tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75257641872023285382024-02-19T10:14:45.510-05:00Governance of Christ-centered OrganizationsJohn Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.comBlogger332125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-5992552218743859182020-12-29T11:31:00.000-05:002020-12-29T11:31:44.309-05:00Equip Your Board Members: Indexes to Inspiration<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPC48z5IrK-Wa4QNhS85QqSBfo2oqH9zZHhbGgLZxHpFqlb5s9wwezVwtA9wLMvYNr4UyeHHNOZLDNY23t19E5jdv9tbtJm5hJ7IvVE5MqfaIMCnIEcLsAMcpf3Or17echPZwNN8wiymA/s339/20-1229+-+MaskedEmoji3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPC48z5IrK-Wa4QNhS85QqSBfo2oqH9zZHhbGgLZxHpFqlb5s9wwezVwtA9wLMvYNr4UyeHHNOZLDNY23t19E5jdv9tbtJm5hJ7IvVE5MqfaIMCnIEcLsAMcpf3Or17echPZwNN8wiymA/s320/20-1229+-+MaskedEmoji3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b style="font-family: arial;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Imagine receiving these texts from grateful board members:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> • “Thanks, Jennifer, for chairing another stimulating board meeting. The ‘Ten Minutes for Governance’ segment was perfect for new board members. Well done!” 😀</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> • “Pedro—thank you, thank you…for asking Skip to present the Ten Minutes segment on the board member’s role in fundraising. I’ve been on the board for five years. Best. Meeting. Ever!” 👍</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Many boards are following the practice of investing “10 Minutes for Governance” in every board meeting. (<a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Invest-10-Minutes-for-Governance-in-Every-Board-Meeting-LessonsNP">Click here</a> to read this chapter online.) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">According to Lesson 39 in <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>, “The typical boardroom includes a mix of new and long-term board members who bring their previous board experiences (or lack of experiences) into your boardroom. <b><span style="color: #741b47;">Every board member carries unhealthy baggage into your meeting that passed as normalcy in a previous boardroom.</span></b>”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>What will 2021 look like in your boardroom or on Zoom meetings?</b> To avoid “bringing our delightful dysfunctions into every new board experience,” here are helpful “Indexes to Inspiration”—links to more than 200 blogs, lessons, and book chapters. Appoint a “Leaders Are Readers Champion” and plan now for a “10 Minutes for Governance” in every 2021 board meeting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">INDEXES TO INSPIRATION: 204 IDEA-STARTERS!</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/08/bonus-lesson-41-summary-and-index-to-40.html">40 GUEST BLOGS</a></b>: <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: 40 Insights for Better Board Meetings </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><a href="https://morelessonsnonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2020/10/bonus-lesson-index-to-40-blogs.html">40 GUEST BLOGS</a></b>: <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: Effectiveness, Excellence, Elephants! </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><a href="https://churchboardroom.blogspot.com/2019/11/bonus-lesson-41-index-to-40-blogs-and.html">40 GUEST BLOGS</a></b>: <i>Lessons From the Church Boardroom: 40 Insights for Exceptional Governance </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/03/index-to-22-time-saving-governance.html">22 BLOGS</a></b>: <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</i> — Note: See Tool #19: “Ten Minutes for Governance (Lifelong Governance Learning—in 10-Minute Chunks!)”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/03/best-board-books-index-to-18-good.html">18 BLOGS</a></b>: Best Board Books (brief summaries of 18 board governance books)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2017/10/called-to-serve-no-board-detail-is-too.html">30 BLOGS</a></b>: <i>Called to Serve: Creating and Nurturing the Effective Volunteer Board</i> (the 91-page book by Max De Pree)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/08/index-to-ram-charans-14-questions-3.html">14 BLOGS</a></b>: <i>Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i> (summary of the 14 chapters/questions by Ram Charan)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">Great Boards Delegate Their Reading! </span></b>That’s a chapter title in <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i> (<a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Great-Boards-Delegate-Their-Reading-LessonsNP">click here</a> to read online). Guest blogger <a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/08/lesson-38-great-boards-delegate-their.html">Kent Stroman</a> notes this from the U.S. Navy Seals: <b><span style="color: #741b47;">“Under pressure you don't rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training. That's why we train so hard.”</span></b> Stroman adds, “By being intentional about ongoing board member education, organizations are investing in their own preparation to ‘rise to the occasion’ that will inevitably emerge—at the least expected moment.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">View-and-Engage!</span></b> In addition to the blog options above, check out the four short videos in the <i>ECFA Governance Toolbox Series</i>. Topics include: board member recruitment, board roles (the three hats), conflicts of interest, and succession planning. Each toolbox includes a short video, a read-and-engage viewing guide, a facilitator guide, and bonus resources. <a href="https://www.ecfa.org/ToolboxSeries.aspx">Click here</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">Blessings in the New Year! </span></b>And speaking of encouraging texts, I’m so appreciative of Scott Rodin’s daily text ministry from <a href="https://thestewardsjourney.com/"><b>The Steward’s Journey</b></a>. As I finished this blog, this coronavirus-relevant insight arrived in his morning text:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">“Being in Christ, it is safe to forget the past; <br />it is possible to be sure of the future; <br />it is possible to be diligent in the present.” 😇</span></b><br />Alexander MacLaren</div></div></span></div>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-81747815077602670312020-12-01T17:19:00.003-05:002020-12-01T17:24:17.030-05:00LOL! The ONE Thing You Must Do in 2021!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtXi1UOiXQ4D9EQhIZPMMsEsrx0U2BJjv-dFoxRTTsN7ea2r2gOArtG6V6uqUSMcJ-tWHg1HOihJ3x0ZAoTYyxkRyoU04D5XtLj8IULNTWq7uMewYwDomKjznEvRkBAgE-Sr8VYgcGb4/s500/20-1201+-+Leadership+Book+cartoon.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="391" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYtXi1UOiXQ4D9EQhIZPMMsEsrx0U2BJjv-dFoxRTTsN7ea2r2gOArtG6V6uqUSMcJ-tWHg1HOihJ3x0ZAoTYyxkRyoU04D5XtLj8IULNTWq7uMewYwDomKjznEvRkBAgE-Sr8VYgcGb4/w331-h424/20-1201+-+Leadership+Book+cartoon.jpg" width="331" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><br />Get ready for the rush of rhetoric! </b><span style="font-family: arial;">Way too many board members and bloggers will weigh in this month on the ONE thing your ministry must do to survive and thrive in 2021.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />But before you jump on the bandwagon—take a breath, get on your knees, pray, and discern. </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><b>Maybe there’s </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">more</i><b> than one thing the Lord wants you to do.<br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><b><br /></b></span>You already know that the leadership and governance gurus have published a wealth of wisdom on what you should do during “normal times” and during a crisis (think COVID-19). What’s right for your ministry?</span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #a64d79;">Laugh-Out-Loud! </span></b>You have numerous options—and if you’re not confused yet, there’s still time!<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #20124d;">1 THING. </span></b>You should certainly read <b><i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2016/05/the-one-thing.html">The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results</a></i></b>, by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan. They write, “To do two things at once is to do neither.”<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #20124d;">3 HATS.</span></b> <i>But…wait.</i> Is your board clear about the three board hats? Three roles: Governance, Volunteer, and Participant. <b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/ToolboxSeries.aspx">Click here</a></b> to view the short video and board member guide from the <i>ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 2: Balancing Board Roles</i>.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>5 QUESTIONS. </b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Or…maybe you should trust the father of modern management</i>, Peter Drucker, who said there’s not one, two, or three important issues—but five key questions your board must address. <b><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2015/10/peter-druckers-five-most-important-questions.html">Click here</a></b> to read my review of <i>Peter Drucker’s Five Most Important Questions: Enduring Wisdom for Today’s Leaders</i>, by Peter F. Drucker, Frances Hesselbein, and Joan Snyder Kuhl<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>7 STANDARDS.</b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> <i>The biblical number!</i> Give your board a pop quiz—and ask them to write down <i>E</i></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>CFA's Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship</i>™. The standards, drawn from Scripture, are fundamental to operating with integrity. <b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Standards.aspx">Visit ECFA here</a></b> and connect the dots between integrity and 1 Samuel 16:7 and 2 Corinthians 8:21.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>10 RESPONSIBILITIES. </b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Yikes!</i> BoardSource says there are (count ‘em) 10 critical tasks for the nonprofit board. <b><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2014/11/serving-as-a-board-member-4-books.html">Click here</a></b> to read my review of <i>Ten Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards</i>, by Richard T. Ingram. (Three other “must-read” books are also mentioned.)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>14 QUESTIONS. </b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Keep counting!</i> While Ram Charan appreciates Drucker’s five questions—he expands the list to 14 board-specific questions. <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/08/index-to-ram-charans-14-questions-3.html">Click here</a></b> for the index to 14 short blogs on <i>Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i>, by Ram Charan.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>20 BUCKETS.</b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> <i>The Board Bucket is important</i>—yes—but your leadership team must also master 19 other buckets (core competencies). At least that’s the premise of my book, <i>Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit</i>. <b><a href="https://www.managementbuckets.com/20-management-buckets">Click here</a></b> for all 20 buckets. <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>33 PRINCIPLES. </b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Yes, there’s more!</i> “The Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practice” outlines 33 principles of sound practice for charitable organizations and foundations related to legal compliance and public disclosure, effective governance, financial oversight, and responsible fundraising. They were developed by the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector in 2007 and updated in 2015. <b><a href="https://independentsector.org/programs/principles-for-good-governance-and-ethical-practice/">Click here</a></b>. <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>85 ANSWERS!</b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> <i>Not a typo—85 is the number!</i> <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2018/09/best-board-books-7-nonprofit-board.html">Click here</a></b> for the 85 board questions and answers from <i>The Nonprofit Board Answer Book: A Practical Guide for Board Members and Chief Executives (3rd Edition)</i>, published by BoardSource. Note: The first edition, written by Robert Andringa and Ted Engstrom (1916-2006), built the reliable rails for the second and third editions.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /><span style="color: #a64d79;"><b>OVERWHELMED?</b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> The good news: there’s a plethora of resources to help you discern what to do—and what not to do. The bad news: most board members also have day jobs—and one person can’t be an expert on everything. But…everything is important according to Michael Canic, author of <b><i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2020/11/ruthless-consistency.html">Ruthless Consistency</a></i></b>: <b style="color: #a64d79; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79;">“What matters more than anything you do </span></b></span><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: arial; font-weight: bold;"><b style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #a64d79;">i</span></b></span><b style="color: #a64d79; font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-family: arial;">s <i>everything</i> you do.”</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Apparently—it’s not ONE thing, it’s <i>everything</i>. Did I mention prayer and discernment? My suggestion: for now, meditate and rest on 1 Thessalonians 5:24: <b><span style="color: #a64d79;">“The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.”</span><br /></b></span><b style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span style="color: #a64d79;">BOARD DISCUSSION:</span></b><span style="font-family: arial;"> <i>The ONE Thing</i> book asks, “What's the ONE Thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?” <i><span style="color: #a64d79;">What’s our ONE thing this week?<br /></span></i></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #a64d79;"><i><br /></i><b>THINK ABOUT:</b></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> In the introduction to R. Scott Rodin’s gem, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3mFO99i">Steward Leader Meditations: 50 Devotions for the Leadership Journey</a></i>, author Richard Kriegbaum reminds us of “…the challenging reality that leadership is a complex field and no one resource can meet all the needs of every leader in every situation.” </span></p>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09812658461615706988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-8711390983953274102020-11-21T14:34:00.001-05:002020-12-01T16:34:00.984-05:00Thank You. Thank You. Thank You!<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-iZX9n7GtakGYAV08S-hr2FBBFv57cklXhb8YS0UhyphenhyphenqjHSBo9guKEqqO0utKuGo3iEnjm4lk7lOGk-8Y3xgbTOdEZyEdCmZ1I0rwodMRT8vL0x5ZC9JOcoc47oq8IigicRNKbyHJGc50/s2000/ECFAblogNov2020.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-iZX9n7GtakGYAV08S-hr2FBBFv57cklXhb8YS0UhyphenhyphenqjHSBo9guKEqqO0utKuGo3iEnjm4lk7lOGk-8Y3xgbTOdEZyEdCmZ1I0rwodMRT8vL0x5ZC9JOcoc47oq8IigicRNKbyHJGc50/s320/ECFAblogNov2020.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">“Do this! Do that! Do this better! Execute with excellence! Innovate! Ensure sustainability! Pray more! Move from good to great!”</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><i>Oh, my.</i> Many of us rarely take the foot off the gas. (Sorry!) So...let’s push pause and be more intentional this week about saying thank you to the faithful members on your board.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #073763;">THANK YOU FOR…</span></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#1. SAYING YES. </span></b>You have other priorities in your life—but you said YES to serving on the board of a Christ-centered organization. Perhaps you even turned down a paid gig on a for-profit board to ensure you had adequate time to serve this ministry. <i><b><span style="color: #a64d79;">Thank you.</span></b></i><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #073763;">#2. PRAYING.</span></b> You take time to pray and discern God’s voice—first as an individual board member, and then as one of many board members. <b><i><span style="color: #a64d79;">Thank you.</span></i></b> And be encouraged with Ruth Haley Barton’s wisdom in <i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/04/strengthening-the-soul-of-your-leadership.html">Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership</a></i>:</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“With all this book’s emphasis on the soul of leadership, you may have been wondering how you get somewhere! Well, you get somewhere by discerning God’s will and doing it together. That is what spiritual community and spiritual leadership is all about.”</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#3. NOT MICRO-MANAGING!</span></b> <i>Whew! We can tell.</i> There are many times during our board meetings when (just perhaps) our CEO or senior team members are talking and talking and talking incessantly—and leaving inadequate time for deep board engagement. But…somehow, you have amazingly stayed calm, didn’t interrupt, didn’t suggest a Plan B or Plan C—and you gifted the staff with space to learn, fail, and grow. <b><i><span style="color: #a64d79;">Thank you!</span></i></b></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So as you continue to coach your CEO and staff, remember this advice from Michael Bungay Stanier’s book, <i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2020/03/the-advice-trap.html">The Advice Trap</a></i>. He writes, “Your job is to stop seeking the solutions and start finding the challenges.” He adds, “You can be known as the person who helps articulate the critical issue or as the person who provides hasty answers to solve the wrong problem. Which would you prefer? Exactly.”</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #a64d79;"><i>Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!</i> </span></b>Your heart for God-honoring governance is inspiring to those around you. Thank you for your board service!<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #073763;">READ MORE: </span></b>Learn how one ministry board thanked a board chair for six years of service. <a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2015/01/forget-plaques.html">Click here</a> for “Forget the Plaques!”