Many well-intentioned E.D.’s truly want their boards to
serve as strategic partners but fail to provide the support that builds this
capacity in their boards.After a time,
board members may actually become comfortable only reviewing expenditure
reports, raising or contributing funds or some other limited type of activity.This type of low-engagement board may experience high anxiety when faced
suddenly with the opportunity to own “the big stuff.”Conversely, there is the mushroom farm type board that is kept in the dark and only
enlightened after the fact about something big having occurred.In
both cases, E.D.’s might bemoan the fact that their boards are not of great
help to them in moving the big rocks that need to be moved for the organization
to grow.But at this point, the E.D.’s have
also become stuck themselves in the pattern of not trusting their boards with
strategy, even believing these sometimes well-chosen people to be incapable of
holding the organization’s destiny in their hands.
The underutilization of boards is common, unfortunate and
can even become a dangerous condition.Whether
tension or malaise sets up in the E.D.-board relationship, it is important,
once change is desired, to focus on the how
rather than the why.How
can steps be made in building the capacity of boards to act strategically, to
gain self-confidence and the trust of their E.D. in handling the big
stuff?How can the process of
consultation be rebuilt?The calendar
year is still young and baby steps are welcome.Let this be the year for your board to begin its strategic role.Start with one of the following baby steps,
by asking for one new discussion item on a forthcoming meeting agenda, such
as:1) the top operational goals for the
year;2)the next big grant application or development activity;3) how success at meeting the mission is
measured;4)how to better understand and meet emerging community
needs; 5)understanding the competitive environment for
the organization; and 6) how community awareness of organization accomplishments
be increased.In all cases, board
members should be encouraged to talk about:how can I make a contribution to this?In beginning to share responsibility for solutions, boards begin to participate
in strategic thinking and increase their readiness to buy-in on strategic decisions
when consulted.
Board Tech Blog 
