https://anniegibbins.com/blog/ A weekly read on AI, leadership, and the realities of leading boards, CEOs, and peak bodies through the AI transition. By Annie Gibbins — 5× CEO and Grand Stevie® Award winner. en-au © 2026 Lipstick Consulting Pty Ltd annie@anniegibbins.com (Annie Gibbins) annie@anniegibbins.com (Annie Gibbins) Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 +1000 https://anniegibbins.com/anniegibbins-assets/annie-portrait-stage.jpg https://anniegibbins.com/blog/ https://anniegibbins.com/blog/the-three-ai-questions-every-board-should-be-asking.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/the-three-ai-questions-every-board-should-be-asking.html Wed, 27 May 2026 00:00:00 +1000 Annie Gibbins AI in Associations Most boards are still asking the wrong question about AI. Here are the three questions that actually serve a board's governance responsibility. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/member-renewal-rates-are-the-wrong-metric.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/member-renewal-rates-are-the-wrong-metric.html Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 +1000 Annie Gibbins Association Leadership Renewal rate is a lagging indicator. Here's the leading indicator most associations aren't tracking. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/what-i-wish-id-known-about-the-board-ceo-relationship.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/what-i-wish-id-known-about-the-board-ceo-relationship.html Wed, 13 May 2026 00:00:00 +1000 Annie Gibbins CEO Essentials Five things I learned the hard way across five CEO tenures, written for the next person walking in. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/ai-use-policy-most-important-board-document.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/ai-use-policy-most-important-board-document.html Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 +1000 Annie Gibbins AI in Associations Of all the policies a board signs off this year, the AI use policy is the one with the highest risk and the highest leverage. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/five-jobs-ai-will-reshape-in-your-association.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/five-jobs-ai-will-reshape-in-your-association.html Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +1000 Annie Gibbins AI in Associations Five roles where AI is already reshaping the work, and what CEOs should do about it. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/first-90-days-association-ceo-what-matters.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/first-90-days-association-ceo-what-matters.html Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +1000 Annie Gibbins Association Leadership Five decisions that, made well in the first 90 days, set up the next five years of the role. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/three-financial-metrics-association-board-should-track.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/three-financial-metrics-association-board-should-track.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +1000 Annie Gibbins Association Leadership Three metrics that reveal financial sustainability before the headline numbers do. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/what-members-arent-telling-you-about-ai.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/what-members-arent-telling-you-about-ai.html Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +1000 Annie Gibbins AI in Associations Members are using AI in their work. They're worried about its implications. They're not telling their association any of this. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/how-to-read-association-annual-report.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/how-to-read-association-annual-report.html Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +1000 Annie Gibbins Association Leadership Annual reports are the most thoroughly produced document an association publishes. Here's how to read what they don't show. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/budget-questions-every-director-should-ask.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/budget-questions-every-director-should-ask.html Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Board Essentials Most board directors approve budgets by reviewing dollar amounts. The questions that actually matter are about what the numbers assume. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/risk-register-or-compliance-theatre.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/risk-register-or-compliance-theatre.html Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Board Essentials Most association risk registers are compliance theatre. Here's how to tell whether yours is, and how to fix it. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/board-confidentiality-what-new-directors-get-wrong.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/board-confidentiality-what-new-directors-get-wrong.html Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Board Essentials Confidentiality is one of the four core legal duties of every director. New directors routinely misunderstand what it covers. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/why-small-business-owners-scale-the-wrong-things.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/why-small-business-owners-scale-the-wrong-things.html Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Business Startup, Growth & Scale Most founders scale headcount, premises, and marketing before they've scaled the foundations that make growth durable. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/financial-reports-every-founder-should-read-monthly.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/financial-reports-every-founder-should-read-monthly.html Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Business Startup, Growth & Scale Most founders only see their financials at tax time. Four reports. Twenty minutes. Every month, without exception. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/when-to-hire-your-first-manager.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/when-to-hire-your-first-manager.html Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Business Startup, Growth & Scale The first manager hire is one of the highest-leverage decisions a founder makes. Most founders make it too late. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/what-i-learned-about-firing-well-from-doing-it-badly.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/what-i-learned-about-firing-well-from-doing-it-badly.html Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins CEO Essentials Termination conversations are the most consequential people decisions a CEO makes. Most are handled badly. Here's what I learned from doing my first one wrong. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/the-ceo-listening-tour-that-actually-works.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/the-ceo-listening-tour-that-actually-works.html Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins CEO Essentials Most new CEO listening tours produce no useful insight because they ask the wrong people the wrong questions. Here's the version that works. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/sponsorship-is-a-relationship-not-a-transaction.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/sponsorship-is-a-relationship-not-a-transaction.html Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Association Leadership Most association sponsorship programmes treat sponsors as customers. The sponsors that renew long-term are treated as partners. Here's the difference. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/cpd-programme-most-valuable-underused-asset.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/cpd-programme-most-valuable-underused-asset.html Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Association Leadership Most associations treat CPD as a break-even member benefit. Done well, it's the single highest-margin revenue stream and the deepest engagement driver. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/ai-meeting-minutes-the-operational-change-coming.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/ai-meeting-minutes-the-operational-change-coming.html Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins AI in Associations Most associations have started using AI transcription for staff meetings. The implications for board minutes and member dynamics are larger than the headline benefit suggests. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/strategic-plan-in-a-drawer-worse-than-no-plan.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/strategic-plan-in-a-drawer-worse-than-no-plan.html Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Board Essentials Most association strategic plans are approved with ceremony and then forgotten. This is worse than not having a plan. Here's why, and how to break the pattern. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/director-succession-the-conversation-boards-avoid.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/director-succession-the-conversation-boards-avoid.html Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Board Essentials Most association boards have no formal succession plan. The cost of that absence becomes visible only when a director leaves unexpectedly. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/what-i-wish-id-asked-before-my-first-board-appointment.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/what-i-wish-id-asked-before-my-first-board-appointment.html Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Board Essentials Most first-time directors accept their first board role on the basis of flattery and instinct. Six questions, asked before accepting, would have saved me significant grief. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/five-conversations-before-taking-outside-investment.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/five-conversations-before-taking-outside-investment.html Wed, 03 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Business Startup, Growth & Scale Most founders raise capital with too much focus on valuation and too little on the relationship they're entering. Here are five conversations to have before you sign. https://anniegibbins.com/blog/hiring-for-fit-most-expensive-mistake-founders-make-twice.html https://anniegibbins.com/blog/hiring-for-fit-most-expensive-mistake-founders-make-twice.html Wed, 26 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +1100 Annie Gibbins Business Startup, Growth & Scale Every founder eventually hears they should "hire for culture fit." The phrase is well-meaning and usually wrong. Here's what it actually produces.