Forward Towards the New Normal

BY TIM MORGAN

Tim Morgan

ASSOCIATION OF EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS

Everyone looked to 2021 to be a year to reset and get back to some state of normality. Delta, Omicron, “The Great Resignation,” continued political turmoil, workforce shortages, and supply chain issues all teamed up to provide a different scenario.

We learned as an industry that “normal” may be redefined as often as the calendar changes years. Georgia Krause, in the article “Empathetic Leadership” published in the 2021 Journal of Equipment Management, described our industry as a “VUCA” environment: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. The reality is that this is our normal.

Our industry has proven year after year that we can and will overcome any obstacles in our path to success by using the power of our associations and the equipment triangle, where end-users, manufacturers, and dealers join forces to find collaborative solutions. We have learned over the years to have vision to counter volatility, understanding to counter uncertainty, clarity of purpose to counter complexity, and flexibility to counter ambiguity.

The new year looks to offer more of our normal. As an industry, we can look forward to the many opportunities we will have to continue to build new relationships, strengthen existing relationships, and to improve our associations. We should continue to build on the strong foundations of excellence in education, the establishment of industry standards, and collaboration between associations. As association members, we will have the opportunity to improve our associations by committing to show up and do the work needed to grow membership and retention, to build and make available

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cutting-edge education programs both online and in-person and to go beyond the core competencies by adding new industryrelevant curriculums to include subjects such as sustainability and diversity and inclusion.

I look forward to 2022 with enthusiasm, anticipating a “normal” year full of excitement and growth while serving the needs of our industry and our association.

“We should continue to build on the strong foundations of excellence in education, the establishment of industry standards, and collaboration between associations.”

—TIM MORGAN, CEM, BRANCH CIVIL INC. & CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, AEMP

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