<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #073763;">THINK ABOUT:</span></b> “Do not let the empty cup be your first teacher of the blessings you had when it was full.” (Alexander Maclaren) </span></p>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09812658461615706988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-89575078299391153962020-10-31T13:02:00.000-04:002020-10-31T13:02:00.043-04:007 Reasons You Must EXIT an Under-Performing Board Member<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIIFrlOt0W3S8rBIq32NSbaBkg4irgIgUSG7uCkEZRcpaPvqsPC96ubyrHa1KlUpXU-9-_Sny_ZElOEZGwRHJXmL3_VI31aiJr6djT2iX6QILAR7ZY4xb6ZMoqHqHb64obo-2r3dO1p4E/s1000/20-1031+-+EXIT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIIFrlOt0W3S8rBIq32NSbaBkg4irgIgUSG7uCkEZRcpaPvqsPC96ubyrHa1KlUpXU-9-_Sny_ZElOEZGwRHJXmL3_VI31aiJr6djT2iX6QILAR7ZY4xb6ZMoqHqHb64obo-2r3dO1p4E/w405-h304/20-1031+-+EXIT.jpg" width="405" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>There are at least seven reasons why a board must remove an under-performing board member. </b>Is it time to address the elephant in the room?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">#1. Missed Meetings.</span></b> If your under-performing board member misses meetings and doesn’t apologize or explain her absences—then the board chair should call her (not email). While still thinking the best of her—and that that you can inspire her to improve her performance—be prepared for a resignation.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Address-Absentee-Board-Member-Syndrome-MoreLessonsNP">Read</a></b>: “Address Absentee Board Member Syndrome”<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #741b47;">#2. Core Values Misalignment.</span></b> Your ministry’s core values are prominently displayed on the boardroom wall, but one board member continues to push the board down inappropriate paths that are hardly God-honoring. “This works in business,” he blusters. “It will work here.”<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Cut-the-Cord-Invite-Board-Members-to-Exit-When-They-Don-t-Live-Your-Values-LessonsNP">Read</a></b>: “Cut the Cord! Invite Board Members to Exit When They Don’t Live Your Values”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">#3. Hyper-Focus on the Volunteer Hat. </span></b>Two years ago, she was the ministry’s “Volunteer of the Year.” The Governance Committee nominated her for board service, but failed to explain the three hats of the board—and most importantly the <b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/ToolboxSeries.aspx">Governance Hat</a></b>. With inadequate board member orientation, she continues to drag the board down into volunteer operations. (<b><span style="color: red;">News Alert!</span></b> Many volunteers are happiest being volunteers, not board members!)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/If-You-Need-a-Volunteer-Recruit-a-Volunteer-LessonsNP">Read</a></b>: “If You Need a Volunteer, Recruit a Volunteer”<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/If-You-Need-a-Board-Member-Recruit-a-Board-Member-LessonsNP">And also read</a></b>: “If You Need a Board Member, Recruit a Board Member”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">#4. Same Song/Second Verse</span></b> <span style="color: #741b47;">(a little bit louder, and a little bit worse).</span> Your ministry’s mission and vision clearly point you in the direction of “Plan A.” And on your knees at your recent board retreat, the board sensed God’s leading and you reaffirmed that direction in the Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan. Yet, one board member continues to lobby for his “Plan B.” That’s all he talks about—and it’s not only annoying, it’s disruptive. He has no filters.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Sidetrack-Harebrained-Ideas-LessonsNP">Read</a></b>: “Sidetrack Harebrained Ideas”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">#5. The Bully in the Boardroom.</span></b> <i>Whew!</i> Memo to self: Next time, check a board nominee’s references (work and church) before you bring him onto the board. Once the bully is in your boardroom, it will be very challenging to extract him from the board—but you must.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> • </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/The-Bully-in-the-Boardroom-MoreLessonsNP">Read</a></b>: “The Bully in the Boardroom”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">#6. Time and Talent, But No Treasure.</span></b> Some board members—often due to inadequate cultivation, recruitment, and orientation—never become “generous givers” to the organization. When you recruit with your board-approved “Board Member Annual Affirmation Statement,” you can inspire board members to meet this standard:</span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #741b47;">“I affirm that during my three-year term on the board I will arrange my giving priorities so that I am able to be a generous giver to XYZ Ministries, recognizing that major donors, foundations and other donors have the expectation that the XYZ Ministries Board of Directors will be part of the ‘most highly committed’ group of donors.” </span></i></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i> </i>•</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/03/tool-21-board-member-annual-affirmation.html">Review Tool #21</a></b> in <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance</i> for the definition of generous giving. “Generous giving” does not mean that board members must be wealthy.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">#7. The Passion Has Left the Building.</span></b> Some board members are comfortable with longer board terms (maybe a year off after two three-year terms, and then repeat)—while others thrive best with a change of scenery. When a board member’s passion to serve has left the building, it’s time to create an exit plan—even if it’s mid-term. As Dr. Henry Cloud notes, “Wise people know when to quit.”<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Seven-Times-When-a-Board-Member-Should-Bid-Adieu-MoreLessonsNP">Read</a></b>: “Seven Times When a Board Member Should Bid Adieu”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">It’s not <i>if</i>, but <i>when</i> your board chair or Governance Committee will need to have a frank one-on-one conversation with an under-performing board member.</span></b> Don’t put it off. Pray, discern, seek counsel from other board members—and then have the conversation (if possible, in person). Board service is for a season—but it is not forever!</span></p><p><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #073763;">BOARD DISCUSSION:</span></b><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">What did our annual <b><a href="https://morelessonsnonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2020/10/bonus-lesson-how-healthy-is-your-board.html">online board member self-assessment</a></b> reveal about the health of our board? Have we talked openly—and with God-honoring graciousness—about the steps we would take should a board member need to exit?</span></p><p><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #073763;">THINK ABOUT: </span></b><span style="font-family: arial;">“</span><span style="font-family: arial;">Good governance is not just about doing work better; it’s about ensuring your organization does better work.” (Bill Ryan speaking on “Governance as Leadership: Key Concepts”)</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">MORE RESOURCES:</span></b> The click-on index to 40 guest bloggers (and their 40 blogs) is posted at the <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom Blog</i>. <b><a href="https://morelessonsnonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2020/10/bonus-lesson-index-to-40-blogs.html">Click here</a></b> to read the 40 color commentaries, plus the 40 lessons from the book.</span></p>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-28145157509926516842020-10-21T17:29:00.001-04:002020-10-21T17:31:23.783-04:00Break the Script!<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwDDEPoLyMCcRBs1FbSYFzrt9oYovzHybjy8B9EYqU7hR33-yOu0ZyT6kGkoOguXsUtHIxYyn307tNqPoF3rKsOd_4HXXcgaBLzHedju38fR1KHKl28M0FtyfKHrGbOHkKLmazgPVeyuI/s448/20-1021+-+AWESTRUCK2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="448" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwDDEPoLyMCcRBs1FbSYFzrt9oYovzHybjy8B9EYqU7hR33-yOu0ZyT6kGkoOguXsUtHIxYyn307tNqPoF3rKsOd_4HXXcgaBLzHedju38fR1KHKl28M0FtyfKHrGbOHkKLmazgPVeyuI/w428-h277/20-1021+-+AWESTRUCK2.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />“How do you refresh a meeting that’s grown rote?” </b>In their book, <b><i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2017/11/the-power-of-moments.html">The Power of Moments</a></i></b>, Chip Heath and Dan Heath answer their own question, <b><span style="color: #073763;">“Break the script.”</span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When I was in seminary, my pastor continually looked for ways to “break the script” on Sunday mornings—not to showcase his creativity—but to refresh our focus on <i>our</i> role in God’s work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Example: For his pastoral prayer, he would exit the pulpit and walk the three steps down to the congregation’s level—and then read the headlines from the Sunday edition of the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>. After each headline, he would pray for the politician, or the grieving family, or those suffering from a natural disaster in a far-off nation. Fast-forward—I still strive to read newspapers with that holy filter.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">In my journey through boardrooms over the years, I’ve often wondered why board chairs and CEOs don’t “break the script” more often. </span></b>As Dan Busby and I noted in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>:<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><b>“Let’s confess. Our board meetings have gotten sloppy when:</b></span></div><span style="color: red;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Preparation is rote.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: center;">Execution is rote.</div></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: center;">Celebration is rote.</div></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">Follow-through is random.”</span></div></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Be-Intentional-About-Your-First-30-Minutes-MoreLessonsNP">Click here</a> to read Lesson 15, “Be Intentional About Your First 30 Minutes.”)</div></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But I do see encouraging signs—especially in this COVID-19 era. (How are you describing this period: era, season, year, or decade? <i>Oh, my</i>.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">A ministry in the Northwest </span></b>conducted a “Single Topic Zoom Call” to discuss and discern God’s direction about a ministry acquisition. The four-hour session was devoted exclusively to one topic only. <i>Brilliant!</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Another board</span></b> (pre-COVID) added a special meeting, with dinner in a member’s home, to seek God’s will about interim leadership. <b><span style="color: #073763;">There were not 17 agenda items—just one.</span></b> Every board member weighed in. There was plenty of time for possibilities and prayer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">David Curry,</span></b> in “Think and Pray Outside the Box—and the County,” (<b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Think-and-Pray-Outside-the-Box-and-the-County-LessonsNP">Lesson 29</a></b> in <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>), notes: “The tyranny of the day-to-day—budgets, meetings, and yearly events to sustain life and keep the lights on—can overwhelm most leaders and sap our energy, leaving little that could be used to power a big, God-sized vision.” <b><span style="color: #073763;">Curry once scheduled a board meeting at an architect’s office—so the creativity and the environment would inspire the board to “break the script.”</span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I was recently reminded of this “break the script” hole-in-the-roof healing in Luke 5 in <i>The Message</i>:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">“Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. <b><span style="color: #073763;">When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus.</span></b> Impressed by their bold belief, he said, ‘Friend, I forgive your sins.’”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As you’ll recall, that set “the religion scholars and Pharisees buzzing.” There were two stunning results: the healing and the crowd’s response! Jesus “spoke directly to the paraplegic: ‘Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.’ Without a moment’s hesitation, he did it—got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way. The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then also gave glory to God. <b><span style="color: #ff00fe;">Awestruck</span></b>, they said, <b><span style="color: #073763;">‘We’ve never seen anything like that!’”</span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Imagine when your board members—wanting to refresh the focus on their role in God’s work—hear people giving glory to God and saying, “We’ve never seen anything like that!”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">BOARD DISCUSSION:</span></b> How could we “break the script” for greater board effectiveness?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">THINK ABOUT: </span></b>“The average board member doesn’t read a book a year. That is why he or she is an average board member!” (Adapted from <b><i><a href="https://amzn.to/36fhEcU">Books Are Tremendous</a></i></b>, by Charlie “Tremendous” Jones)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">MORE RESOURCES:</span></b> The click-on index to 40 guest bloggers (and their 40 blogs) was posted this week at the <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom Blog</i>. <b><a href="https://morelessonsnonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2020/10/bonus-lesson-index-to-40-blogs.html">Click here</a></b> to read the 40 color commentaries, plus the 40 lessons from the book.</span></p>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09812658461615706988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-83810055518922535472020-09-29T16:37:00.000-04:002020-09-29T16:37:25.806-04:00DEAR JOHN: Books, Board Chairs, and Boredom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1000" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQpx-2BvRf8-Vcuk55LrRYPIUgYP7Ms97Zq0nB-oizI1pZC-SrNJpaOY2L2sxsApWvbbj65TpzyJS1-uEJAmptQpxoF1LN07s4TWs9h907sRciPEcYUGlrSppJWGFtsfXWUTrc6VZSy8/w423-h317/20-0929+-+Dear+John.jpg" style="font-family: arial; text-align: left;" width="423" /></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Based on my inbox, I’m wondering if it’s time to start a “Dear John” newspaper column? </b>(You do remember newspapers, right?) I doubt if I’ll ever replace “Dear Abby,” but—here goes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>DEAR JOHN:</b> </span>I’ve noticed that you tend to answer board governance questions with “Read this book!” This isn’t the 1900s, Pearson! It’s 2020 and no one reads book anymore! Would you please just answer the question—and stop assigning homework to your readers? –A NON-READER IN REDDING<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">DEAR NON-READER: </span></b>Charlie “Tremendous” Jones said, <span style="color: #0b5394;">“You are today what you’ll be five years from now, except for the people you meet and the books you read.” </span>And by the way, you must have read this governance blog somewhere—so apparently you are a reader. Way to go! And since you asked, I’d recommend you read <i>The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life: How to Get More Books in Your Life and More Life from Your Books</i>, by Steve Leveen. Note his caveat: “Do not set out to live <i>a</i> well-read life but rather <i>your</i> well-read life. No one can be well-read using someone else’s reading list.” (<a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2020/08/the-little-guide-to-your-well-read-life.html">Read my review</a>.) <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">DEAR JOHN:</span> </b>I read in one of the Dan Busby/John Pearson governance books that you have endured more than 500 board meetings. I affirm your word choice. I, too, have <i>endured</i> excruciatingly dysfunctional board meetings—and I’m the board chair (LOL!). What one book would you recommend I read to minimize the dysfunction and maximize our board’s effectiveness? –DYSFUNCTIONAL IN DENVER<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">DEAR DYSFUNCTIONAL:</span></b> I’m so sorry you are not finding board meetings to be a joy. They should be. One of my friends, Mike Pate, says that board meeting days are the best days of the month for him. <a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Thrive-With-Four-Kingdom-Values-MoreLessonsNP">Click here</a> to read Lesson 11 from <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: Effectiveness, Excellence, Elephants! </i>“Thrive With Four Kingdom Values” is a great outline for a devotional thought at your next board meeting: Discernment, Deployment, Commitment, and Enjoyment. But…if you’re looking for one book on enriching your board chair competencies, read David McKenna’s powerful book, <i>Call of the Chair: Leading the Board of the Christ-centered Ministry</i>. He includes four assessment questions for the board chair—all convicting! </span><span style="font-family: arial;">(<a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2017/06/call-of-the-chair.html">Read my review</a>.) <br /><br /><span style="color: #0b5394;">And…one last thought. Not every board member has the wiring, the spiritual gifting, and the temperament to be a board chair. If this role doesn’t fit you—it’s OK to step down. Ask the Lord and a trusted friend what you should do.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">DEAR JOHN:</span> </b>During this crazy coronavirus era, our board has cancelled our annual board retreat and—instead (wait for it…)—we’re meeting via Zoom for eight hours on a Saturday. Any ideas to keep the engagement high and the boredom low? –ZOOMED-OUT IN ZION<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>DEAR ZOOMED-OUT:</b> </span>You…and thousands of other boards…are mitigating COVID-19 in creative ways. Congrats! I wish I knew more about your board—and where you are, for example, on what Michael Hyatt calls the “Vision Arc” in his new book, <i>The Vision-Driven Leader</i>. His graph of the vision arc includes seven phases of the typical organizational trajectory through time (similar to Jim Collins’ five stages). If you don’t interrupt the trajectory, look where it leads you: Startup, Rising, Transitioning, Mature, Legacy, Zombie, Dead! (<a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2020/08/the-vision-driven-leader-10-questions.html">Read my review</a>.) <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Generally—whatever stage you’re in—I’ve found that an excellent engagement exercise is to ask each board member to present a 10-minute “trendspotting” report—on a targeted topic of relevance to your ministry. A one-page template and instructions are included in “<a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/01/tool-15-board-retreat-trend-spotting.html">Tool #15: Board Retreat Trend-Spotting Exercise</a>” in <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance</i>. Have fun—and award Chick-fil-A gift cards to all presenters who finish on time!