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Transforming Board Members Into Energized Partners

Transforming Board Members Into Energized Partners. Presented to the Indiana Association of Public Education Foundations. Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards. Determine mission and purpose. Select the chief executive. Support and evaluate the chief executive.

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Transforming Board Members Into Energized Partners

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  1. Transforming Board MembersInto Energized Partners Presented to the Indiana Association of Public Education Foundations

  2. Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards • Determine mission and purpose. • Select the chief executive. • Support and evaluate the chief executive. • Ensure effective planning. • Monitor and strengthen programs and services.

  3. Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards • Ensure adequate financial resources. • Protect assets and provide proper financial oversight. • Build a competent board. • Ensure legal and ethical integrity. • Enhance the organization’s public standing.

  4. EXCEPTIONAL BOARDS: THEFORMULA Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards

  5. CONSTRUCTIVEPARTNERSHIP1 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • The partnership is greater than the sum of its parts. • Exceptional boards govern in constructive partnership with the chief executive, recognizing that the effectiveness of the board and the chief executive are interdependent.

  6. MISSIONDRIVEN2 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards shape and uphold the mission, articulate a compelling vision, and ensure the congruence between decisions and core values.

  7. STRATEGIC THINKING3 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards allocate time to what matters most and continuously engage in strategic thinking to hone the organization’s direction.

  8. CULTURE OF INQUIRY4 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards institutionalize a culture of inquiry, mutual respect, and constructive debate that leads to sound and shared decision making.

  9. INDEPENDENT-MINDEDNESS5 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards are independent-minded. When making decisions, board members put interests of the organization above all else.

  10. ETHOS OF TRANSPARENCY6 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards promote an ethos of transparency by ensuring that donors, stakeholders, and interested members of the public have access to appropriate and accurate information regarding finances, operations, and results.

  11. COMPLIANCE WITH INTEGRITY7 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards promote strong ethical values and disciplined compliance by establishing appropriate mechanisms for active oversight.

  12. SUSTAINING RESOURCES8 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards link bold visions and ambitious plans to financial support, expertise, and networks of influence.

  13. RESULTS-ORIENTED9 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards are results oriented. They measure the organization’s advancement towards mission and evaluate the performance of major programs and services.

  14. INTENTIONAL BOARD PRACTICES10 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards intentionally structure themselves to fulfill essential governance duties and to support organizational priorities.

  15. CONTINUOUS LEARNING11 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards embrace the qualities of a continuous learning organization, evaluating their own performance and assessing the value they add to the organization.

  16. REVITALIZATION12 Responsible The Source Exceptional Boards Of Power Boards • Exceptional boards energize themselves through planned turnover, thoughtful recruitment, and inclusiveness.

  17. Are not-for-profit boards less than effective? • If yes, what is our responsibility as leaders for their lack of effectiveness? • Who decides effectiveness? • Are boards choosing to be ineffective or just ending up that way? • Why do we tolerate ineffectiveness?

  18. What value is added to an organization by having an effective board? Intellectual capital Reputational capital Political capital Social capital

  19. Who defines what is an effective board? • Words “board” and “troubled board” have become almost interchangeable • Board appears to be an unreliable instrument for ensuring accountability – the outcome society most wants from it • Boards are vulnerable to problems of purpose

  20. What makes a board effective? • When activities and behaviors contribute to group effectiveness • When boards understand collective governance • When boards engage in best practices • When boards question and don’t become complacent

  21. How can you as leader create a more dynamic board? Create opportunities for open dialogue with individual board members – ask questions • How did you originally become interested in the work of our organization? • What have you enjoyed about your board experience so far? • What are the passions that motivate your participation in our work? • What is your long-term vision for the future of our organization? • How do you think you can contribute to that vision?

  22. How can you as leader create a more dynamic board? Within the context of individual interests and passions, set goals for board members – and make them personalized and explicit. • Schedule one-on-one conversation that resembles performance review; bring board chair or governance chair • Focus on how individual can express his unique interests through specific activities • Ask questions

  23. How can you as leader create a more dynamic board? • What forms of involvement and support would you like to contribute to the organization in the coming year? • What projects would you like to undertake? • What could we do to make board membership more interesting and rewarding for you? • Agree on specific list of goals

  24. What does this mean for you, the leader? • Must be willing to devote a large percentage of your time to the board and its activities • Must have a strong strategic plan for the organization so board members know where they can fit in

  25. Board Meetings • Unexciting board meetings are deadly because they sap the vitality of the mission • Something is boring when nothing meaningful is at stake! • Dull board meetings suck out life-giving air at the very top

  26. Inject Passion in your Board Meetings • Threaten - Build a meeting around a provocative question • Grade – Evaluate the performance of the executive director and the board • Humanize – find ways to bring your constituents to share their stories • Focus the agenda on results

  27. Inject Passion in your Board Meetings • Bring big picture, strategic planning issues into the board meetings • Use consent agendas • Select a theme for each meeting • Encourage your board to ask meaningful questions • Provide a safe environment for questioning

  28. Impediments to Board Effectiveness • Consider the cost of switching before you consider the benefits • Highlight the pain to a few instead of the benefits for the many • Exaggerate how good things are now in order to reduce your fear of change • Undercut the credibility, authority or experience of people behind the change

  29. Impediments to Board Effectiveness • Embrace an instinct to accept consistent ongoing costs instead of swallowing a one-time expense • Slow implementation and decision making down instead of speeding it up • Compare the best of what you have now with the possible worst of what a change might bring

  30. Impediments to Board Effectiveness • Grab onto the rare thing that could go wrong instead of amplifying the likely thing that will go right • Focus on short-term costs instead of long-term benefits, because the short-term is more vivid for you • Fight to retain benefits and status earned only through tenure and longevity

  31. When management is highly successful and effective, does the board become complacent or even impotent? • How do we keep a board engaged and prepared for crisis rather than complacent and ill prepared for challenges and transformation? • How do we discuss issues of board effectiveness with the board? • Who can destroy an organization faster, the chief executive or the board? Why and how?

  32. Board Assessment – Why is it important? • Education • Engagement • Reflection, Evaluation, Perception • Prioritization

  33. What are the benefits of a board assessment? • Clarifying mission and vision • Resolving key issues • Developing the CEO/Exec. Dir. • Developing financial resources • Accessing policymakers • Enhancing our reputation to the community • Overseeing financial performance and risk management • Assessing performance against mission • Improving board performance

  34. “The game is not won or lost on volume; it will be won on the quality of the players.” Bill Rancic, 1st winner of The Apprentice

  35. Presented by: Jessica White, President Jessica White Associates www.jessicawhiteassociates.com jessica@jessicawhiteassociates.com 317.472.0925

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