The path into and through the next decade

A generation later,  the Iranian American community is proud to have established relationships with successful individuals,  in all industries, including  chip and technology industries such as Ebay, scientists at NASA and several others who serve as scholars and professors of universities.  In all my years as a practicing attorney, partnering in law firms and serving on various boards of directors, I have come across a few pointers which I thought would help mark the pathway into the future of our organization.

Contrary to the common myth, I have learned that most leaders are developed through personal experience and are not just born great leaders.  I have also learned that to be most effective, we must continually evaluate  issues at hand and strive to be multi-cultural  in planning and implementing
the association’s future plans.

To be an efficient and effective association, we must develop leadership networking and identify common tasks  while incorporating multi-cultural and multi-sector parts in events.  We should also be enthusiastic while motivating others ”to step up to the plate” while being open to new ideas and adaptive to changes.

Furthermore, it is also as important to learn to work with other leaders and associations and to be aware of when to lead and when to follow.  We should always remember that we are representing a group and its interests and not any individual idea, interest or agenda.  We should always expand on on developing abilities to manage and resolve conflicts.

Effective leadership for an association is more than accomplishments.  One must show up, build and develop relationships, motivate others, foster team work, value diversity, build trust and lead by   example.

We should fully explore our self actualized power, positional power and coalitional power to achieve the best for the association.  We should not forget that most leaders are risk takers and the effective ones don’t follow a path, but create their own path to be followed.

Last but not least, when it is all said and done, and after the minority and the majority has had their say and the issues are stalled, we will know where and when  democracy spins and leadership ought to start. Lets keep the wheels of democracy pushing forward.

P. Patrick Ashouri, Esq. President
Iranian American Lawyers Association