</span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: red;">DISCERN</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>“Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit that comes with spiritual maturity. <br />It may well be the gift that defines Christ-centered leadership.” </b><br />(David McKenna in <i>Call of the Chair</i>)</div></span><p></p>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-4482025364213708772020-09-14T14:24:00.000-04:002020-09-14T14:24:50.711-04:00“Where Was the Board?” A Board Ambassador BHAG<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhISEuvaOQkpqRHzY9pZmKJNY0nL6PD7ptV7GAjML9RjWjhqij9Hc6Og8gpjOC1eJJEmmyoZ4flMTgcGHwM-ZDGM1GK3NBMGsakIpcnMmO9-iCdtbhVh6o-0GMsV4apKG-dYmklSS95ItU/s1000/20-0914+-+TenDollars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhISEuvaOQkpqRHzY9pZmKJNY0nL6PD7ptV7GAjML9RjWjhqij9Hc6Og8gpjOC1eJJEmmyoZ4flMTgcGHwM-ZDGM1GK3NBMGsakIpcnMmO9-iCdtbhVh6o-0GMsV4apKG-dYmklSS95ItU/w500-h333/20-0914+-+TenDollars.jpg" width="500" /></a></b></div><b><br /><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><br /><br /></span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Imagine if you magically received ten dollars every time you heard or read the question, “Where was the board?”</span></b> <i>I’m guessing you’d have some serious money in your savings account.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When reporters, bloggers, podcasters, and even donors and staff, ask <b><span style="color: #073763;">“Where was the board?”</span></b>—it’s usually in response to an organizational, financial, moral, or leadership crisis. But “Where was the board” is the wrong question. It’s certainly not the first question.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The question often showcases a foundational lack in understanding the basic roles and responsibilities of the typical governing board. Where was the board? Likely the board was present—<a href="https://morelessonsnonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2020/09/lesson-36-watch-out-for-boards-asleep.html">but asleep at the wheel</a>. But don’t blame podcasters, bloggers, and reporters for creating inappropriate expectations of the board. <i>You gotta blame the board!</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Here’s my Big Holy Audacious Goal (BHAG) for educating America!</span></b> Add a new responsibility to the typical board member job description: “Board Ambassador.” Maybe something like this:</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">“Here at XYZ Ministry, every board member is also a Board Ambassador. We’ll equip you to leverage your circle of influence—and every appropriate opportunity—to communicate the mission of our ministry <i>and </i>the important role of the board in guiding and guarding the future in God-honoring ways. (What the board does and <i>does not</i> do!) As Board Ambassador, you’ll also be educating, mentoring, and inspiring the next generation of board members!” </span></span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">When the board chair “deputizes” every new and veteran board member with the “Board Ambassador” title, at least five good things should happen. Ask these five questions NOW and you’ll hear fewer “Where was the board?” questions later, we pray.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#1. </span></b>To prepare for this new role, every board member will dust off the organization’s mission, vision, and values statements (and memorize them)—and review them regularly. <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Question: “Is the board in alignment with what God is calling them to do?”</b> (<a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/01/tool-14-rolling-3-year-strategic-plan.html">Resource</a>)</span></p><p><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>#2.</b></span> The board member job description will be fresh and relevant—and include “<a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/05/question-5-does-our-board-really-own.html">owning” the strategy</a> and strategic plan and include holding the CEO accountable for three to five annual SMART goals. <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Question: “What’s the role of the CEO and when does the board conduct and address the CEO’s annual performance review?”</b> (<a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/12/tool-11-monthly-dashboard-report.html">Resource</a>)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#3.</span></b> The board chair will ensure that a Board Policies Manual (think “corral”) is in writing and referenced at most board meetings. <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Question: “Is the board confident that the CEO, the board, and the staff are living within the policy (operating inside the policy fences established by the board)? How do we know?” </b>(<a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/02/tool-17-board-policies-manual-bpm.html">Resource</a>)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#4.</span></b> Every board member will look for opportunities to be the organization’s ambassador for educating people in good governance practices. <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Question: “Does my spouse, my pastor, my business colleagues, and people in my circle of influence, understand the role of the governing board?”</b> (<a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/08/bonus-lesson-41-summary-and-index-to-40.html">Resource</a>)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#5.</span></b> Board meetings and agendas will be more focused on the role of the board in guarding and guiding—versus listening to non-stop staff reports that pull board members into the weeds. <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Question: “Is the board living out the 80/20 Rule: Investing 80 percent of board work on future ministry opportunities—not rehashing the past?”</b> (<a href="https://morelessonsnonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2020/09/lesson-35-leverage-8020-rule-in.html">Resource</a>)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Imagine…if all board members of all Christ-centered organization boards in North America were equipped and passionate about elevating the importance of God-honoring governance! Board members would be better at their board jobs—and maybe it would activate a holy ripple effect of good governance and stellar ministry leadership.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Then…instead of bloggers, podcasters, and reporters asking, “Where was the board?”—they’d be asking, “How do I get recruited to that board?”</span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Start paying yourself ten dollars for every time someone asks you, “How do I get recruited to that board?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>BOARD DISCUSSION:</b> Who will take the lead on creating a “Board Ambassador” culture on our board?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>MORE RESOURCES:</b> You’re a more effective mentor and influencer of others when you are competent yourself, so pick a resource below to help refresh your board’s passion and understanding of their important governance roles and responsibilities:<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2017/10/called-to-serve-no-board-detail-is-too.html">Index to 30 blogs</a></i>:<i> Called to Serve: Creating and Nurturing the Effective Volunteer Board</i>, by Max De Pree<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/03/best-board-books-index-to-18-good.html">Best Board Books</a>: Index to 18 Good Governance Stimulators<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/08/index-to-ram-charans-14-questions-3.html">Index to Ram Charan’s 14 Questions</a> for Board Members + 3 Next Steps<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> •</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/03/index-to-22-time-saving-governance.html">Index to 22 Time-Saving Governance Tools</a> and Templates</span></p>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-3189152600995760222020-08-24T17:13:00.000-04:002020-08-24T17:13:24.442-04:00Is Your Vision Stuck on One Strategy?<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2fCgQ-j52i16qRqdG7ytXQj2PCuJsZhoKXa2gjfSgPU973LUN7nitGnLeHXh6b8diL7HaLwRc5C2jdVQUaPHY3SKk2vAIbJsMcgwmq4NDsSGlDoPQgPwaBZWRvfz-QP7lXPDpi6SNnEY/s419/20-0825+-+WindInSails2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2fCgQ-j52i16qRqdG7ytXQj2PCuJsZhoKXa2gjfSgPU973LUN7nitGnLeHXh6b8diL7HaLwRc5C2jdVQUaPHY3SKk2vAIbJsMcgwmq4NDsSGlDoPQgPwaBZWRvfz-QP7lXPDpi6SNnEY/s0/20-0825+-+WindInSails2.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>It’s highly likely, during these COVID-19 days, that your ministry’s mission and vision are being tested. </b>Here are two book recommendations with insights on vision, mission, and strategy.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Is your vision statement or your mission statement stuck on just one strategy? Has COVID-19 decimated that strategy? In his 2020 book, <b><i><a href="https://amzn.to/2Yf5JHc" target="_blank">The Vision Driven Leader: 10 Questions to Focus Your Efforts, Energize Your Team, and Scale Your Business</a></i></b>, Michael Hyatt writes. “A practical vision is specific enough to suggest strategy, but not so specific it commits you to one particular strategy.” <b><span style="color: #0b5394;">Are you stuck on a sacred cow-type strategy? </span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hyatt asks 10 questions about vision—and his book (<a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2020/08/the-vision-driven-leader-10-questions.html">read my review</a>) dramatically changed my thinking about the importance of vision. I was a mission statement zealot. Vision was important, yes, but it’s the mission that gets you from Point A to Point B—<i>or so I thought.</i> <b><span style="color: #0b5394;">The vision is focused on “what, not how,” says Hyatt.</span></b> Both are important, of course, but maybe it’s time your board takes a second look at your foundational assumptions on vision, mission, strategy, and core values?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>How would your board and CEO answer Hyatt’s 10 questions?</b><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 1. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Are You a Leader or a Manager?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 2.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">What Difference Does Vision Make?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 3.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">What Do You Want?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 4.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Is It Clear?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 5.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Does It Inspire?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 6.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Is It Practical?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 7.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Can You Sell It?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 8.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">How Should You Face Resistance?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 9.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Is It Too Late?<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 10.</span> <span style="font-family: arial;">Are You Ready?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">The author lists four characteristics of a vision that inspires: </span></b><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 1) The vision focuses on what isn’t, not what is.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 2) The vision is exponential, not incremental.<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 3) <b><span style="color: #0b5394;">The vision is risky, not stupid.</span></b><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 4) The vision is focused on what, not how.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In April, when COVID-19 sent us dashing to our bunkers, <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/04/pop-quiz-top-5-ways-to-bless-your.html">I posted a Pop Quiz here</a></b>, “Top-5 Ways to Bless Your Ministry.” The second suggestion was to “Help Our CEO Discern ‘The One Thing.’” I suggested you call or email your CEO with this insight and offer to have a conversation about his or her “ONE Thing:”</span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"What's the ONE Thing you can do this week</span></span></b></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: arial;">such that by doing it</span></span></b></div><span style="color: #0b5394;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: arial;">everything else would be easier or unnecessary?"</span></span></b></div></span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Perhaps, for the board, your ONE Thing, now in August, is to read Hyatt’s important book—and revisit your vision. And while you’re delegating your reading, let me recommend that at least one person on your board also reads <i><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2EzeUvi">The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders</a></b></i>, by Roger Parrott. (<a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/10/the-longview.html">Read my review here</a>.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">With in-the-trenches insights as president of Belhaven College and broad experience with evangelicals, Parrott’s chapter, “Planning Will Drain the Life from Your Ministry,” is an insightful counter-balance to much of the vision/mission rhetoric. His prophetic book in 2009 speaks into 2020 when he notes that both the optimistic and the pessimistic view of the future (which is unknowable) can create havoc. Of the latter, he writes, “<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">…or you raise fears instead of funds</span></b> by basing your plans on less rosy assumptions that reflect the uncertainties of tomorrow.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Parrott’s final chapter is another must-read, “Catching the Wind of God.” He begins,<b><span style="color: #0b5394;"> “I am convinced one of the core problems of evangelical leaders is that too often we’ve stopped trying to catch the wind of God in our sails because we’ve become fairly effective at creating our own independent power to get God’s work done.”</span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">BOARD DISCUSSION:</span></b> <i>So…who will read and report on these two books at our next Zoom board meeting?</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">MORE RESOURCES:</span></b> <b><a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/08/lesson-37-dont-stretch-credulity-with.html">Click here</a></b> to read David Schmidt’s guest blog on Lesson 37, “Don’t Stretch Credulity With BHAGs and Stretch Goals. The actual achievement of audacious goals is very uncommon.” This is one of 40 color commentaries from the book, <i><a href="http://www.ecfa.org/LessonsNonprofitBoardroom/">Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</a></i>. Schmidt writes, “Always—we must test motives and drivers when setting goals. Pride and fear can easily disguise themselves as bold leadership.” <b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Don-t-Stretch-Credulity-with-BHAGS-and-Stretch-Goals-LessonsNP">Click here</a></b> to read the chapter online.</span></p>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09812658461615706988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-54824680533520563252020-08-04T05:00:00.000-04:002020-08-04T05:00:05.224-04:00Index to Ram Charan’s 14 Questions + 3 Next Steps<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Is Your Board Owning Up?</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Over the last 14 weeks, I’ve highlighted the insights and wisdom from Ram Charan’s practical book for board members, <i>Owning Up</i>. While the book is written for corporate for-profit boards, nonprofit ministry board members will also find the book extremely insightful. <span style="color: red;">During these COVID-19 months, I pray your board will be diligent and faithful in reflecting on and acting on these 14 questions.</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><br />And see below for a way to leverage these questions in the boardroom, at a board retreat, or even in a virtual board meeting using the “10 Minutes for Governance” exercise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>INDEX TO 14 BLOGS: </b></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, by Ram Charan (</span><a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Order from Amazon</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="185" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhusu6Rfo6xvVNtEKidPu2lT9RkufpjT-HPOhnoQQED_U75l6lBXG_JtS4J9tWoHgt4nmRMsAeJhZZMyPWT8iGPeA-BZxvjcTlRzwJQRQuaDxhu-jTAltUhWZr3yw_qSZweGZePZKXZc/s200/2020.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b><span style="color: #073763;">Click on the links below to read the blogs for each of the 14 chapters in <i>Owning Up</i>:</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/04/question-1-is-our-board-composition.html">Question 1</a></b>: Is Our Board Composition Right for the Challenge?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/05/question-2-are-we-addressing-risks-that.html">Question 2</a></b>: Are We Addressing the Risks That Could Send Our Company Over the Cliff?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/05/question-3-are-we-prepared-to-do-our.html">Question 3</a></b>: Are We Prepared to Do Our Job Well When a Crisis Erupts?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/05/question-4-are-we-well-prepared-to-name.html">Question 4</a></b>: Are We Well Prepared to Name Our Next CEO?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/05/question-5-does-our-board-really-own.html">Question 5</a></b>: Does Our Board Really Own the Company’s Strategy?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/06/question-6-how-can-we-get-information.html">Question 6</a></b>: How Can We Get the Information We Need to Govern Well?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/06/question-7-how-can-our-board-get-ceo.html">Question 7</a></b>: How Can Our Board Get CEO Compensation Right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/06/question-8-why-do-we-need-lead-director.html">Question 8</a></b>: Why Do We Need a Lead Director Anyway?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/06/question-9-is-our-governance-committee.html">Question 9</a></b>: Is Our Governance Committee Best of Breed?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/06/question-10-how-do-we-get-most-value.html">Question 10</a></b>: How Do We Get the Most Value Out of Our Limited Time?