DC Leadership Training & Consulting
Becoming A Better Board
25% OFF In January
We help the board understand their role and function in it so that the organization excels!
Tom was a lawyer and on their Board. When a legal issue arose he quickly stated that the organization "must do _____________."
And while that guidance would seem appropriate and helpful, the Board Chair knew otherwise. He said, "Tom, I know you are a lawyer and a great lawyer at that! But Tom, you are not our lawyer. we have a lawyer, you are our Board member."
If the board that you are on or you report to has not had recent board training, I can guarantee that they are not performing at their highest potential and they are frustrating each other and the employees.
THE PROBLEM:
There is one consistent issue we see with boards; rarely does anybody become a part of a board because they know how to achieve board excellence.
*Are they wise? Yes.
*Do they have specialized technical skills? Usually.
*Do they know the difference between means and ends, and which to focus on?
*Do they represent a subset of the owners (either real or moral owners)? Very often.
*Do they know what high-functioning boards do? No.
*Do they receive regular board training? No.
*Do they receive any board training? Often they are just told or they see what others have done and are doing and they do more of that.
As a result, many, many, many boards spend far too much time working on "means" as opposed to "strategic ends."
WHAT YOU WERE NOT TAUGHT:
A large number of those who sit on boards have received little to no training in:
▶ Governance
▶Policymaking
▶Emotional Intelligence
▶What's not OK even if it works
▶Board-executive relationship
▶Making meetings meaningful
▶Teamwork!
All of that has a direct impact on the effectiveness of your organization, either positively or negatively.
Many Boards Struggle With:
▶ Mining for divergence - uncovering bringing to the surface difference of convictions, beliefs, and opinions.
If you do not actively mine for divergence you will not have consensus regardless of what people say in the meeting. You will have board members agree in the meeting, only to leave the meeting and lack ownership of the decisions made.
Look, most people do not know how to disagree without being disagreeable, so they disagree in silence.