The following Tallahassee Democrat column reviews an individual's bad and good experiences as a board member itemizing what makes her feel good and not so good. The lessons: boards might do well by viewing their board management work from the lens of the member. Hm, what a concept.
A reminder about the best and worst of important board service | Notes on Nonprofits
This week’s column is a reboot of one Kelly Otte and I wrote in 2014 but it relatively timeless and worth repeating. It highlights our best and worst experiences serving on a board. I hope sharing this column again will remind board members how important their service is, why serving on a board is an important responsibility, and when to speak up when changes are needed to improve board performance.
Kelly Otte. I’ve been thinking about some of the most interesting experiences I’ve had as a board member. I’ve served on local boards, statewide boards, highly evolved boards, founding boards, membership boards and more. I asked myself this question: “When have I felt the most valued as a board member and when have I felt the least valued?”
Most valued is simple. When the work I’m doing is legitimately board work. I’m happy as a clam on boards that have a general plan for the work they are doing. The best boards I’ve worked with have a one to three-year action plan with realistic goals for themselves. I feel valued when there is meaningful work for me to do at board meetings and when I’m given enough information in advance to make the best decisions. I feel valued when the Executive Director calls me to talk over issues and to ask for my expertise. Or to ask me to make a phone call on her behalf. Or to chair a committee. Being re-elected on some boards made me feel important because I knew they were the kind of board that didn’t ask people to stick around just because they were already there.
When I have felt the least effective and valued is even simpler. I can’t stand giving up my time and having it mean nothing to the welfare of the organization. Either because the ethos of the board is to defer to the Executive Director in all matters, so the board waits to be told what to do next, or when there is a small group of board members on a committee, executive or by whatever name it’s called, who sit in private with the ED and makes decisions and hand feeds them to the larger board.
There is simply nothing worse than asking questions and having an ED get defensive and argumentative followed by board members sweeping in to save them. I feel ineffective on a board that works to squash conflict at all costs. Conflict merely means we have a difference of opinion.
And I feel valued when expressing my different opinion is well facilitated, in partnership with a bunch of other hard-working board members, to make sure we are looking at issues from all perspectives and making the best decisions possible.
My worst experience as a board member? Being at a board meeting when one third were yelling, one third were crying and the rest of us were sitting dumbfounded. Best experience? The first official board meeting of the newly created Oasis Center for Women & Girls.
Most embarrassing? Being at a fundraising luncheon and the emcee asking board members to stand and be recognized and only two of us were there.
Alyce Lee: Like Kelly, I’ve served on a variety of boards including local, statewide, founding, and sustaining. My most rewarding board experiences have come from being deeply committed to the mission and feeling like my contributions were helping to advance the organization.
I’ve also enjoyed serving on boards where I genuinely liked and respected my fellow board members, felt a sense of shared purpose and camaraderie, and where the majority were wholly engaged. I feel it’s a privilege to be introduced as a board member; it makes me proud of the organization I am representing.
Paralysis by analysis can be a real issue and often leads to losing good people on a board who can’t take another minute of the debate or minutiae.
My worst experience as a board member? Being in a meeting via conference call when people started yelling to be heard, called other board members names and then abruptly hung up.
When people’s feelings got hurt, the board meeting quickly unraveled. As a result of this train wreck of a meeting, board members took sides, splintering into different camps. It took months to unpack all the issues and over a year to get the board back on track.
Kelly always says board work is not for the faint at heart and I couldn’t agree more. I am happiest on a board when I’m committed to the mission, fully aware and accepting of the job I have agreed to do, and motivated to give my time and resources to an organization I believe in.
Despite the challenges, we love serving on volunteer boards, studying board governance, and finding ways to help nonprofit boards be as effective as possible for the benefit of the people and community they serve. As Margaret Mead said, “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”