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/07/question-11-how-can-executive-sessions.html">Question 11</a></b>: How Can Executive Sessions Help the Board Own Up?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/07/question-12-how-can-our-board-self.html">Question 12</a></b>: How Can Our Board Self-Evaluation Improve Our Functioning and Our Output?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/07/question-13-how-do-we-stop-from.html">Question 13</a></b>: How Do We Stop From Micromanaging?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[ ] <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/07/question-14-how-prepared-are-we-to-work.html">Question 14</a></b>: How Prepared Are We to Work With Activist Shareholders and Their Proxies?</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Here are three ideas for inspiring more lifelong learning with your board (and how to continue the learning from <i>Owning Up</i>):</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">IDEA #1: </span><span style="color: #073763;">Appoint a “Leaders Are Readers Champion.” </span><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Great-Boards-Delegate-Their-Reading-LessonsNP">Click here</a></b> to read the four-page chapter, Lesson 38, “Great Boards Delegate Their Reading” in <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>. <a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/08/lesson-38-great-boards-delegate-their.html"><b>Click here</b></a> to read Kent Stroman’s blog on this lesson. He quotes the U.S. Navy Seals, <span style="color: red;">“Under pressure you don't rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training. That's why we train so hard.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">IDEA #2:</span><span style="color: #073763;"> Ten Minutes for Governance.</span></b> Many boards are featuring a “10 Minutes for Governance” segment at every board meeting—to keep lifelong governance learning on the front burner. Rotate the leadership among your board members and assign a relevant chapter for your next board meeting. The board member/facilitator can present five minutes of content and then ask the board (in groups of two or three) to discuss a key question for five minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Invest-10-Minutes-for-Governance-in-Every-Board-Meeting-LessonsNP">Click here</a></b> to read the four-page chapter, Lesson 39, “Invest ‘10 Minutes for Governance’ in Every Board Meeting” in <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>. <b><a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/08/lesson-39-invest-10-minutes-for.html">Click here</a></b> to read guest blogger John Walling’s color commentary. He quotes Richard Kriegbaum: <span style="color: red;">“Leadership is a complex field and no one resource can meet all the needs of every leader in every situation.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">IDEA #3:</span><span style="color: #073763;"> Board Retreat Worksheet.</span></b> At your next board retreat, select five or six key chapters from <i>Owning Up</i> and assign board members to each question. Provide a “Read-and-Reflect Worksheet” template for <i>Owning Up</i> or another governance book of your choosing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Board retreat templates for six governance books are included in “Tool #13: Board Retreat Read-and-Reflect Worksheets” (one of 22 tools) in <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</i>. To order the book, or to read more about this tool, <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/01/tool-13-board-retreat-read-and-reflect.html">click here</a> </b>for the blog post on Tool #13.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>Bottom Line: </b>Is your board “owning up” to its God-given responsibilities as stewards of your ministry?</span></span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-75413169807751680432020-07-28T02:00:00.000-04:002020-07-28T02:00:00.841-04:00QUESTION 14: How Prepared Are We to Work With Activists?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>The </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>$500,000 Restricted Gift, the Hospital, and the Jury</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ram Charan’s final chapter in <i>Owning Up </i>addresses the challenging issues faced by for-profit public companies. You’ll be tempted to skip this chapter (since nonprofit ministries do not have shareholders). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">But—your ministry does have stakeholders—so don’t miss the wisdom on how to communicate with any “activist” or social media eruption.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Charan writes, “Bloggers search through the footnotes of SEC filings. Seventy-eight-year-old women with no corporate leadership experience file shareholder proxies and end up interviewed on business channels.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Warning, he says: <b><span style="color: #073763;">“Your performance as a board will increasingly be scrutinized, as much as the [organization’s] performance.”</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION </b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>14 of 14: How Prepared Are We to Work With Activist Shareholders and Their Proxies? </b></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, by Ram Charan (</span><a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Order from Amazon</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b><i>Finally!</i></b> We’re in the last chapter of this important book. (Watch for the index and summary in my next blog.) In this blog, I’m taking liberties with the for-profit topic—to address just one of many related topics for nonprofits. Let’s call them activist or dissatisfied donors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In his powerful book, <b><i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2015/04/trust-the-firm-foundation-for-kingdom-fruitfulness.html">Trust: The Firm Foundation for Kingdom Fruitfulness</a></i></b>, Dan Busby says that “We ignore perceptions at our peril.” <b><span style="color: #073763;">His short chapter on “Perceptions” includes “Ten Major Issues Can Lead to Misperceptions.”</span></b> (The list: compensation, fringe benefits, intellectual properties, family members paid by the ministry, related-party transactions, and five more.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Is your board proactively discussing these 10 major issues—or will you be unprepared when a ministry issue (fake news or not) hits the fan and/or the internet? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Busby quotes Harvey McKinnon:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“Donor loyalty is not about the donor being loyal to you; </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>it is you being loyal to the donor.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Being proactive means your board will have policies and practices that will give confidence to givers that restricted gifts will, in fact, be restricted for the specified use. <span style="color: red;">In the absence of trust, “activist” stakeholders and donors can and will sound the alarm—often inappropriately.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ram Charan’s chapter includes several examples of activists and he lists the affected companies, by name. Some handled the issues with wisdom—and a few didn’t. <b><span style="color: #073763;">He gives “four pieces of advice” for boards when “activist investors come calling.”</span></b> While no Scripture is cited, you’ll find Jesus’ principles in his recommendations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Likewise, Busby includes an “activist” true story in <i>Trust</i>—and he adds the Scripture (2 Cor. 8:14-25) in the chapter, “Honoring Giver Intent.” He also shares the true story of a hospital in Oklahoma that received a $500,000 gift from Troyal G. Brooks in 2005. The giver’s intent was to honor his mother by naming a new facility after her. In 2008, the hospital reneged on the agreement and planned to use the funds for another project—so Brooks sued the hospital.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Busby writes, “…the agreement with the hospital was oral; therefore, <a href="https://ew.com/article/2012/01/25/garth-brooks-hospital-case/">the jury had to determine who was telling the truth</a>. <b><span style="color: #073763;">In 2012, a jury awarded Troyal the $500,000 gift back plus the maximum in punitive damages—$500,000.”</span></b> He adds, “Troyal is better known as Troyal G. (Garth) Brooks. Ironically, the hospital is located on Garth Brooks Way.” <i>Yikes!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ram Charan writes, “Every shareholder matters.” Dan Busby would add, “Every giver matters—and trust is the firm foundation for Kingdom fruitfulness.” </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dan Busby quotes Max De Pree: “When things go awry, trust powers the generators until the problem is fixed.” Here’s an agenda item for your next meeting: “How Prepared Are We to Work With Activist or Dissatisfied Donors?”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>CHECK OUT THESE HELPFUL ECFA RESOURCES</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>• READ:</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lesson </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">22, “Whopper Mistakes Can Unravel Your Ministry,” in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>. (<b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Whopper-Mistakes-Can-Unravel-Your-Ministry-MoreLessonsNP">Click here</a> </b>to read the four-page chapter.) See especially “Whopper Mistake #3: Failure to provide accountability for restricted gifts.” <b><a href="https://morelessonsnonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2020/06/lesson-22-whopper-mistakes-can-unravel.html">Click here</a></b> to read Kecia Klob’s color commentary, including this from Max De Pree: “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.”</span><br />
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<b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• </b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>READ:</b> Lesson 31, “Where Two or Three Are Gathered on Social Media…” in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>. While this lesson is focused on conflicts of interest, it’s a timely reminder that you’re just one click away from a social media firestorm. (<b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Where-Two-or-Three-Are-Gathered-on-Social-Media-MoreLessonsNP">Click here</a></b> to read the four-page chapter.) </span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-90839995916030008872020-07-21T05:00:00.000-04:002020-07-21T05:00:11.990-04:00QUESTION 13: How Do We Stop From Micromanaging?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>The WORST Thing to Happen to a Board!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />We all agree—board members should not micromanage the ministry. But think more deeply about this. Ram Charan writes:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“The worst thing to happen to a board is when the CEO and the management team lose respect for the board.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Don’t skip this chapter—because at the root of lost respect is often a micromanaging board! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION </b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>13 of 14: How Do We Stop From Micromanaging? </b></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, by Ram Charan (</span><a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Order from Amazon</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />“A common complaint among chief executives,” writes Charan, is that board members <b><span style="color: #073763;">“get into the weeds, digging into operational details that have little strategic value.” </span></b>The problem: one board member inappropriately weighs in on a tasty topic—others join in on the fun—“and for the rest of the meeting the discussion never lifts to a higher altitude.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">There are numerous solutions for mitigating micromanagers, but it takes a savvy board chair, a grace-giving CEO, and other board members with self-awareness and high EQ (read my review of <b><i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2019/12/emotional-intelligence-20.html" target="_blank">Emotional Intelligence 2.0</a></i></b>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Charan delivers more than a dozen insights on addressing the micromanaging board member.</span></b> I appreciated these four take-aways:<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">1. Pause the PowerPoint.</span></b> Sometimes, management may contribute to the problem by “providing too many slides and unnecessary details.”<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">2. Ask Quality Questions.</span></b> “Asking questions of an operating nature is not in itself micromanaging, as long as the questions lead to insights about issues like strategy, performance, major investment decisions, key personnel, the choice of goals, or risk assessment.” (I often recommend the book, <b><i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2016/02/the-coaching-habit.html" target="_blank">The Coaching Habit</a></i></b>, which lists seven types of questions, including “The AWE Question: And What Else?)<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">3. Hint With Humor. </span></b>Ram Charan notes that not all board members are self-aware, so the board chair (or Lead Director on many for-profit boards) must step up to the plate. Example: When a board member “started badgering a company’s IT director about its systems, the board’s Lead Director stepped in and joked, ‘Hey (Joe), are you looking for a job in IT?’ The tone was collegial and humorous, but the director got the point.” (<b><a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/04/lesson-20-apply-for-staff-position-and.html" target="_blank">Click here</a></b> to read how Rich Stearns addressed micromanaging board members at World Vision U.S.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">4. Monitor 12-Month Metrics.</span></b> “It also helps when the board has agreed upon the twelve-month priorities, and is clear about the strategy and the milestones.” A dashboard “also helps board members stay on point.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Boards expect CEOs to be excellent at delegation—<b><span style="color: #073763;">but boards must also model a delegation culture. </span></b>Healthy boards delegate to their CEOs. Unhealthy boards micromanage. “Delegation” is one of 30 short prayers in the little book by Richard Kriegbaum, <b><i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2014/05/leadershipprayers.html" target="_blank">Leadership Prayers</a></i></b>. While every CEO should pray this prayer—this stunning and sobering prayer can also by prayed by board members:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“Help me to be clear about the distant goals and about who needs to do what to reach those goals. When I do this well, the spirit of the one to whom I delegate will respond with zeal. My own spirit will rejoice, and I will follow that person with confidence.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“By your grace, my leadership will either enhance or restrain the work of your Spirit in those who lead me, making them more effective or less effective. Those I chose to follow will have a profound impact on the results in the organization, and they will have a profound impact on me.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ram Charan writes: “The worst thing to happen to a board is when the CEO and the management team lose respect for the board.” Maybe the <i>best </i>thing to happen to a board is when the board selects the right CEO—and then <i>trusts</i> their CEO.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Think back to the last time a board member was meandering into micromanagement mode. Did your board chair step up to the plate and address it appropriately? Are you ready for the next time it happens? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>CHECK OUT THESE HELPFUL ECFA RESOURCES</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>• READ:</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Lesson 20, “Apply for a Staff Position and You Can Deal With That Issue! Help board members not to cross the line into operational details,” in <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>. (<a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Apply-for-a-Staff-Position-and-You-Can-Deal-with-That-Issue-LessonsNP" target="_blank">Click here</a> to read the four-page chapter.) In his color commentary on this lesson, Richard Stearns writes, “Your board likely comprises professionals at the top of their fields, so it’s natural that they’re curious and opinionated about details in their realm of expertise. But just because they can wade into operational minutiae doesn’t mean they <i>should</i>. That’s not what a board of directors is designed to do.” (<a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/04/lesson-20-apply-for-staff-position-and.html" target="_blank">Click here</a> to read the blog.)</span><br />
