Comments on: Boards

By: Marla Cornelius

Marla Cornelius — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:39:34 +0000

Thanks for this post Dorian. We just released the third and final brief of the Daring to Lead series, The Board Paradox.

This brief includes findings about how much time executives spend working with and supporting their boards, satisfaction rates with board performance, and insight into how executives can work more effectively with their board members.

Though we begin to explore these issues here, you’re right that there is much more to understand when it comes to boards, their motivations for service, and the impact the ultimately make on organizations and communities.

I think your call for a new agenda for next generation board members hits the mark. We’d love to hear from you as well as others about ideas you have for such an agenda.

Marla Cornelius
CompassPoint

By: Dorian Luey

Dorian Luey — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:26:30 +0000

Thank you, Marla, Rick, and Jeanne for this outstanding report. Most impressive is its circumspect approach and succinct calls to action. I anticipate that the next brief (or future study) will focus on what motivates board members to join organizations with the similar lens you apply to Ready to Lead and Daring to Lead. That is, do board members understand the full undertaking of achieving social change – utilizing these organizations as a vehicle – and how can organizations systematize the training of board members to meet this goal?

It’s relieving to know from your data that 47% of executives currently serve on a board, but one can assume that many boards are largely comprised of individuals who don’t do non-profit work for a living. Thus, I would like to see CompassPoint probe further using various board member profiles or scenarios where personal and professional motivations are explored.

Organizations strive to recruit board members who are both committed to their social change agenda and well-resourced, but more often than not they come with one or the other. Most board training opportunities are focused on fundraising and governance but not explicitly on their role in affecting social change to the communities their organization serves. I believe this is on the agenda for our “next generation” board members!

Thank you again for doing this study, and for soliciting feedback so elegantly with this dedicated website!

Dorian Luey, Operations Director
Richmond District Neighborhood Center

By: Valyrie Laedlein

Valyrie Laedlein — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:33:54 +0000

This is a wonderful set of data to work with – which, of course, begs only more questions about what’s really critical to maximizing a board’s effectiveness.

Among New York City respondents, over 3/4 of Executives were “somewhat” or “very” confident in their ability to influence their board’s performance. Your table that relates time spent on board work to executives’ satisfaction with board performance is telling. For those executives seeking to exercise that influence on their boards, there is an important message about the investment of time required to do so.

The conundrum, of course – especially for small organizations with limited middle management (or for those whose middle management has dwindled in the face of budget cuts) – is that executives’ available time to DO board work is in scarce supply. Hence their boards languish.

Board members – like others – are swayed by data. The DTL study gives executives some powerful information about where boards do and do not seem to step up. It can be used to surface questions for board members to grapple with about their areas of competence, how they might best contribute to their organizations, and how executives perceive boards. This study can open the door to good dialogue between executives & their boards.

Valyrie Laedlein, Co-Director
Community Resource Exchange