Whether you are an executive or a member of a Board of Directors, I bet you recognize at least one of these situations:

1. The executive sees little or no value in the board. I’m not talking about the quality of the board here; I’m talking about the attitude of the executive. Relations are strained and no one is happy.
2. The executive respects the board, but doesn’t know what to do with them. I’ve seen many cases where the executive wastes days every single month preparing for the board meeting. It’s a major production bent on entertaining and impressing the directors. Nothing substantive is accomplished. In other cases, they all plod through a very boring and lengthy meeting that also accomplishes nothing.
3. The executive has a really close relationship with one of the directors and it isn’t the chairperson. The result is serious trust and power issues. It’s like having a spy on the board who will run to the executive with confidential board business. Even when confidences are not being violated, an executive can’t risk having his board think they are.
4. The executive shares too much with the board and drags them down into operational weeds. As a result, the executive unwittingly loses control of decisions and the board’s time is wasted.
5. The executive shares personal fears and insecurities with members of the board. It doesn’t take long before the board loses confidence in the executive and the executive loses his job. An executive is supposed generate confidence, not erode it.
6. The executive doesn’t think the board is taking on enough responsibility. This is particularly true of non-profits and fundraising responsibilities. Undercurrents flow and resentment builds for all.
7. The board doesn’t show up. More resentment. Decisions are made without appropriate expertise, input, and oversight.
8. The board isn’t completely happy with the executive’s performance but they don’t want to lose him either, so they send mixed signals. It is a toss up as to which side feels the most frustration.
9. The board meets regularly but the directors don’t really feel responsible for the organization. You might as well not have a board.
10. The directors don’t really understand the organization, its priorities, its challenges, or what they should or shouldn’t say in public. This can be worse than no board at all.

If any of the above conditions apply, the organization is squandering the time and expertise of board members. Or worse. This is a crying shame, especially since the cure is pretty simple. In all ten cases, clarity is desperately needed:

• The executive needs to understand the role and responsibilities of the board.
• Directors must be recruited with clear expectations.
• Board meetings must be driven by the need for specific outcomes.
• Executives and board members alike must have the skills and awareness needed to respect boundaries.
• Both must also be capable of providing direct and honest feedback.

This isn’t rocket science. But it is clarity, which sometimes seems to be equally uncommon!

© 2015 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.