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<b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• </b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>TOOL:</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Need a dashboard template for tracking CEO annual goals? Check out “Tool #11: Monthly Dashboard Report” in <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</i>. (<a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/12/tool-11-monthly-dashboard-report.html" target="_blank">Read more here</a>.)</span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09812658461615706988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-9476951155940637512020-07-14T05:00:00.000-04:002020-07-14T05:00:03.268-04:00QUESTION 12: How Can Our Board Self-Evaluation Improve Our Functioning and Our Output?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>“The Acid Test of Effective Corporate Governance”</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">A board member, clearly proud that he had invested 250 hours on board work the previous year, told Ram Charan, “We put in a lot of hard work.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">But Charan, wisely, pushed past the rhetoric and non-measurable metrics—and instead—threw him this zinger: “Let me ask you something. What would you say are the one or two things your board did that really made a difference for the [organization]?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>You guessed it.</i> The board member <b><span style="color: #073763;">“…took a long pause and looked up at the ceiling. He seemed lost in thought, like he was struggling to come up with a concrete answer.</span></b> As I waited for him to respond, I realized that he probably had never thought about his board work in that way.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION </b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>12 of 14: How Can Our Board Self-Evaluation Improve Our Functioning and Our Output? </b></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, by Ram Charan (</span><a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Order from Amazon</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b><span style="color: #073763;">Board members “should not confuse hard work, as commendable as it is, with meaningful results,” </span></b>writes Ram Charan. That insight is just on the first of 14 wisdom-packed pages in Chapter 12 on the critical need for boards to conduct self-evaluations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Charan adds, <b><span style="color: red;">“The board’s output—the quality of the decisions it makes and actions it takes—is the acid test of effective corporate governance.”</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Don’t confuse inputs (meeting frequency, meeting length, etc.) with outputs. Boards should “explicitly state that the central purpose of their board self-evaluation process is to continuously improve their ability to govern effectively.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Peter Drucker agrees: </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“Self-assessment can and should convert good intentions and knowledge into effective action—not next year but tomorrow morning.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The Drucker quote is from the robust 30-page resource, “Tool #5: The Board’s Annual Self-Assessment Survey,” in <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1949365182/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1949365182&linkCode=as2&tag=e0b1e-20&linkId=bdd9f35cb00435f1356cd11716d9df08">ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</a></i>. According to ECFA’s research (see page 32), 31% of board members said YES to this question: <b><span style="color: #073763;">“In the last two years, have you had an outside person help your board look in the mirror to do self-assessment for how it could improve?”</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tool #5 gives you multiple options in three major sections:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• Section 1: Do-It-Yourself</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• Section 2: Facilitated by a Consultant or Board Coach</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• Section 3: Template: “Best Governance Practices” Survey</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you opt for the Do-It-Yourself approach, Tool #5 gives you seven options, including this free assessment from ECFA:</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.ecfa.org/NonprofitScore/Default.aspx"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="1173" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDy7ekR7VQOmK1Why8R4ageYNWd8VJTUQPidZK5pNk5TQn-m_EOkMFsq_Y7djAdvuN1cFwGm7pztIUi88e0Jn2BHkZU8uV8ifd0y5M6MNLCRBLduhV5IuzDd0QIVbhM5UZqYGp2qJvSDc/s320/Q12+-+NPBoardScore2.png" width="320" /></a><br /></div>
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/NonprofitScore/Default.aspx">CLICK HERE</a></b> to complete the NonprofitBoardScore™, a tool developed by ECFA. The online survey will give you instant feedback and allow you to re-take the evaluation over and over (perhaps every six months or at least annually). Email the link to everyone on your board—and encourage each board member to save and print the results for discussion (and action!) at your next board meeting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>READY FOR CANDOR? </b>If you have a healthy board—competent in Governance 101 practices—and you’re ready for a challenge, ask your Governance Committee (or Executive Committee) to consider peer evaluations at least once a year. Very common in for-profit governance, peer evaluations are very uncommon within nonprofit ministry boards. Read Ram Charan’s suggestions in Chapter 12 first—and then discern if your board is ready to go deeper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the <i>Harvard Business Review</i> article, “<a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/03/what-makes-great-boards-great.html">What Makes Great Boards Great</a>,” by Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, it is the soft side of board governance that distinguishes high quality boards from the rest of the governance rat race. He labels it a <b><span style="color: #073763;">“virtuous cycle of respect, trust and candor”</span></b>—but, he warns, even that can be broken at any point. For your first peer review, perhaps ask a board coach to help you set the guardrails.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To paraphrase Proverbs 9:7, <b><span style="color: #073763;">“Teach a wise board member, and he or she will be the wiser; teach a good board member, and he or she will learn more.” </span></b><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">What do we want to learn from our next board self-evaluation? Ram Charan writes that board members “should not confuse hard work, as commendable as it is, with meaningful results.” What are the one or two things our board has done in the last six months that has really made a difference for the ministry?</span><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">CHECK OUT THESE HELPFUL ECFA RESOURCES</span><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">• READ: </span></b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Lesson 1, “Wanted: Lifelong Learners. Would you trust a surgeon who stopped learning?” in <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>. (<a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Wanted-Lifelong-Learners-LessonsNP">Click here</a> to read the four-page chapter.) In his color commentary on this lesson, Ralph E. Enlow, Jr., writes, “I find that the fatal combination of passivity and agenda clutter conspires to crowd out efforts to walk the talk of continuous board development.” (<a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2017/11/lesson-1-wanted-lifelong-learners.html">Read the blog</a>.)</span></div>
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<b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• </b><b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">TOOL: </b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">With 30 pages and more than a dozen self-assessment options, check out “Tool #5: The Board’s Annual Self-Assessment Survey,” in <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</i>. (<a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/11/tool-5-boards-annual-self-assessment.html">Read more here</a>.)</span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-73605877428994588722020-07-07T05:00:00.000-04:002020-07-07T05:00:01.444-04:00QUESTION 11: How Can Executive Sessions Help the Board Own Up?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Spoken Words and Unspoken Thoughts</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Are you familiar with “Kim’s Rule of Committees?” It’s in the witty book by Arthur Bloch, <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3dUsaGG">Murphy’s Law Book Three: Wrong Reasons Why Things Go More!</a></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>“If an hour has been spent amending a sentence, </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>someone will move to delete the paragraph.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ve often shared my “Murphy’s Law” with CEOs (waiting anxiously outside the boardroom during an executive session): </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>“There is no relationship between the actual <i>length</i> of an executive session a</b></span><b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">nd the substance of the governance work actually <i>accomplished</i> in that session.” </b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION </b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>11 of 14: How Can Executive Sessions Help the Board Own Up? </b></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, by Ram Charan (</span><a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Order from Amazon</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />While Ram Charan calls the executive session <b><span style="color: #073763;">“the single most important innovation in corporate governance to date,”</span></b> this closed door meeting of the board—without the CEO or staff in the room—is a delicate dance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">And caution!</span></b> If your board chair is inexperienced or inept at leading an executive session, prepare for the worst. Your organization would never thrust a staff member into a critical role without coaching or mentoring (or at the least—reading something!)—yet boards venture into executive sessions often inappropriately prepared.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">So…here are two resources. </span>First,</b> read Chapter 11 in <i>Owning Up</i> and be forewarned: <b><span style="color: #073763;">“…if executive sessions are not run well, they can undermine trust and clog the flow of information and ideas, which makes it harder for the board to do its job.” </span></b>Charan weighs in on the best time for executive sessions (he prefers before a board meeting), why the CEO should be in the room at the beginning of the session, and how to “loop in” the CEO after the executive session. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My guess—this might be the first time you’ve read 11 pages on effective executive sessions—the good, the bad, and the ugly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Second,</b> read Lesson 17, “Botched Executive Sessions Are Not Pretty,” in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>, by Dan Busby and yours truly. (<b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Botched-Executive-Sessions-Are-Not-Pretty-MoreLessonsNP">Click here</a></b> to read the six-page chapter.) <b><span style="color: #073763;">We recommend seven principles:</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">PRINCIPLE 1:</span></b> An executive session without the CEO should never include issues that are of a non-sensitive nature. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">PRINCIPLE 2:</span></b> A board should always meet in executive session in at least two situations: (1) when considering the CEO’s periodic review, and (2) when reviewing the CEO’s compensation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">PRINCIPLE 3:</span></b> Board meetings should rarely be conducted unless the CEO is included in the meeting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">PRINCIPLE 4:</span></b> The CEO should generally be present at the beginning of an executive session. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">PRINCIPLE 5: </span></b>Following an executive session, the gist of the discussion should be communicated to the CEO in a constructive manner. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">PRINCIPLE 6: </span></b>During the executive session, not every comment made by every board member will necessarily be appropriate or substantive. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">PRINCIPLE 7: </span></b>If feedback to the CEO is not provided right after the session, it should be conveyed within a day or two so that the discussion is fresh in the minds of board members sharing the report. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When the board chair (and perhaps another board member joining him or her) communicates the important content of the executive session to the CEO, <b><span style="color: #073763;">they should remember <a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/08/boards-that-make-a-difference.html">John Carver’s wisdom</a>, “The board speaks with one voice, or not at all.” </span></b>Under no circumstances should comments or feedback from an executive session be attributed to individual board members. Anonymity is of utmost importance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In addition to these two resources, we pray that it comes naturally to your mind and heart to add a third resource—God’s Word. Perhaps you’ll begin your next executive session with Psalm 19:14 (TLB): <b><span style="color: #073763;">“May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer.” </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Just as the board needs an agenda, an executive session needs an agenda.” <i>What should be on the agenda for our next executive session? When should we meet—before or after the regular board meeting?</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>• READ: </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lesson 17, “Botched Executive Sessions Are Not Pretty,” in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>, by Dan Busby and John Pearson. (<a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Botched-Executive-Sessions-Are-Not-Pretty-MoreLessonsNP"><b>Click here</b></a> to read the six-page chapter.) <b><a href="https://morelessonsnonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2020/04/lesson-17-botched-executive-sessions.html">Click here</a></b> to read Philip Boom’s color commentary on this lesson.</span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-77108101773717979182020-06-30T05:00:00.000-04:002020-06-30T05:00:01.799-04:00QUESTION 10: How Do We Get the Most Value Out of Our Limited Time?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ram Charan pushes back on the common boardroom practice of presenting financial reports and minor agenda items first—just to get them out of the way. The problem: the board’s mood and psychological energy level sags. <b><span style="color: #073763;">“That’s why I suggest that the most important issues on the agenda come first,” </span></b>Charan writes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is not unlike the coaching competency trumpeted in <i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2016/02/the-coaching-habit.html">The Coaching Habit</a></i>: “Cut the intro and ask the question!” Starting strong is powerful, the author writes. “No James Bond movie starts off slowly. <i>Pow! </i>Within ten seconds you’re into the action…and the heart is beating faster.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2017/11/the-power-of-moments.html">The Power of Moments</a> </i>asks, “How do you refresh a meeting that’s grown rote?” Chip and Dan Heath respond: “Break the script.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION </b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>10 of 14: How Do We Get the Most Value Out of Our Limited Time? </b></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, by Ram Charan (</span><a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Order from Amazon</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />It seems that by chapter 10 in most books, most authors are writing on fumes—just eking out the requisite word count. Not Ram Charan! He’s just warming up. This chapter is packed with practical boardroom wisdom:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">ROUTINE VS. IMPACT.</span></b> “In some cases, boards feel too much time is spent on routine items and resolutions, and not enough on the issues that have a significant impact on business—things like strategy, risk, and succession.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">5 MILLION DECISIONS? </span></b>“Boards don’t make five million decisions over the course of the year; there are usually only a handful of issues and decisions that significantly impact the business.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">4 OR 5 PRIORITIES.</span></b> “The CEO and the board’s leadership should identify those four or five, at most six, items that should constitute the bulk of the board’s time and energy in the coming year.” And “Every board should consider for its twelve-month priorities some kind of strategic dashboard…”</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>“If you have more than five goals, <br />you have none.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Peter Drucker</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">PLAN B. </span></b>“Discuss management’s plan B to address changing conditions.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Your meeting time—and your board members’ time—is precious and always limited. So is it time to step back and restructure the meeting agenda? The length and frequency of your meetings? The location and setting? Time to ramp up the Kingdom expectations? Chapter 10 (just nine pages) will help you refresh your meeting. Three more ideas:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">END-OF-MEETING DISTILLATION.</span></b> “The purpose of the distillation is for the CEO to test the items he perceives to be at the center of the whole board’s deliberations, and that require follow through. The board can validate that the CEO has covered all the important bases.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">SOCIAL TIME.</span></b> “…take care not to squeeze out unstructured time together.” Charan encourages adequate social time (pre-meeting and post-meeting meals, etc.) so board members know each other better—which also builds trust.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">CEOs MUST COACH PRESENTERS. </span></b>Direct reports to the CEO should be coached on effective boardroom presentations. Charan suggests a 50/50 time split between presentations and discussion. <br /><br />See also the advice in <i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/05/15-minutes-including-qa.html">15 Minutes Including Q&A: A Plan to Save the World From Lousy Presentations</a></i>. And…<a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2017/02/called-to-serve-no-reading-allowed_28.html">click here</a> to read why Max De Pree warned, <b><span style="color: #073763;">“The chairperson should not permit anyone to read to the board.”</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Time is short and “a lot is expected of us,” whines a board member in chapter 10. “Deal with it!” responds Ram Charan. This jam-packed chapter will help boards maximize their limited time—and, for Christ-centered boards, it will also be a reminder to recruit board members who are already Kingdom stewards of their time. <br /><br />P</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">roverbs 16:33 (<i>The Message</i>) cautions, </span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">“Make your motions and cast your votes, but God has the final say.”</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How do we get the most value out of our limited time? What should we add, enhance, change, or drop?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>CHECK OUT THESE HELPFUL ECFA RESOURCES</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>• READ: </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The board at Warm Beach Camp and Conference Center schedules a “Heavy Lifting” segment in every meeting—to address “big rock” agenda items. Read “Decrease Staff Reporting and Increase Heavy Lifting. Consider the good, the bad, and the ugly.” (From: <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>. <b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Decrease-Staff-Reporting-and-Increase-Heavy-Lifting-LessonsNP">Click here</a> </b>to read Lesson 36.)</span><br />
