SCHOOL BOARDS TODAY – “THIS ISN’T WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR”

At BOARDynamics, we coach boards toward concurrence of their purpose, roles, goals and behaviors. For more information, go to www.BOARDynamics.net

· “No matter what I do, I’m wrong”

· “I’m not sure I want to do this any longer”

· “I had no idea this job would be so hard”

Masks, superintendents and school boards under fire, book challenges, recall votes, dissatisfied parents, partisan political views, outsiders... all have influenced school boards and the difficult decisions that they have had to make over the past 20 months. There are plenty of reasons why the tenor and atmosphere surrounding school boards has changed. The challenges will continue. It has been difficult to be a school board member and will continue to be so. A unified school board, with a common raison d'être, has never been more important.

While we don’t have a silver bullet or a magic wand to make everything right, we do have a few suggestions:

Agree on your PURPOSE as a school board and stick to it. Promote that purpose. Broadcast it. Live it. Make sure that you and your patrons understand it and know that you will be adhering to it.
Agree on your ROLE, as a board and as a board member. Patrons don’t always understand your role as a board member. Issues and conflict will remain, but the pressure can be reduced if you clearly, distinctly, and publicly define your role. Delineate the role of the board from that of the administration. And again, promote, broadcast, and live your roles.
Solidify your GOALS as a board. Goals for the district will generally follow your strategic plan. But what about your goals as a board? How will you become a better, more efficient, and functional board? All boards can improve. Identify your strengths and capitalize on them. Identify those aspects of your board that could use some improvement and create a plan to fix them.
Document and hold one another accountable to a set of behavioral expectations. We call these BEHAVIORAL NORMS. If we understand the expectations of one another, we are less likely to act in a manner contrary to those expectations.

We understand that school boards are elected and won’t always agree on the same path. That’s the nature of representation. But agreement of PURPOSE, ROLES, GOALS and BEHAVIOR will certainly pave the way for better decision making.

Contact us today to see how we can help you make your board better.

When is the Right Time to Bring your Team Together?

"THEY" say that timing is everything. So when does it make sense to bring your team together to make sure that everyone is on the same page?

Most of us are caught up in the details of just getting things done. We have deadlines, commitments, due dates and objectives to meet. Sometimes, we get so caught up in the minutiae of the task at hand that we just don't have time to look at the bigger picture. We can't tell you how many times we've said "I know I need to get the group together to make sure we're all on the same page - we'll do that as soon as the (insert appropriate milestone here) is finished/over/completed".

Holidays, vacations, projects - everything gets in the way. We are all constrained by our desire to "get it done". Our ability to schedule a time when everyone can attend is almost impossible.

Added to our inability to make time is the constant change inherent in any group - people change, emphasis changes, customers and patrons needs change, the organization's priorities change.

Here's a little secret that most of you reading this already know - the time to make sure that your PURPOSE, ROLES, GOALS and BEHAVIORS are aligned is NOW. Actually, it's not a secret if it's already known and recognized. So how do you make it happen?

We believe that by adding an objective viewpoint encourages thoughtful dialog and change. By committing to a timeframe that someone outside the group also shares forces commitment. By scheduling a catalyst to help you with these discussions, you are making a commitment to do what you already know needs to be done. Without a catalyst, the projects, commitments, vacations and holidays will always get in the way.

CAN YOU MEASURE HOW EFFECTIVELY A BOARD WORKS TOGETHER?

How well does your board work together? We have commented here before about the importance of agreeing on PURPOSE, ROLES, GOALS and BEHAVIORS, but are these measurable?

Without a metric, how do you know that you are improving? How do you know that your expectations are shared among your board members? When new members join the board, how do you know that THEY concur with the established parameters under which you operate?

BOARDynamics took this challenge and created the BOARDynamics Concurrence Index. The BOARDynamics Concurrence Index is meant to be relative - that is, not necessarily comparable to other boards but a measure of your board's progress toward concurrence.

The BOARDynamics Concurrence Index is a numeric measurement of a board’s unity and agreement in relation to its PURPOSE, ROLES, GOALS and BEHAVIORS. It measures processes that the board uses (Structural) in governance, and board members’ perceptions, understanding and adherence to the specified board purpose, roles, goals and behaviors (Behavioral).

Scoring of the index is weighted in favor of Behavioral dynamics. Structural measures are intended to indicate procedural fidelity. A board can achieve Behavioral concurrence without having Structural measures in place, however the likelihood of undesirable outcomes increases without Structural benchmarks.

