We are all Board Members
When we think about boards, our minds often leap to big company boards, but in actual fact, many people sit on boards. School boards, neighborhood watch boards, apartment boards, non-profit boards, employee committees – these are all boards. These boards all have something in common: they are composed of of people with a responsibility for oversight or decision making that impacts the lives of others.
The guiding principles include: a) serving with commitment and dedication – attending the meetings, reading the preparation materials, engaging fully in the work of the board, b) acting with transparency and integrity, c) drawing on a breadth of experience and capabilities for decision making.
The other overriding principle for the best boards: there is an ethic to service. No matter the size, scope, or mission of the organization, board members represent not simply their own individual interests, but rather have a role as representing the stakeholder. We are not there for ourselves, but rather we represent a larger constituency of people who are involved in some way with the organization – those who are receiving services from it, are invested in it, work for it, or have some other relationship with it.
I write about, talk about, and serve on boards. I tend to focus on corporate boards. In this video I talk about why I think it is time to think about boards of all kinds differently, both the ones we serve on ourselves, as well as the ones that we see in the papers every day.
What do you think?
Controller at GoalArt
11yThat's true - once you have promised to commit, you actually have to commit.
copywritingforrecruiters.com
11ySo basically, what you're suggesting here is that people shouldn't be driven to act out of a sense of self-interest or a pursuit of personal profit. Good luck with making that happen.
Asst. Professor of Accounting (Retired), Concordia University Texas
11yFiduciary - a responsibility higher than a parent toward your organization's stakeholders. I have served on three boards. The work is both rewarding, humbling, daunting, and requires great courage...
I have been a board chairpresident four times in the past 20 or so years, and a member of a good number of non-profit boards, and you are dead on. Many people do not take their responsibilities seriously - I am currently on a non-profit board with a $100 million annual budget and a several hundred million dollar endowment. Our board governance and practices are on par with any public company, as they should be. I recently quit a board due to the lack of governance and transparency - that org suffers from Founder's Syndrome and the founder/exec director simply wants people to say yes and write checks. That should be unacceptable, no matter how large or small the organization. I so wish more people took board service seriously and would see it for the opportunity that it is. I was given far weightier responsibilities as a leader in a board context before I ever got them at work - and learning how to conduct crisp meetings, stick to an agenda, gain consensus, etc - I learned all those things from non-profit board service in my 20s. Now that experience is coming in handy in spades in my 40s.
MBA Trained | Entrepreneurial Minded | Education Focused
11yGreat stuff here. Relates a bit to what I wrote about a board of trustees...not for a company but for yourself. We all have our own Board in our lives, that core group of people we bounce ideas off of. http://thesabloggers.org/the-board-of-trustees/