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<b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• </b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>TOOL:</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">See how a “Heavy Lifting” segment—the best use of the board’s time—is incorporated into a quarterly board meeting. <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/01/tool-12-quarterly-board-meeting-agenda.html">Read the blog here</a></b> and order the book to download the meeting agenda template, “Tool #12, Quarterly Board Meeting Agenda and Recommendations,” in <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board. </i></span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-40262240471813133022020-06-23T05:00:00.000-04:002020-06-23T05:00:07.797-04:00QUESTION 9: Is Our Governance Committee Best of Breed?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Tell-tale Signs You’re No Longer a Respected Board Member</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">A recent ECFA survey reported that just 50% of board members agreed that “our board has policies in place—and the spiritual integrity required—<b><span style="color: #073763;">to ask an under-performing board member to resign</span></b>.” (<a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Surveys.aspx" target="_blank">Download the survey here</a>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ram Charan says that the Governance Committee must address the dysfunctional board member issue year-round, not just in the annual board self-evaluation survey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION </b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>9 of 14: Is Our Governance Committee Best of Breed? </b></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, by Ram Charan (</span><a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Order from Amazon</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b><span style="color: #073763;">“Many boards will face awkward involuntary transitions,” </span></b>writes Ram Charan. He recommends that every board have a “best of breed” Governance Committee (three to five members) that will, among other tasks, address the problem of board members who are out-of-step with good governance practices and boardroom protocols.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">He says you must spot <b><span style="color: #073763;">“tell-tale signs” that board members are no longer wanted on the board</span></b>—but ignoring these signs will “have a devastating effect when emergency situations arise.” Here are five of the 11 signs that Charan lists:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Board members who pontificate, but add no value—wasting everyone’s time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • "He is out of touch with contemporary happenings. Maybe he’s been retired too long.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • “She has too much to do. She can’t give the board enough time.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • “Her questions are too narrow and at too low a level. She’s no longer respected.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • “He always puts the CEO on the defensive.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">What should the board chair and/or Governance Committee do? <b><span style="color: #073763;">Sometimes, a frank one-on-one conversation with a board member will raise the yellow flag—and get his or her attention.</span></b> Sometimes you’ll ask for an immediate resignation. (If you don’t deal with the unruly board member, you risk losing good board members.) If you can hang in there—and minimize the damage—the Governance Committee may chose <i>not</i> to nominate the disruptive member to another three-year term.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">My preference: address problems as they occur.</span></b> Be frank. Be gracious. Be specific. Ask the Lord to guide the crucial conversation. Communicate the board’s agreed-upon high standards of boardroom practices during the board member recruitment phase. Emphasize your boardroom values again during the new board member orientation phase. And remember—<b><span style="color: #073763;">if you want a healthy board, recruit healthy people.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">As chapter nine articulates, there are numerous responsibilities of the Governance Committee—including board succession, establishing rules and procedures for selecting committee chairs, monitoring the health of committees (consider rotations over time), conducting the annual board self-assessment survey (and learning from it), and much more. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The helpful resource, <i><b><span style="color: #073763;">ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</span></b></i>, includes several tools relevant to the work of the Governance Committee, including:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Tool #1: The Pathway to the Board</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Tool #2: Board Nominee Suggestion Form</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Tool #3: Board Nominee Orientation: Table of Contents</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Tool #5: The Board’s Annual Self-Assessment Survey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Tool #17: Board Policies Manual (BPM)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Tool #21: Board Member Annual Affirmation Statement</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/03/index-to-22-time-saving-governance.html" target="_blank">Click here</a></b> to read the short blogs on the above tools.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The best boards expect the CEO to lead a senior team that embraces God-honoring teamwork, a healthy culture, and a rapid response to conflict resolution. The best boards—with the help of a “best of breed” Governance Committee—will expect nothing less in the boardroom. It’s a challenge—yes. <b><span style="color: #073763;">But ignore boardroom dysfunction at your own peril. And when you do, you’ll likely experience the eventual crumbling of your organization’s health and effectiveness.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1 Chronicles 28, when David gave Solomon the blueprints to the temple, he urged: “Be strong and courageous and get to work. Don’t be frightened by the size of the task, for the Lord my God is with you; he will not forsake you.” <i>Amen!</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Which 50% group are we in? <b>Group 1: </b>Our board has policies in place—and the spiritual integrity required—to ask an under-performing board member to resign. <b>Group 2:</b> No policies in place!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>CHECK OUT THESE HELPFUL ECFA RESOURCES</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>• READ</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“Big Blessings Abound When Governance Faithfulness Flourishes” in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>. <a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Big-Blessings-Abound-When-Governance-Faithfulness-Flourishes-MORELessons-NP" target="_blank">Click here</a> to read Lesson 1.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• </b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>TOOL:</b> With the reminder to “date” board prospects before proposing “marriage” (board service), “Tool #1: The Pathway to the Board,” lists six steps for the Governance Committee as they cultivate, recruit, orient, and engage board members. Download the template when you purchase the book, <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</i>. (<a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/10/tool-1-pathway-to-board.html" target="_blank">Read more here</a>.)</span><br />
John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09812658461615706988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-92066326919174680532020-06-16T05:00:00.000-04:002020-06-16T05:00:09.469-04:00QUESTION 8: Why Do We Need a Lead Director Anyway?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>A Nonexecutive Chair Might Help Your Board Prevent Sins of Omission and Sins of Commission!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><i><span style="color: #073763;">Note! </span></i></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Question 8 recommends a trending approach in for-profit boardrooms, often when the CEO is also the company’s Chairman. For this reason (and other reasons), the author suggests that boards name a “Lead Director”—a board member who has the time and requisite temperament to enhance the work of the board and the relationships between the board and the CEO. While this is very rare in nonprofit organizations, the chapter is still worth the read.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION </b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>8 of 14: Why Do We Need a Lead Director Anyway? </b></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, by Ram Charan (</span><a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Order from Amazon</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ram Charan says that boards need effective leadership.<b><span style="color: #073763;"> “No group of people, be it an orchestra, a basketball team, or a project team, ever becomes high-performing without a clear leader, and boards are no exception.”</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The author urges for-profit boards to consider appointing a Lead Director or nonexecutive chair. It’s “different from most other leadership positions,” he writes. “It’s subtle and respectful and based on trust instead of formal power. Exercised properly, it takes the board to higher ground, and thus the leader earns tremendous respect among her peers.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">But whether your nonprofit ministry board names a traditional board chair—or a Lead Director—the selection process for Christ-centered boards requires time, discernment, and due diligence. Heed David McKenna’s wisdom in his book, <i>Call of the Chair: Leading the Board of the Christ-centered Ministry</i> (<a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2017/06/call-of-the-chair.html">read my review</a>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">McKenna writes: “The chair for a Christ-centered ministry must be called of God as well as elected by the board. When the time comes for a board to elect a new chair, all business should stop while the members reflect in silence and ask that the Spirit of God might give them discernment in their selection.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Then this:<b><span style="color: #073763;"> “In the induction of the chair that follows, there should be the question, ‘Has God called you to this leadership position?’</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“The prayer that follows should seal that call with the sacredness of the moment. If done in a consecration service for the board, its officers, and its members, the significance of the chair is communicated throughout the organization.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">With that God-honoring leadership selection process in place, it’s then worth considering how Ram Charan’s thoughts might enrich your board’s effectiveness.</span></b> He notes that a Lead Director must have the “temperament, personality, and skills to build positive board dynamics in the boardroom.” But he adds, “That person should have no greater influence on the board decisions than any other [board member].”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">A Lead Director with the right skill sets (I would add, with the appropriate “<b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Align-Board-Member-Strengths-with-Committee-Assignments-LessonsNP">3 Powerful S’s</a></b>”—Strengths, Social Styles, and Spiritual Gifts) will be immeasurably more effective than the CEO when addressing the myriad of boardroom issues. All boards have “unwritten rules of the board’s social dynamics,” he says—and thus that unwritten protocol often exacerbates <b><span style="color: red;">“sins of omission”</span></b>—where the boards stands idle as the organization falters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">But—<i>you might push back</i>—can’t a traditional board chair (not the CEO) also be immensely effective? “Why do we need a Lead Director anyway?” Charan builds a very intelligent case why boardroom dynamics and relationships require a Lead Director with a superb skill set. (<i>And let’s be honest—many of us have endured innumerable board meetings led by less-than-competent board chairs</i>.) The author notes that a Lead Director—who is savvy to the social dynamics of the board—will also help steer the board away from <b><span style="color: red;">“sins of commission.”</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This chapter delivers a Lead Director job description—a narrative that focuses on three key areas:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b>Judging the Issues</b> (intellectual honesty is a prerequisite)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b>Making Meetings More Productive</b> (communicating with all board members in between meetings to fashion the right agenda; and to keep the discussion on track—with several helpful questions for prodding unfocused board members)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b>Building the CEO-Board Relationship</b> (example: “He or she is the one who gives the CEO feedback following executive sessions and sometimes provides coaching to the CEO.” Plus: sometimes it will be the Lead Director who delivers the feedback to a board member who acted inappropriately in a board meeting.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Two more helpful snippets: Charan believes it is critical that the Lead Director speak to every board member in between meetings so you don’t have “a two-tier board” which can lead to “power struggles between competing factions.” And because this position takes a large hunk of time, “a term of three years for a Lead Director seems about right.”</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Is our current board chair job description appropriate—in light of the demands on the board during these challenging times? Should we consider researching the concept of a Lead Director—or another scenario that would help our board be more effective?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>CHECK OUT THESE HELPFUL ECFA RESOURCES</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b>SURVEY:</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A recent ECFA survey noted that 52% of boards said <b>only one person</b> was considered when the board selected their current chair. Forty-six percent of boards said <b>two or more candidates</b> were considered. Download the 60-page report, <b><i><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Surveys.aspx">Unleashing Your Board’s Potential: Comprehensive Report from ECFA’s Nonprofit Governance Survey</a></i></b>, by Warren Bird, Ph.D.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• </span></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>CHAPTER: </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Align-Board-Member-Strengths-with-Committee-Assignments-LessonsNP">Click here</a> to read Lesson 25, “Align Board Member Strengths with Committee Assignments: Leverage the Three Powerful S’s,” from <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: 40 Insights for Better Board Meetings</i>, by Dan Busby and John Pearson.</span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09812658461615706988noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-42262633128980648502020-06-09T05:00:00.000-04:002020-06-09T05:00:08.155-04:00QUESTION 7: How Can Our Board Get CEO Compensation Right?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Don’t Tempt Management to Do Dumb Things!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />You know this scenario. You stepped out of the board meeting to take an urgent phone call. Upon your return, the board chair announces: <b><span style="color: #073763;">“Congratulations! You’ve just been elected chair of the CEO Compensation Committee.” </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ram Charan explains the angst. “Of all the topics in the boardroom, CEO compensation has the most potential to create tension in the board-management relationship.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION </b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>7 of 14: How Can Our Board Get CEO Compensation Right? </b></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, by Ram Charan (</span><a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Order from Amazon</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #073763;">Note! While this book—and especially Question 7—addresses for-profit governance issues, the savvy nonprofit board member will appreciate reading between the lines to capture a multitude of compensation wisdom that is highly relevant. True—nonprofit ministry board members are not eyeing volatile stock prices when setting CEO compensation. But they must still have a thoughtful rationale—a philosophy—for the compensation discussions and decisions.</span></i> <b>So…here are three lifelong learning options:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">[ ] Option 1:</span></b> Skip Question 7 in <i>Owning Up</i> and, instead, read Lesson 25 in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>, “Compensating the CEO—It’s About More Than Money.” <b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Compensating-the-CEO-It-s-About-More-than-Money-MoreLessonsNP">Click here</a></b> to read Lesson 25.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">[ ] Option 2:</span></b> Ask your CEO Compensation Committee to read Question 7 in <i>Owning Up</i> (and this blog).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">[ ] Option 3: </span></b>Inspire your full board to read both Lesson 25 and Question 7. (Congrats on being a lifelong learning board!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Hopefully, your board is blessed with two or more board members who have an appropriate level of experience and expertise in setting CEO compensation in nonprofit ministries.</b> But beware—there is no formula. One size doesn’t fit all. It’s complicated. It’s fraught with obstacles—both internal bungling and external unanticipated conditions (think COVID-19’s impact). As Ram Charan notes, “Business cycles change, and macro events like hurricanes or political turmoil happen.” (Note: he wrote this in 2009!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Often, strongly-opinionated board members, with limited experience, make compensation judgments in a vacuum, or worse, based on their own company’s compensation practices—totally unrelated to appropriate comparability data. Charan again: “…boards need to start with a blank slate and fresh thinking.