The BOARDynamics Concurrence Index should be utilized to measure a board’s concurrence at a given point in time. As issues arise and as the board makeup changes, the index scores may vary. The importance of the index is the consistency of measurement and the understanding by the board of the impacts on the organization that these measurements represent.

Use of the BOARDynamics Concurrence Index should be viewed as suggestive. Each board should weigh the importance and value of change, though improvement only occurs with deliberate action. Every board has different views, perspectives, and challenges. The index should be recalculated if 1) board membership turns over significantly (25%), 2) issues impacting the board change dramatically or 3) more than 2 years have passed since the prior review of purpose, roles, goals and behavior.

BOARDynamics will make aggregated results available to our clients after significant data is accumulated. Individual board index results will be kept anonymous, and only the board’s respective results will be provided. Further breakdowns by board types and category will be available.

CONTACT US IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN IMPROVING - AND MEASURING - YOUR BOARD'S AGREEMENT OF YOUR PURPOSE, ROLES, GOALS AND BEHAVIORS.

New Board Members: How to Alleviate "The Rookie Syndrome"!

A show of hands: How many of you will have new board members this year? This may come about due to the election in November, or new board appointments. In any case, you will have people joining your board who will not have a clear grasp of the purpose and roles of your board. Many will have absolutely no idea of the expectations of their new position.

In some organizations, new board members get their orientation using the "fire hose" approach in which they are given every document within the organization and are expected to digest it and be up to speed by the next board meeting. (!) As a brand new board member, it can be difficult to know what questions to ask because of the amount of new information. Its overwhelming!

Your new board members will bring to their new role a list of preconceived ideas of what they think the job entails. They may view themselves as well-versed regarding the expectations of the position, but come to realize that their initial ideas were off-target. Hopefully, in time new board members will get up to speed, realize they cannot control some of the things they thought they could, and get an idea of what is expected behavior. But this can be a long and painful process for all concerned!

The board "Rookie Syndrome" can be addressed by being proactive and sensitive about helping both prospective and new board members understand the purpose of the board and subsequently, their roles. While not commonplace, some organizations offer a "So You Want To Be A Board Member" session. The catch to this is that sitting board members MUST themselves have a clear understanding and agreement of the board's purpose, roles, goals and expected behavior.

BOARDynamics offers you a solution. We help a board come to agreement on their Purpose. Once that is established, Roles are defined under the umbrella of their purpose. Then, establishing board Goals and subsequent Behaviors are discussed and agreed upon. We can also help you facilitate informational sessions for prospective candidates as well as orientation for new board members to help you have the most effective board for your organization.

We Make Boards Better!

Call us today!

It's Time for Your Board to Hit the Reset Button

When we all look back on "Covid" time, what will we remember? Isolation? Masking? Disagreements about vaccinations? Take-out? Zoom?

What we remember is the lost time chatting with colleagues. Just chatting. Meetings were held virtually, often from the privacy of our home. Shirts were required, but that’s about all. Cats, children, and sirens played a large part of our meetings. Sure, it was comfortable – sitting at your kitchen table, discussing things with your fellow board members. But having to raise your hand and push a button to be heard may have taken the steam out of your thought.

Let’s face it – not all decisions can be made quickly. Some of the most important time of any meeting is the 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the meeting, when we speak to friends and colleagues, compare thoughts, discuss last night’s ball game or whatever decisions you are about to make, and generally, gain one another’s confidence.

Covid took all that away. Meetings were shorter and more abrupt. Sometimes, the ability to speak freely was removed by technical issues. The inability to schmooze did cut down on the discussion and rendered quicker decisions, but often without knowing and understanding why a decision was being made. Yes, this is a generalization. Many of us still covet the quicker decision making. But there are drawbacks.

For boards, whether they be volunteer, appointed or elected, this quicker decision-making may have polarized your board. It may appear to others that you have “taken sides” – not necessarily due to the subject being discussed but because of the necessarily shorter time that you took to make a decision. And if you were required by open meeting laws to stream your meetings, the public watching may have been disenchanted at the (relative and perceived) lack of discussion. Sure, the political climate had something to do with that but no virtual meeting can take the place of in-person, face-to-face conversation.

So, what do we do? How can we regain the trust of our colleagues and those we serve?

