How to design your dream board of directors
How to design your dream board of directors
Knowing whether you have a passive or active board and a list of steps to shift the makeup of your board.
Post Summary
This post will give you a short quiz to determine if your current board is passive or active.
A passive board is a waste of the talent of members and a drain on your emotional energy.
An active board is a great partner in helping your organization grow.
A good board boils down to finding the right people and the post shares several steps you can take this week to start shifting the makeup of your board.
Housekeeping
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I. Do you have an active or passive board of directors?
I was talking to an Executive Director, who felt frustrated that his board of directors weren’t more proactive. They showed up to meetings but not much more. He wanted to change his relationship with them but didn’t know how. He has a passive board.
A passive board is a waste of the talent of board members and a drain on your emotional energy as a leader. However, boards can be molded to be an active partner in your strategy.
I will warn you though, changing how your board operates often requires difficult conversations, especially if the issues have been festering for a long time.
Let’s start by rating your existing board relationship.
II. Designing your dream board
Look at your current board and ask yourself the following five questions. Rate your answers on a scale of 1 - 5, for a total potential score of 25.
Can I trust my board to complete critical tasks?
Do I have all the necessary expertise for my current strategy?
Am I asking enough of my board (beyond regular meetings)?
Have I set the correct expectations regarding contribution, attendance and so forth?
Is the board aware of the priorities of the organization?
A score above 20 signifies a great relationship and anything under 10 signifies a poor one.
Your answers will also give you some ideas on where to start looking for improvements. I have seen leaders who are simply not asking enough of their board (question three), leaders who never set any kind of expectations (question four) and leaders who are missing critical expertise (question two).
In some cases, you dysfunctional boards like what happened with OpenAI1 or Hockey Canada2.
It all boils down to having the right people so let’s take a look at how you can find them.
III. Go after the right people, not bodies
The biggest challenge leaders run into when forming a board is not finding the right people. They sometimes settle, making things worse over the long term.3
First, make a list of expectations for new members:
How much time will they contribute?
How many meetings will they attend?
Will they give only advice or also help with operations?
Are they expected to contribute financially?
Clear expectations make a huge difference. You need to filter out individuals who merely collect board seats like they are baseball cards.
Second, make a list of the specific expertise needed. One organization I helped recently, needed a board member who had expertise in construction, as they were embarking on a major addition to one of their buildings.
Third, gauge their passion or interest. Ideally, your board members should have a personal stake in the mission of your organization. I helped an organization that works in the political space and many of their board members are previous members of the U.S. Congress.
Fourth, be comfortable leaving seats open until you find the right people. Choosing the wrong individuals can harm the overall vibe of a team. No one wants to be part of a team where people slack off.
Fifth, design an onboarding plan4. Make it easy for new members to become familiar with the strategy of your organization and how they can start contributing. Consider pairing them with an existing board member to make the transition easier.
Sixth, make clear asks. I’m always astounded when a leader isn’t making direct asks of their board members. Some board members will volunteer to help but many will assume that you’re doing okay and will wait for your cue.
Changing how boards operate won’t happen overnight. It may take months to go through all of these steps, determine which of your existing members should continue on and then find new people.
The work is worth it though.
A great board is an indispensable partner when designed properly.
Ruben
It’s hard to say what happened with the OpenAI board but the fighting spill out in public, instead of being resolved internally.
Hockey Canada shows what happens when a board doesn’t fulfill it’s duties correctly. Legal cases are still ongoing and the organization took a major hit to its reputation and standing in the community.
Thomas Bakewell has a fantastic book that dives deeper into how to design and run excellent boards.
A good onboarding process is an underrated element of hiring new board members. The onboarding process will make it easy to set expectations, go over the current strategy and highlight opportunities for immediate contribution.