the College rolling it out in the near future.
I look back at ACFAS’ leadership history with pride and gratitude, for what has been achieved by strong, visionary, and dedicated members of the College. Those that follow in the footsteps of our past leaders will no doubt carry on this tradition of excellence. The Leadership Development Program will serve to even better prepare our future leaders, and just as importantly, open up a much broader avenue for many more members to reach the pinnacle of their personal vision of service to their chosen specialty.