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>There are numerous compensation-setting factors to consider:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Did you bring in this CEO to tackle a turnaround?</span></b> Business author Michael Watkins uses an acronym, “STARS,” to describe the four types of environments your CEO might be leading: Start-up, Turn-Around, Realignment, or Sustaining Success. Compensation approaches will vary widely—based on what your CEO inherited. (<b><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/07/the-first-90-days.html">Read more</a></b>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">What’s your compensation philosophy?</span></b> “Some of the objectives might also be nonfinancial in nature.” Does compensation include measurements for strategy, leadership development, leadership succession, and core values? When Dennis Bakke, author of <b><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3eK0HZ2">Joy at Work</a></i></b>, was CEO of the AES Corporation, the board evaluated him—partly—on how effectively their 40,000 employees were living their four shared values: to act with integrity, to be fair, to have fun, and to be socially responsible. (Read more in my chapter on the <a href="https://amzn.to/2rRBSYx">Culture Bucket</a>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Will the right compensation, with incentives and bonuses, motivate your CEO in a nonprofit setting? </span></b>Not so fast, says Clayton Christensen. In his bestseller, <i>How Will You Measure Your Life</i>, Christensen notes the <i>Harvard Business Review </i>article by Frederick Herzberg that discusses the “<i>two-factor theory</i>, or <i>motivation theory</i>—that turns the incentive theory on its head.” The two factors: hygiene and motivation. Compensation relates to the first factor. Christensen writes: “The opposite of <i>job dissatisfaction</i> isn’t <i>job satisfaction</i>, but rather an <i>absence of job dissatisfaction</i>.” (<a href="https://amzn.to/3cuWB5v">Read more</a>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Are annual CEO goals clear—and achievable?</span></b> Ram Charan recommends that boards “stress-test the goals against volatile external factors…” In the absence of <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/12/tool-11-monthly-dashboard-report.html">S.M.A.R.T. goals</a></b>, the annual performance review and compensation discussion tilts too much toward subjective factors—which is unfair to the CEO. And heed this warning from the author:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b><span style="color: #073763;">“Targets that are unrealistic or too far outside of management’s control </span><br /><span style="color: #073763;">won’t convince the executive team to work harder; </span><br /><span style="color: red;">they’ll convince management to do dumb things</span><span style="color: #073763;">.”</span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Did I mention—this is another must-read chapter? </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b>Ram Charan writes, “The purpose of a [compensation] philosophy is to clearly describe the board’s overall intent by stating in clear terms what the board will and will not do. The philosophy should be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the external environment and yet meet the test of consistency over time.” <i>Are there any volunteers to write (or review) our board’s compensation philosophy—or should we wait until you step out of the room? </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>CHECK OUT THESE HELPFUL ECFA RESOURCES</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b>SURVEY:</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A recent ECFA survey measured the difference between how much help board members, board chairs, and CEOs needed on 27 different governance topics. “The difference was the greatest—not dramatic, but noticeable—on the question of annual CEO performance review with CEOs wishing for more help than their board chairs or members voiced.” Download the 60-page report, <b><i><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Surveys.aspx">Unleashing Your Board’s Potential: Comprehensive Report from ECFA’s Nonprofit Governance Survey</a></i></b>, by Warren Bird, Ph.D.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• </span></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>CHAPTER:</b> <b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Compensating-the-CEO-It-s-About-More-than-Money-MoreLessonsNP">Click here</a></b> to read Lesson 25, “Compensating the CEO—It’s About More Than Money,” in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: Effectiveness, Excellence, Elephants!</i> by Dan Busby and John Pearson.</span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-45755192066236436442020-06-02T13:39:00.002-04:002020-06-02T13:39:52.787-04:00QUESTION 6: How Can We Get the Information We Need to Govern Well?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>“Boards Should Not Get All Their Information From Management Alone”</b></span><b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b><span style="color: red;">Warning! </span></b>Skip this chapter at your board’s own peril. I’ve read my fair share of <a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/03/best-board-books-index-to-18-good.html">governance books</a> and articles, but I’ve never read such a comprehensive discussion on structuring the information flow between management and the board—all in just 12 pages!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And, once again, this is a timely book—with references to the financial crisis of 2008. Change the dates to 2020 and COVID-19, and the author’s wisdom and warnings are pertinent again.</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION </b></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>6 of 14: How Can We Get the Information We Need to Govern Well? </b></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">, by Ram Charan (</span><a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Order from Amazon</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“The quality of the board’s <i>output</i>,” writes Ram Charan, “depends heavily on the information the board receives.” The author invokes architectural lingo to inspire boards and management to <i>design</i> the information flow—in other words, to collaborate proactively so the right information is available to the board at the right time. He adds:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“The right information architecture—the right kind of information presented in a way that enables the board to ask insightful, penetrating questions—lifts the focus in the boardroom.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">With the appropriate information, boards will “sort through, for example, <b><span style="color: #073763;">the four usual causes for performance deviations:</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • shifts in the macro environment,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • change in the consumer space,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • shifts in the competitive pattern,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • and the commission or omission of management actions.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Try this at your next board meeting: Ask your board to identify your four common causes of “performance deviations.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Charan cautions: <b><span style="color: #073763;">“Boards should not get all their information from management alone. They should be more active in seeking outside voices and hearing directly from employees.”</span></b> I would add this caution: do this carefully with agreed-upon staff/board protocols. <span style="color: red;">If executed clumsily, staff may blindside the CEO and/or a board member may ask inappropriate questions about the CEO. </span>Surveys can help. An outside facilitator could also help your board create guardrails for these conversations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>And get this! </i>The author urges boards and CEOs to pay attention to the “ambience” of a meeting. <b><span style="color: #073763;">“Using flip charts instead of PowerPoint slides, for instance, creates an informal atmosphere conducive to brainstorming and discussion.</span></b> Directors are more likely to get engaged, contribute spontaneously, and ask for clarification on the spot.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">He adds, “That kind of engagement doesn’t often occur in a one-way presentation in a darkened room.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So…think back to your last two or three board meetings in your Christ-centered organization. Did your board have the right and appropriate information at the right time? <b><span style="color: #073763;">Was there alignment between your board reports (written and verbal) and the four usual causes for “performance deviations?”<br /></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b>Shifts in the macro environment: </b>Did management keep the board assessed of trends in your ministry niche? (Examples: multi-site church campuses, online learning, theological trends, etc.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b>Change in the consumer space:</b> While you may be celebrating a five percent increase in giving year-to-date, what if other ministries are experiencing 20 percent increases? Why is this occurring?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b>Shifts in the competitive pattern:</b> <span style="color: #073763;">Are your ministry colleagues expanding their partnership/collaboration programs—or pulling back?</span> What should your ministry do?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b>The commission or omission of management actions:</b> Is your CEO delivering bad news (including omissions) or is your boardroom’s culture so risk-averse, such that program initiatives that flop are rarely discussed? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">One final thought: when the board is equipped with the right information at the right time—your prayer can be more focused, and we pray, your ministry will be more effective.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b>What are our four usual causes for “performance deviations?” Are we discussing these causes at every board meeting? </span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>MORE RESOURCES:</b> Check out these helpful ECFA resources:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <b>SURVEY:</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">According to a recent ECFA survey, “Boards want to monitor impact, but too often don’t track measurable goals to get there.” Per the survey, 79% of board members agree that “our board is very focused on measuring mission impact,” yet only 55% of board members “receive monthly or quarterly dashboard reports that identify agreed-upon metrics or measurements, outcomes, and impact for programs, products, and/or services.” Download the 60-page report, <b><i><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Surveys.aspx">Unleashing Your Board’s Potential: Comprehensive Report from ECFA’s Nonprofit Governance Survey</a></i></b>, by Warren Bird, Ph.D.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• TOOL</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">:</span></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking for an exceptional communication tool? Check out “The 5/15 Monthly Report to the Board,” from the book, <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</i>. <a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/12/tool-10-515-monthly-report-to-board.html">Click here</a> to read the color commentary on Tool #10.</span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-85418671274913617032020-05-26T05:00:00.000-04:002020-05-26T05:00:04.555-04:00QUESTION 5: Does Our Board Really Own the Strategy?<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>“Don’t Come With a Buttoned-Down Strategy Document”</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Here’s one of my Top-10 favorite governance quotes:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“There is nothing more important for a CEO <br />than having the right strategy and right choice of goals, <br />and for the board, <br />the right strategy is second only to having the right CEO.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">That wisdom is from Ram Charan and it’s very timely during the COVID-19 marathon. </span>Ironically, Charan references another crisis in this chapter. “The financial crisis of 2008 laid bare a long buried truth: that many boards do not really own the strategy of their company.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION 5 of 14: </b></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Does Our Board Really Own the [Ministry’s] Strategy?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i>, by Ram Charan (<a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM">Order from Amazon</a>)<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Why is strategy so important—and why should your board <i>own</i> the strategy?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Good News. </span></b>The CEO of ABC Ministry urges the board to expand into three more countries. This new initiative aligns with the organization’s written strategy and three-year rolling strategic plan. The board’s due diligence process considers this bold move during two consecutive board meetings (with focused time for prayer and discernment)—and approves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">Bad News. </span></b>The CEO of XYZ Ministry brags that “ideation” (a good thing) is her top strength from the <a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2018/11/living-your-strengths.html">Gallup StrengthsFinder assessment</a>. But with no prioritization filter, the latest idea-of-the-week lands on the board agenda—with no vetting. In the absence of a written strategy or strategic plan, the board authorizes a considerable chunk of future donations and this non-budgeted brainstorm becomes a boondoggle. Yikes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The best boards, writes Ram Charan, orchestrate comprehensive strategy discussions at board meetings—with ample time for Q&A. <b><span style="color: #073763;">“Don’t come with a buttoned-down strategy document,” board members are requesting, “talk to us about the knotty issues you’re grappling with; tell us what’s on your mind.”</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Rather than a 200-slide PowerPoint (snoozer!), Charan recommends a staff/board process that culminates in a five- to seven-page strategy document (about 2,000 words). Read the four-step process in this chapter and <b><span style="color: #073763;">learn how to use a two-day board retreat for the fourth step: “Conduct a Strategy Immersion Session.”</span></b> After one-on-one discussions on earlier drafts (CEO with individual board members), then meet in groups of four at the retreat, and ask:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • “What three things do you like about this strategy?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • What three things do you not like about this strategy?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • What three ideas do you propose that the strategy should seriously consider?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Read the entire chapter to leverage Charan’s very, very practical—but thorough—approach to engaging the board in strategy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Example: Noting that strategy should always be in the back of board members’ minds, he writes,<b><span style="color: #073763;"> “It helps to have the strategy brief or a two-page sheet of bullet points in the binder for every meeting.” </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">That two-page strategy brief would have helped XYZ Ministry. Board members—steeped in the importance of strategy—would have asked their CEO, “How does this new idea align with our written strategy?” (Short answer: It doesn’t—so please go back to the drawing board and our strategy documents.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you only read one chapter in <i>Owning Up</i>, read Chapter 5. And beware! “The shelf-life of a strategy is shortening,” says Charan. “The board’s objectivity and diverse viewpoints can help management detect a bend in the road” and other opportunities to grow or pull back—based on risk assessments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">As you prayerfully discern God’s voice for your ministry’s strategy, couple Ram Charan’s practical insights with <b><span style="color: #073763;">Randy Samelson’s six-step plan from 1 Chronicles 28-29</span></b>, in his helpful book, <i>Breakthrough: Unleashing the Power of a Proven Plan</i> (<a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2015/03/breakthrough.html">read my review</a>). He urges board members and ministry leaders to ask the Key Log Question: “Other than money, what one opportunity (or obstacle) if captured (or removed) would most advance your mission/vision?”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b>Randy Samelson says a credible plan has three elements: 1) It is written. 2) It is measurable. 3) It is responsive to the unexpected. </span><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Oops! How responsive is our current strategic plan to the COVID-19 marathon?)</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>MORE RESOURCES:</b> Check out these helpful ECFA resources:<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BLOG:</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://morelessonsnonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2020/01/lesson-2-engage-board-members-in.html">Click here</a></b> to read the guest blog by Bruce Johnson from Lesson 2 in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>, “Engage Board Members in Generative Thinking. They rely on generative thinking in their day jobs but are rarely asked to think collaboratively in the boardroom.” (<b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Engage-Board-Members-in-Generative-Thinking-MORELessonsNP">Click here</a></b> to read the chapter online.) Johnson reminds us, “No one joins a board because they love hearing reports. People join a board because they want to make a difference, they want to contribute to an organization or church they love.”</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• TOOL</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">:</span></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Consider summarizing your strategy and strategic plan with a one-page 11” x 17” template, “The Rolling 3-Year Strategic Plan Placemat,” Tool #14 from the book, <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</i>. <a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/01/tool-14-rolling-3-year-strategic-plan.html"><b>Click here</b></a> to read the color commentary on Tool #14.