The Nominating Committee’s Gong Show!

If you’re old enough to have watched TV from 1976 to 1978, you’ll remember the infamous “Gong Show.”

Any one of three celebrity judges had the option of whacking a gong if the amateur performers (often with dubious talent) were particularly bad.

A recent question about the board recruitment process struck an old nerve with me—and now I’m thinking that nominating committees should bring back the gong!

Play along with me.  Your nominating committee is meeting—and various names and credentials are being suggested.  What if…you brought a big gong to the meeting and you gave veto power to every committee member? All opposed—whack the gong!

It would sound like this:

[  ] “I’d like to nominate Mr. Washington. I don’t know him, but he’s a friend of a friend of my Cousin Eddie.”  GONG!

[  ] “I don’t think Pedro Martinez has been involved with our ministry—but he’s on the City Council and his resume would look great on our website.”  GONG!

[  ] “I apologize that we’re meeting so late in the process. Since our board meeting is tomorrow, I’m proposing that we nominate Olga Olensky and skip the reference checking phase. She’s been a member at First Community Church for years. I’m confident the new pastor there would give her a good recommendation.”  GONG!

[  ] “You’ll recall that Phillip Chen was a visitor at our last board meeting. He’s willing to join the board, but his schedule will prevent him from attending half of our board meetings this year. But he’s a major donor.”  GONG!

You get the idea.  (Maybe you’ve already googled, “purchase mallets and gong.” Note: Amazon sells them.)

Of course, you know that there’s a better, more God-honoring way to do board recruitment. The best practices of many Christ-centered boards are included in the ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 1: Recruiting Board Members.  The 12-minute video and read-and-engage viewing guides will walk your nominating committee through four very thoughtful next steps—guided by a foundational spiritual discernment process.

By the way, it's a good thing there were no gongs available when we were recruited to the board, right?

QUESTION: Does your board require the same level of spiritual discernment and due diligence when recruiting board members—as you expect your CEO to do when recruiting senior team staff members?