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July 15, 2008: Board Betterment Buy-In |
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Board consultants are frequently called upon to "fix the
board." This is OK, the dialog of vendor and consumer has to start
somewhere. It is also true that CEOs and EDs are usually responsible for
facilitating board development and are best able to squeeze funds for limited
board development facilitation from somewhere.
However, literature and experience shows us that people cannot be made
better by force, without their consent. It is prudent and necessary to
insure that the board desires this assistance and is willing to make the three
part investment: money, time and action. The cost in funds, while
the major barrier to many potential facilitated efforts, is not the hardest
part. The time part, using available meeting time, can even be negotiated
in most cases.
But it is the action, the will to learn and behave differently that is the
dearest cost and most critical to success. To bend a phrase: without
motivation there is no movement. Consultation and consent of formal board
leaders and major skeptics is the bare minimum preparation that ethics and best
practices demand before launching an effective change process.
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