Board Members MUST Think Future

Some Board members are, simply put, incapable of thinking long term and strategically. Those who cling to the past and those who can’t cope with change are in the wrong place. The Board is for leaders – leaders think future, focus on trends, thus ensuring their organizations remain vital and worthy of stakeholder support. The doers, quite frankly, are better off on committees.

In workshops or discussions I have with individuals in the not-for-profit sector, I often refer to a fictional association of widget-makers. In their daily work, they are doers. When they get to the Board table, unless told otherwise in orientation and in a well thought out recruitment process, they assume they are at the Board table to also be a doer. They are not. Their task is now to lead, not do. And therein lies the core of the problem in many associations. I keep coming back to one statement with client Boards time and again: as a society we have too often assumed that governance is somehow instinctive. Widget-maker or brain surgeon, if one is not taught how to govern, one will not govern. Governance is NOT instinctive. Governance must be learned.

And in most organizations, the Chief Staff Officer (CSO), who lives and breathes the organization all day, every day, often has a better grasp of what the real issues are than the Board does. My approach, when I served as as CSO, was to constantly place information on internal and external trends in front of the Board – they need it to do their job. In most instances I was lucky - my Board had the courage to make the tough decisions – they understood through education and orientation what their job was, and they did it.

But in too many associations, the Board gets scared – they are too afraid to deal with challenging situations, or are simply reluctant to change old ways of doing things. Eventually the CSO, with the best of intentions, fills the governance void – s/he just decides to take action – does what s/he can to address the issues and keep the organization afloat and relevant to members and stakeholders.

At some point, a Board with a CSO who is filling the governance void will come to view the CSO as taking liberties and working beyond their comfort level – that’s when the axe falls. The CSO simply can’t win. The only way a CSO can truly win is if the Board actually does their job - determines strategic goals, establishes policies, and monitors CSO compliance with those policies. A CSO can't demonstrate success if the Board isn't clear about what it wants the CSO to build and within what policy framework.