Our suggestion is to hit the reset button. Start by having a frank discussion about why your board exists. What is the purpose of the board? Not the purpose of the organization that you serve but the purpose of the board. Make sure you all agree on the board’s purpose. This will galvanize your board toward a common objective, enable efficiency in your decision making, unify the team and encourage trust.

Once your purpose is identified and agreement is reached, discuss your roles as board members. Don’t dwell on the past – look to the future. Roles may be forgotten during the chaos of a crisis. Write them down.

Next, talk about the goals that you have as a board – not past goals, 2020 is over – future goals. What does the board want to accomplish going forward?

Finally, talk about your behavior. Were there elements of behavior that were detrimental to the board? In the heat of the moment, we often let emotion drive our behavior. What was the impact of your behavior on your organization?

Let us help you RESET your board!

Our Conversation With Joel Goldberg

We were fortunate to sit down with Joel Goldberg for an episode of "Rounding the Bases", his podcast about culture and leadership, with a baseball twist.

We had a lively conversation about today's issues and the need for agreement of a board's Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behaviors, and how BOARDynamics can help a board achieve this agreement.

Contact us as our schedule is filling.

We look forward to helping your board!

You can follow Joel at:

Facebook: @goldbergkc

Instagram: @joelgoldbergkc

LinkedIn: @goldbergkc

Strategic Planning or Defining the Board's Purpose -

Which Comes First?

Strategic Planning – these two words strike fear and uncertainty into many people’s minds. Visions of endless “input sessions”, constant wordsmithing, discussions that tend to migrate away from the real purpose, and in the end, a document that is “binder-ized” (replete with those plastic fingered spines that prohibit effective page turning), with fancy graphics and big words but is placed in the “Strat Plng” file, and rarely consulted.... until you must do it again. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Why does this happen? The people doing the planning are often the same people who must IMPLEMENT the plan. There is a huge difference between the overriding strategy and the way this strategy is accomplished. Boards are responsible for establishing the high-level strategy – not figuring out how to do it. That’s the responsibility of the paid staff.

How does this impact boards? Boards are often made up of DOERS – people who have accomplished things, who have achieved, and who have been successful at getting things done. Board members are generally results-oriented, like to look at data, and need reassurance that their PLANS are coming to fruition. A consequence of a board with a results orientation is to turn strategy planning into a discussion of how to get it done. Is this what you want your board to do? What impact does the board doing tactical planning have on the administration (the people who you pay to achieve results)?

WHAT’S A BOARD TO DO?

First, identify the PURPOSE of the board. Make it a clean, short description. Remember, you are talking about the purpose of the board, not the organization.

No fancy words. One example might be

“The purpose of the board is to oversee the organization by hiring the executive director, providing policy direction, fiduciary oversight and be an advocate for the organization.”

Once the purpose of the board is established, define the roles of the board members. What is your focus? What kinds of things should board members be involved in? The roles of board members should generally follow the purpose of the board. If oversight is the purpose of the board, should board members be discussing the color to paint the building? If hiring the executive director is one of the purposes of the board, do your board members get involved in every hiring decision? If your board is responsible for fiduciary oversight, should board members be examining every receipt? Allow your purpose to guide your role.

What about goals? Should board members have goals? The simple answer is “yes, every board member should have goals”, but the goals that individual board members have should be for themselves. The goals of a board should be SHARED goals. A board member might want to “learn how to be a better fundraiser”. That is her goal, for herself. The board may have as one of its goals “become a more effective board”. That is a board goal that each board member should agree to.

SPOILER ALERT – PURPOSE COMES BEFORE PLANNING

Board members want to be a part of getting things done. That’s what they are used to doing outside of the board room. Remember, the strategic planning that most boards do is high level, not operational. Without understanding, and agreeing, on the purpose of the board, it is impossible for the board to develop strategy. If the board hasn’t determined their purpose and role, the strategic planning process will get bogged down.

WE CAN HELP

BOARDynamics can coach your board to gain agreement of your purpose, roles, goals, and behavior. We bring a vast set of unique experiences on elected, appointed and volunteer boards. Contact us and let us help you!

EFFECTIVE BOARDS HAVE DOCUMENTED BOARD NORMS

(The sixth in a series of insightful thoughts about the importance of agreement of a board’s Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behavior)

Are all your board members rowing in the same direction? Don’t worry if they’re not. There is a fix to this, and this fix holds true whether your board is elected, appointed, or is a volunteer board.

