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Desired Competencies, Skills, and Experience

The APA Board of Directors has developed these desired competencies, skills, and experiences in alignment with the strategic direction of the organization. Eligible individuals who exemplify the below competencies are strongly encouraged to apply.

Hard Skills

  • Business/Organizational Leadership: Understanding of complex, sophisticated organizations, their governance structures, and financial principles that drive success. Committed to the fiduciary duties of loyalty, care and obedience.
  • Strategic Leadership: Ability to think strategically and logically, maintaining distinction between oversight and management.

Soft Skills

  • Communication: Ability to listen and effectively communicate thoughts and the reasons for them.
  • Emotional Maturity: High level of self-awareness and professionalism. Ability to work well with others one-on-one, and in group decision-making contexts. Comfort level with creative conflict.
  • Integrity: Maintains confidentiality. Behaves in an honest and ethical manner.
  • Respected: Within the profession and relative to career stage.
  • Innovative: Open-minded, balanced risk-taker. A growth mindset, including comfort with ambiguity, a commitment to learning, and pursuit of inventive solutions.

Strategic Skills

  • Future Focused/Foresight: Identifying and finding the meaning in future opportunities and threats to the profession and organization.
  • Advocate: Ability to effectively communicate organizational goals to achieve understanding and obtain support or buy-in from stakeholders. Experience as a policy maker or policy influencer.
  • Digital Acumen: Appreciation for technology advancement, its impact and application to the profession and organization. Fluent in current technologies; identifies and finds meaning in new technologies.
  • Fundraising: Appreciation for philanthropic outreach. Access to funding sources.
  • Organizational Development: Understanding of change management and organizational evolution. Translating opportunities and threats into meaningful strategy.
  • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Experience and commitment to applying a people-first approach that recognizes the value of diversity, inclusion, and equity for all.