Demand is best determined by a top management committee.

Leadership capabilities are the most important factor when advancing into an executive position. Organizations want leaders who can understand and encourage people. They seek leaders who can learn from past experiences, take on new challenges, and make decisions under uncertainty. Think about your past leadership roles. What did you do well? What could you have improved?

There is always room for improvement, but effective leadership takes practice. Can you take on more projects at work to refine your skills? If that isn’t an option, can you volunteer for leadership roles at a not-for-profit? Another route is to take a leadership-centric course.

2. C-Suite Communication & Presentation Skills

Effective senior managers need C-suite level communication skills. They need to be able to converse with people at every level of an organization. This includes presentation skills beyond a slide deck. Persuasion and influence are powerful skills for any executives and should be reflected in all aspects of communication.

To improve your communication skills, ask for feedback from colleagues. Observe other leaders you admire and note what makes them effective communicators. You also can take a class on communication and influence.

3. Change Management Skills

Change management is an increasingly important skill among senior leaders. They need the capability to identify opportunities for change and then lead their organization to execute a new path forward. An often overlooked part of the executive skillset, learning about change management can be an important differentiator for leaders.

4. Subject Matter Expertise

Don’t underestimate the importance of subject-matter expertise. At this point, you’ve likely built up knowledge in a particular area of your organization. But how much do you know about the other areas of the business? If you manage a department, how much do you understand about how other departments impact organizational decisions? If you’ve managed smaller teams, do you know what it takes to lead a broader unit?

Think about the knowledge and skills that you’ve accumulated in your career so far. Can you identify any gaps that might be keeping you from achieving your C-level goals? What knowledge and skills do you need to acquire and improve to make your goal a reality? An EMBA program can help advance your business knowledge without disrupting your career.

5. Strategic Thinking & Foresight

Being able to develop strategic, forward-looking plans is a key skill for senior leaders. This helps ensure future success for the business and is paramount to success in the C-suite. Leaders must be able to factor in the needs of every part of an organization — not just the areas in which they have the most knowledge and experience. If you don’t understand the organization as a whole, you won’t be able to implement change initiatives to move it forward.

6. Decision Making

Leaders have to make quick, informed decisions — even when they don’t have all of the necessary information. There are many opportunities to learn from other leaders in history how they made these types of decisions for better or worse. Developing effective decision-making skills now will benefit you as you move into senior leadership roles.

7. Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is generally considered an executive leadership quality, which can be developed. This is the ability to manage your own emotions as well as the emotions of those around you. Important aspects of emotional intelligence include empathy, relationship management, self-awareness, and social awareness. You can grow your emotional intelligence by practicing listening skills, being open to constructive criticism, and staying self-aware.

8. Employee Development

Good managers aren’t solely focused on their own career trajectories. They also focus on building up their team to strengthen the organization as a whole. A senior manager is only as good as their team.

When you identify opportunities for growth, consider how they might benefit your team members. Ensure that teams are comprised of people with diverse strengths and perspectives. Offer to help members showcase strengths and improve weaknesses.

9. Delegation

Finally, understand that delegation doesn’t mean offloading work. Delegation should be seen as an opportunity to teach and develop your peers. Effective delegation is a hallmark of a good leader.

Research can help you find the optimum price for your products. Generally, the optimum price is one that your customers are willing to pay, without it affecting your profits. This isn't a one-off activity, you must monitor your key pricing influences regularly as part of your overall market research to ensure your prices stay competitive and you still meet your customers' expectations.

Market testing

To help you determine how much your customers are willing to pay for your product or service you should perform some form of market testing. As a start, research your customer's purchasing behaviour such as:

• their current and anticipated demand for this type of product or service
• what they pay for similar products or services
• the quantity likely to be purchased
• additional features they value.

With this customer information in mind, you can then develop a price comparison offering a number of different product or service options for testing to help you determine a price range that is acceptable.

Competitors

You should have already determined who your direct competitors are and how your business compares to them when you developed your marketing plan. This information can be useful to help you determine your price point.

If you decide to use your competitors' prices as a guide, be careful that it doesn't dictate your prices too much, as it can seriously undervalue your product or service and drive down your profits.

When you compare your business to competitors, it's also important to ensure you look at the business as a whole and compare on other value-based traits (such as special features, quality and customer service) as well as price. 

Influences

Pricing influences are external factors that can impact the price of products. Four influences that you may encounter include:

• price sensitivity
• level of demand
• level of competition
• government regulation.

Price sensitivity

Price sensitivity refers to price fluctuations as customer demand increases and decreases. For example, commodity goods such as petrol have high price sensitivity. The difference of a few cents in price can impact a customer’s behaviour.

Some markets are more sensitive to price increases than others. Price sensitivity can change over time based on a number of factors including changes in the economic environment, competition or demand. Factors other than price, such as quality, service, and uniqueness, can also influence price sensitivity.

Level of demand

Product and service demand can influence your prices. If there is high demand, it is likely you can increase your price. Price can also influence demand. For example, if the price lowers, then demand can temporarily increase.

Level of competition

Competition can also influence your product’s or service’s price. In general, the less competition you have, the more demand there is for your product. If a new competitor enters the market, the competitor can affect your price.

Government regulations

Government regulation can influence your pricing decision, as additional fees or levies may increase the sale price of your product or service.

The procedure for calling and holding a management committee meeting must be outlined in the association's constitution.

If the constitution does not make provision for these matters, the relevant provisions of the Model constitution will automatically apply. Visit the Model constitution page for more information.

How often should meetings be held?

The management committee should meet as often as is necessary to properly manage the affairs of the association. The constitution can stipulate a minimum requirement.

If the constitution provides for it, the committee may choose to hold a meeting at 2 or more venues using technology that allows members an opportunity to participate.

How is notice of a meeting to be given?

The constitution will outline how notice is given for a meeting. The notice of a meeting should include an agenda which specifies the matters to be dealt with at the meeting.

What is a quorum?

A quorum is the minimum number of committee members required to be present in order for the meeting to go ahead. The constitution must specify the quorum and the procedure to be followed if a quorum is not present.

Who is the chairperson?

The constitution will specify the person who is to act as chairperson.

Who can attend meetings?

Unless the association's constitution says otherwise, only committee members are entitled to attend committee meetings. However, the committee may permit members and other persons to attend.

Is it necessary to keep minutes?

Yes, minutes must be kept of meetings. The minutes should include:

• the day, date, time and place of the meeting
• the time the meeting started
• the names of those present and any apologies
• that the chair announced a quorum was present and that the meeting was duly constituted (if this announcement was made)
• a reference to minutes of the previous committee meeting and the signing of them as a correct record
• details of every resolution put to members and whether it was passed with the appropriate majority
• details of persons voting against a motion or abstaining from voting if those persons request that this be recorded
• details of any appointments made, persons elected to office and any leave of absence granted to a member
• an overview of discussions on decisions made
• the date and time for the next meeting, if this is determined during the meeting
• the time the meeting ended.

Minutes of meetings must be kept in written or electronic form. If records and minutes are kept in electronic form, they must be able to be converted into hard copy. If a person is entitled to inspect the records, a hard copy of the record must be made available within a reasonable time.

If any part of the minutes is in a language other than English, a copy of the minutes in the English language must be kept with the minutes. The Associations Incorporation Act 2009 prescribes penalties for failure to comply with this requirement.

Record of disclosure of interests

If a committee member discloses an interest at a committee meeting, this must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

Are members allowed to inspect the minutes?

The association's constitution must include provisions that address the inspection of books and documents by members.

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