It is an honor and a privilege to be a board member. The position comes with a responsibility to understand the agreed upon purpose of your board. If board members know their board’s purpose, they can understand their roles, base their goals upon their roles, and ultimately exhibit consistent behavior that allows the organization to move forward.

DOES YOUR BOARD AGREE ABOUT:

Board attendance

The need to be prepared

Respect, professional and courteous behavior

The line between oversight and operations

Partisanship

Personal agendas

Confidentiality

Respecting the majority decision

Access to information and communication

Social media presence

Board Norms are a documented guide for board members regarding behavioral expectations. Written, board-approved norms can provide guidance to help steer the board through difficult times, such as an individual board member's personal agenda. It's easy for a board member to innocently swim into the tide of issues outside their responsibility. Some members might use their office for personal interests. A great board has everyone rowing together and understanding their purpose and roles. Board Norms cover expectations that are not covered in bylaws or policies, or sometimes, reiterate their governing document’s direction.

Just as bylaws should keep a board focused on their responsibilities, having documented Board Norms keeps the board accountable to one another, allowing smoother sailing when issues arise.

Another huge benefit to having written Board Norms is apparent when you have new board members join the board. They have a document listing the behavioral expectations of their position.

Boards can be more effective and efficient when they hold themselves accountable for their behavior. As challenges face a board, a united team always experiences smoother sailing than one that has its oars pulling in multiple directions.

Agree to it.

Live it.

Pass it on.

Contact us. We are board members helping board members!

BEHAVIOR MATTERS!

(The fifth in a series of insightful thoughts about the importance of agreement of a board’s Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behavior)

Board culture can influence board effectiveness. Boards must make sure that culture and behavioral norms are agreed upon to move themselves in the right and positive direction.

Culture manifests itself through behavior. Agreed upon behavioral norms is a hallmark of an effective board. Here are some key questions that start to capture board culture:

Does the board agree on its Purpose, Roles and Goals?

Is there trust and respect among board members and between the administration and the board?

Does the board speak with a single voice?

Is information limited to a few or to all?

Are communications clear, regular and consistent to all?

Is board leadership determined by “best person, given the situation” or on an “it’s my turn” basis?

Is the board focused on achieving strategic goals or daily operations?

With a clear understanding and agreement of behavioral norms and expectations, the board can use its culture as a lever to support the goals of the organization. When these agreed upon expectations are documented, there is a twofold benefit. They give current board members direction and guidance, and as new members join the board, expectations are clear.

Behavior matters. Document it. Live it!

Does Your Board Have Goals?

(The fourth in a series of insightful thoughts about the importance of agreement of a board’s Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behavior)

“If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.”

- Bud Wilkinson

Does your board have goals? Can each member clearly articulate your board’s priorities? Not the organizations' priorities - the BOARD'S priorities.

Board goals define how the board will add value to the organization. They’re the mutually agreed upon priorities that outline what will be accomplished.

Board goals are not the CEO’s goals. Board goals define the actions that the BOARD will take in support of the organization and CEO. The CEO’s goals are specific to the operation of the organization. Together, they set the organization on a path to success.

When not aligned on one set of goals, it’s easy to get side-tracked. The board may react to what seems important at the moment or rely on “we’ve always done it this way”, without contributing strategically to the organization’s needs.

Rather than feeling lost in a labyrinth of the day to day, common goals act as a GPS to guide you through, because what gets emphasized, gets done.

“It's not what boards do (or don't do) but how they do their work that really matters.”

- Peter Eckel and Cathy Trower

RETREATS DON’T HAVE TO BE

“HOURS I’LL NEVER GET BACK”

We’ve all been involved in some sort of group get-together, labeled a “retreat”. These are generally billed as no-pressure, casual meetings, usually off-hours, with lots of food and snacks, where we're supposed to speak freely, have discussions without distractions, and come away with an understanding of ......what?

Frankly, many of the retreats we have attended have been disappointing. Some were simply poorly planned. Some brought in “experts” who spent time lecturing, using age-worn consultant parlor tricks of sticky notes, multi-voting and breaking off into small groups to discuss things (which inhibits the whole board from hearing everyone’s thoughts). Others were ambiguous in their purpose. And in some cases, our fellow board members resented the time spent.

Retreats can be helpful, if planned properly. Timeliness, preparation, relevance, engagement, and documentation of your specific outcomes are the keys to a successful get together.

When is a good time to get your board together for a retreat? That’s an easy one – the best time for a retreat is BEFORE A SITUATION ARISES THAT REQUIRES A SOLUTION! That’s kind of obvious but many boards use retreats to find fixes to today’s issues.

It’s also important that each board member know what the subject will be and have spent time considering their own thoughts about the subject.

What constitutes a relevant retreat? This is a hard one. Relevance is different for every board but generally, we believe that boards should consider overarching subjects for their retreats. Retreats provide a great way to discuss your board's purpose, roles, goals and behaviors.

Every board member needs to have their opinion heard and their story told. The leader of the retreat can have a huge influence on engagement. Lectures from “the mount”, “sit and get” and “small group discussions” don’t provide engagement. Instead, they encourage group-think.

Retreats can be meaningful time spent to have an honest conversation about your organization. We specialize in boards. We are board members. No parlor tricks, no fancy speeches. Just a focused discussion with the board regarding your purpose, roles, goals and behaviors.

Will you have new board members joining you? Spend time NOW to define and affirm your purpose, your roles and goals, and especially your expected behavior.

We can help your board! Contact us soon, as our schedule is filling fast.

Proud Members of The Northeast Johnson County Chamber of Commerce

Deb Settle and her staff are professional, engaged, and committed to

making NEJC business and communities grow and thrive!

Now That I'm a Board Member, What Comes Next?

How do you prepare board members for their role? Who explains what the board’s expectations of its members are? How do your board members get to know the roles, expectations, and issues of the board? Most boards hold an operational orientation for new board members. Few, if any, discuss HOW the board operates, it's mores and procedures and most of all, the expectations that board members have for the board and one another.

My first board meeting was shortly after I assumed a new position in a small town in the southeast. My boss had told me, as the area manager of a utility company, that 40% of my job was community relations and the other 90% was providing good customer service (yes, it doesn’t add up). I had been in town for a month and was named to the board of directors of the local chamber of commerce. I had no previous board experience, had no knowledge of how the board operated and had yet to have my orientation.

My first vote on that board was the same day as my first board meeting. The subject was a controversial recommendation that the utility, my new employer, provide service to a remote part of the county. When I arrived at the meeting, the board chair took me aside and explained how this recommendation would be good for the region and that I should, as a show of good faith to the board, vote in a positive way for the recommendation. I didn’t have a good feel for the board, the politics involved, the impact that the measure might have on my company nor the history of the issue. I voted “abstain”.

That action almost got me fired AND removed from the board! I had innocently betrayed both my employer and my new board. Why? I failed because I wasn’t given the opportunity to ask some fundamental questions. I wasn't clued in on issues, protocol, board purpose, roles, goals and expected behavior. Pre-board member orientation, information vetting, process and purpose and goal and role discussion should have taken place long before I was even named to the board.

Setting expectations is a key to board harmony. It is much more difficult to act in a way that results in disharmony if expectations are explained before taking the position.

Before I was appointed to another board, the chair “interviewed” me and explained what the duties of a board member were. Those included attendance at monthly board meetings, budget review, oversight of the program – all typical board “responsibilities”. A few months later, I was approached by the Development Coordinator (fund raiser), wondering why I had not contributed my financial obligation. Unbeknownst to me, there was a financial contribution that was expected as a condition of becoming a board member. Unfortunately, there was nothing documenting this requirement (there is now).

People become board members for a variety of reasons – some professional, some emotional, some personal. One role of board governance is to ensure that expectations are clearly defined and to provide those expectations to all prospective board members. Those expectations should cover the purpose of the board, the role of the board and its board members, the goals of the board and the behavioral norms that the board has adopted. The paid staff, while able to do so, should not be relied upon for this discussion. The explanation of expectations is the responsibility of board leadership and should reflect their formal documents – board policy, by-laws, strategic plan and board norms to which the leadership can refer. These expectations should also be reviewed again during the new board member orientation meeting, and should again, be delivered by board leadership, not the paid staff. After all, it’s board behavior, roles and goals that are being discussed.

As your board addresses prospective and subsequently, new board members (which happens on a continual basis), this process will help them understand, "WHAT NOW?".

Contact us and let us help you.

A Clearly Defined Role for a Board is Vital

(The third in a series of insightful thoughts about the importance of agreement of a board’s Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behavior)

“A successful team is a group of many hands and one mind.”

- Bill Bethel

Purpose establishes the WHY of a board. Roles establish the RESPONSIBILITIES of the board members. Without a clearly defined and agreed upon board role, individual board members may embrace an agenda different from the rest of the board, impairing the ability of the administration from carrying out their duties and responsibilities.

Board members need to understand the impacts and consequences of what can happen when their perception of roles differs from the board’s.

The role of the board and the role of the CEO/Executive Director/Superintendent are similar and may overlap, but are can not be the same. The board must insure that they are not taking on the responsibility of the paid staff. Doing so can diminish the effectiveness of the staff by forcing them to defer decision making to the board.

A board that clearly understands it's role is able to provide the guidance necessary for an administration to carry out the mission of the organization and make the operational decisions in a timely manner.

“If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.”

- Bud Wilkinson

WHAT DOES BOARDynamics DO?

We lead a board toward unified and agreed upon purpose, roles, goals and behaviors:

REVIEW current perceptions and practices and identify areas of concurrence and differences, and the resulting impacts.
REIMAGINE how they carry out their responsibilities, agree upon improvements and commit to implementation.
REALIZE the modifications and commit to periodic review and improvement.

Purpose, roles, and goals develop in a linear fashion. Prior to understanding roles, the purpose of the board must be clarified and apparent. In order to develop appropriate goals, boards must understand their role. The behavior of a board is driven by all three – purpose, roles and goals.

If the purpose of a board is misunderstood, not clearly stated, or ignored, board members will assume differing roles to fulfill their idea of purpose. Individualistic and personal roles and goals leads to board inefficiency and dysfunction.

BOARDynamics coaches boards toward concurrence of their purpose, roles, goals and behaviors through professional development. Unlike traditional consultants, we COACH, we don’t direct. We coach boards for the betterment of the organization, instead of simply providing “best practices” and hoping that inertia will lead to change.

Our passion is helping boards improve. We are board members who understand and empathize with boards, who have sat in your seats and understand what you do. All boards want to do good work and every board member should strive to improve in a deliberate and continuous manner. We provide an objective viewpoint which facilitates boards to effect thoughtful improvement.

PURPOSE LEADS THE WAY

(The second in a series of insightful thoughts about the importance of agreement of a board’s Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behavior)

“If Everyone is Moving Forward Together, Then Success Takes Care of Itself”

- Henry Ford

Purpose leads the way because it is the foundation of an organization. Teams that clearly define their purpose can concentrate on the things that are necessary for success.

WHY IS SHARED PURPOSE SO IMPORTANT?

It helps the team stay focused and promotes efficiency - When a board knows its purpose, it becomes easier to focus on what matters the most. When the purpose of the team is understood and shared, members have a better understanding of how they can contribute and add value.

It makes the team passionate – Understanding and agreeing to their purpose is an important driver for teams to achieve something extraordinary.

It unifies the team - With shared purpose, teams base their decisions, thoughts, feelings, and actions around that purpose. A team with a common, well understood purpose makes a greater impact through their work, which encourages unification.

It helps the team live with integrity - Teams who know their purpose know who they are, what they are, and why they are. With concurrence of purpose, board members will assume roles consistent with that common purpose.

It encourages trust - Teams who share a common purpose encourage trust and faith, which helps members consider themselves an integral part of the team.

School boards, for instance, are more scrutinized, with higher expectations, than ever. Before board members can deal with these expectations, board members must understand and agree on the board’s purpose.

“A successful team is a group of many hands and one mind.”

- Bill Bethel

GET YOUR BOARD ROWING IN THE SAME DIRECTION

(The first in a series of insightful thoughts about the importance of agreement of a board’s Purpose, Roles, Goals and Behavior)

Are all your board members rowing in the same direction? Don't worry if they're not. There is a fix to this. And this fix holds true whether your board is elected, appointed, or is a volunteer board.

It is an honor and a privilege to be a board member. The position comes with a responsibility to understand the agreed upon purpose of your board. If board members know their board’s purpose, they can understand their roles, base their goals upon their roles, and ultimately exhibit consistent behavior that allows the organization to move forward.

“An organization’s success has more to do with shared purpose, common principles and strength of belief in them than to assets, expertise, operating ability or management competence, important as they may be.”

- Dee Hock

Our Conversation With Joel Goldberg

Contact us. We are board members helping board members!

WHAT DOES BOARDynamics DO?

Contact Form