</span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-85906450203014111502020-05-19T05:00:00.000-04:002020-05-19T05:00:12.647-04:00QUESTION 4: Are We Well Prepared to Name Our Next CEO?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Emergency Succession: The Elephant in the Room?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b><i>Yikes! </i>“Three quarters of board members aren’t prepared for CEO succession, and fewer than 1 in 4 have a written succession plan.”</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">That discomforting news is one of 12 highlights (including low lights) from <i>ECFA’s Nonprofit Governance Survey Comprehensive Report: Unleashing Your Board’s Potential</i>, by Warren Bird, Ph.D. (Check out the library of free ECFA research findings and download this 60-page report by <a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Surveys.aspx">clicking here</a>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Even during this COVID-19 marathon—is it possible that your board might be looking for its next CEO? It’s certainly possible. Read on!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION 4 of 14: </b></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Are We Well Prepared to Name Our Next CEO?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i>, by Ram Charan (<a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM">Order from Amazon</a>)<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ram Charan reminds us that every board member <b><span style="color: #073763;">“knows deep down that nothing is more important than having the right CEO at all times.” </span></b>This fourth chapter in <i>Owning Up</i> is bursting with must-read sections. Here’s a taste:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• Succession planning is a long-term, on-going process, for healthy organizations. But it may take two to three years of diligent work and preparation when replacing the CEO.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">Start with strategy—not people. </span></b>“When the succession decision is about a year away, the board should take another hard look at the external environment and the business challenges and translate them into specific criteria for the CEO job.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• “Generalities such as ‘intelligent,’ ‘visionary,’ ‘strategic thinker,’ or ‘great with people’ will not be very helpful.” Instead, says Charan, <b><span style="color: #073763;">the board must identify three to five “non-negotiable” characteristics.</span></b> “Without them, a candidate cannot even be considered.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• The perfect search is rare. <b><span style="color: #073763;">“The test is not only whether the board can make the right decision, but also how quickly it can admit that it did not.” </span></b>Yikes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• The elephant in the room? <b style="color: red;">“Too often, boards are reticent to address the elephant in the room: emergency succession.”</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">While <i>Owning Up</i>’s 14 questions address life (and elephants) in the corporate boardroom, Christ-centered boards will appreciate these bare knuckle reality checks. I’m encouraging every board chair to make Chapter 4 required reading for every board member. <br /><br />Plus, enrich this critical competency with the four short videos and viewing guide in the <i><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/ToolboxSeries.aspx">ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 4: Succession Planning—Eleven Principles for Successful Successions</a></i> (“Every CEO is an Interim CEO”). Note, especially, these principles:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Principle 1: Avoid Buses and Boredom! (Emergency Succession)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Principle 2: Discern Your Board’s Succession Values and Beliefs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Principle 7: Trust God and Discern Direction! Wisdom on Ending Well</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In the ECFAPress book, <i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/02/stewards-of-a-sacred-trust.html">Stewards of a Sacred Trust: CEO Selection, Transition and Development for Boards of Christ-centered Organizations</a></i>, David McKenna raises the stakes on CEO succession with this: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">“Like the ripple effect of a stone tossed into a pond, <br />the CEO’s influence will move in waves through generations. <br />No decision of the board, <br />absolutely no decision, is more profound.”</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARDROOM DISCUSSION: </b>Do we have prayerful, discerning, competent, and succession-savvy board members in place—so we’re prepared for our next CEO succession, whenever that might come?</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>MORE RESOURCES:</b> Check out these helpful ECFA resources:<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BLOG:</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/01/lesson-9-serve-with-humility-and.html">Click here</a></b> to read the guest blog by Reid Lehman from Lesson 9 in <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>, “Serve with Humility and Experience God’s Presence. One board chair creates a holy moment for his CEO Search Committee.” (<b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Serve-With-Humility-and-Experience-Gods-Presence-LessonsNP">Click here</a></b> to read the chapter online.) Lehman notes that “board leadership is a ‘group sport.’” Read Reid's reason.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• TOOL</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">:</span></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Download the <b><i><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/ToolboxSeries.aspx">ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 4: Succession Planning—Eleven Principles for Successful Successions</a></i></b> and view one or more of the short videos at your next board meeting or board retreat. For the color commentary on each of the 11 principles, <a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2018/06/succession-planning-11-principles-index.html"><b>click here</b></a> for the index to the 11-part blog series.</span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-26010866517469625462020-05-12T05:00:00.000-04:002020-05-12T05:00:12.020-04:00QUESTION 3: Are We Prepared to Do Our Job Well When a Crisis Erupts?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The </b></span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Board’s Role With Unknowable Unknowns</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Wow! Question 3 is way too timely!</b> In this 14-part series from the must-read governance book, <i>Owning Up</i> (<a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/01/owning-up.html">read my review</a>), Ram Charan says there are two kinds of crises:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Crisis #1: The Knowable Unknowns</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> • Crisis #2: The Unknowable Unknowns</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He elaborates on the these two types: “…those that are knowable, meaning they happen from time to time but at unpredictable intervals and with varying ferocity, and those that are unknowable, meaning no one has even imagined such an event.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION 3 of 14: </b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Are </b></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>We Prepared to Do Our Job Well When a Crisis Erupts?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i> (<a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM">Order from Amazon</a>)<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether COVID-19 was predictable or not, Ram Charan says “Boards have to prepare for both the knowable unknowns and the unknowable ones in order to minimize disruption to the [organization], damage to the brand and [organization] reputation, and loss of hard cash.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">A plethora of experts and not-so-expert prognosticators are weighing in on Zoom webinars, white papers, and memes—and often (my opinion) giving inappropriate directions for the foggy journey ahead. <b><span style="color: #073763;">The good news:</span></b> CEOs and board members can pick their flavor-of-the-week expert and find agreement for their own opinions. <b><span style="color: #073763;">The bad news: </span></b>CEOs and board members can pick their flavor-of-the-week expert and find agreement for their own opinions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Reminder:</span><span style="color: #073763; font-weight: bold;"> “In their hearts humans plan their course, </span><br /><span style="color: #073763;"><b>but the Lord establishes their steps.” </b>(Proverbs 16:9, NIV)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Charan’s crisis wisdom is worth reading:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#1. Benchmark Crisis Practices.</span></b> It’s never too late to get ready for the next crisis. For the knowable unknowns: “They should not be a complete surprise, and some expertise will exist somewhere to deal with them. Boards need to benchmark these practices as a preparedness measure.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#2. Address Internally Inflicted Situations.</span></b> Some crisis situations are, sadly, created by management (hasty hires, overly optimistic cash flow forecasts, revenue bucket imbalances, inadequate or no customer research, etc.). Boards can also stumble and create or exacerbate problems. “Every board needs to decide which categories are important enough to prepare for ahead of time.” <i>How? See the next point.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#3. Establish a Crisis Committee. </span></b>Charan writes that boards must ensure that management has “a core group that forms a crisis committee comprising the CEO, general counsel, CFO, and a public relations and communications officer.” He adds, “In each case, there must be a point person in charge and a game plan that can be deployed instantly.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#4. Rehearse! Rehearse! Rehearse! </span></b>It’s too late to “rehearse” for the front end of COVID-19. But it’s not too late to be prepared for the next knowable unknown crisis. Charan recommends that boards prepare “a list of advisors or experts available to the board 24/7 and keeping contact information current can save valuable time in the heat of the moment. Rehearsing a crisis can test how well the mechanisms and processes are working.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Board’s Role With Unknowable Unknowns</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I urge your CEO and board chair to read chapter 3—even in the midst of the current unknowable unknown crisis. Charan advises, “Here the board can be an important check on management’s interpretation of events, because even the best CEOs can sometimes be too optimistic or have blind spots.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>As your board members pray daily (we hope) about Plan B or Plan C, heed these insights from the author:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• “The board should also help management imagine <b><span style="color: #073763;">what the domino effect might be</span></b>, projecting what other problems might arise as the one thing triggers something else.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• <span style="color: red;">“Waiting for management to make a move is a mistake. Management, after all, has never been tested under the conditions of an unknowable unknown, and the board cannot assume they know how to respond.” </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARD DISCUSSION: </b>In chapter 3, Ram Charan cites a board that met six times in two months during a crisis. Is your board meeting at appropriate intervals during this COVID-19 unknowable unknown?</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>MORE RESOURCES:</b> Check out these helpful ECFA resources:<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BLOG:</b> </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/03/lesson-19-never-throw-red-meat-on-board.html">Click here</a> to read the guest blog by David Wills from Lesson 19 in <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>, “Never Throw Red Meat on the Board Table. Boards need advance preparation to fully address complex issues.” (<a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Never-Throw-Red-Meat-on-the-Board-Table-LessonsNP">Click here</a> to read the chapter online.) Wills notes, “The currency of great boards is great discernment.”</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• TOOL</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">:</span></b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> The book, <i>Owning Up</i>, is featured in Tool #13, “Board Retreat Read-and-Reflect Worksheets,” from the book, <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</i>. <a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/01/tool-13-board-retreat-read-and-reflect.html">Click here</a> for the color commentary on Tool #13.</span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-55107045445751983022020-05-05T05:00:00.000-04:002020-05-05T05:00:08.434-04:00QUESTION 2: Are We Addressing the Risks That Could Send Our Organization Over the Cliff?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Seemingly Improbable 100-Year Flood!</b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />During this COVID-19 marathon, I’m encouraging board members to address 14 critical boardroom questions from the savvy wisdom of Ram Charan’s must-read governance book, <i>Owning Up</i>. (<a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/01/owning-up.html">Click here</a> to read my review.) The second chapter (just 13 pages) is so, so timely. Wow. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ram Charan urges boards to look at risk through five different lenses. He notes, <b><span style="color: red;">“…keeping in mind that the seemingly improbable hundred-year flood might well occur during your board’s tenure.”</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION 2 of 14: </b></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Are We Addressing the Risks That Could Send Our [Organization] Over the Cliff?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i> (<a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM">Order from Amazon</a>)<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Examine risk through five lenses:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b><span style="color: #073763;">#1. The Financial Vulnerability Lens.</span></b> “The board should watch cash flows—everybody knows cash is king—as an early warning signal of distress.” (<i>Raise your hand if you agree that having more cash on hand would have better prepared you for this COVID-19 marathon</i>.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#2. The Strategy and Operations Lens. </span></b>“Monitoring is not just about making the numbers, but also about talking through the risks.” The author adds, <b><span style="color: #073763;">“If you have no appetite for risk, you shouldn’t be on a board;</span></b> it will inhibit the CEO from making bold and necessary moves and potentially company-saving bets.” <span style="color: red;">Yet he also warns that boards must watch both ends of this continuum: CEOs who tilt toward greater risk and CEOs who are risk-averse.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#3. The Political and Geopolitical Risk.</span></b> Here, Charan recommends assembling advisory boards to ensure there is expertise where needed. If your ministry operates internationally—or depends on people or resources from another country—are you prepared for the what-ifs?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Do local, state, and national politicians understand the important work you do? Does someone on your team have relationships with these decision-makers? As Dan Heath writes in <i><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2020/04/upstream-the-quest-to-solve-problems-before-they-happen.html">Upstream</a></i>, <b><span style="color: #073763;">“You don’t want to be exchanging business cards in the middle of an emergency.”</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#4. The Reputation Lens.</span></b> Ram Charan is prophetic! “In this age of transparency, an idea or rumor can spread instantly across the Internet like a virus.” He adds that some boards and organizations “have been blind to the factors that caused their reputations to fade, even though they had plenty of time to do something about it.” <i>Do you have an action plan for addressing Internet rumors?</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">#5. The People and Culture Lens.</span></b> The author warns, “Boards must also watch for a toxic culture that enables ethical lapses throughout the organization.” To check the temperature of your culture, Charan suggests boards follow the lead of General Electric and conduct periodic “pulse surveys.” ECFA, for example, participates in the “<a href="https://www.bcwinstitute.org/">Certified Best Christian Workplace</a>” process—and is one of many ministries that have earned that certification.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So how is your board assessing risk? Charan suggests you establish a “stand-alone risk committee, which would work with the audit committee.” And consider this:<span style="color: red;"> if you’re “climbing out of hot water, the board might even suggest that the CEO hire a chief risk officer.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I urge your board to delegate their reading so at least one board member and one senior team member dives deep into this important book—and, especially, this important chapter. Then, set aside time at your next board meeting—or even between board meetings with a Zoom call—for special prayer and discernment, as you trust God on how best to prepare for the next crisis. <i>It will come. </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>BOARD DISCUSSION: </b>Is “risk assessment” on your board’s agenda—at least once a year?</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>MORE RESOURCES:</b> Check out these helpful ECFA resources:<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>BLOG:</b> <a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/07/lesson-35-is-your-board-color-blind.html">Click here</a> to read the guest blog by Danny de Armas from Lesson 35, “Is Your Board Color-Blind to Hazardous Conditions? What color is your boardroom flag?” in <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>. (<a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Is-Your-Board-Color-Blind-to-Hazardous-Conditions-LessonsNP">Click here</a> to read the chapter online.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>TOOL: </b>“The Board’s Annual Financial Management Audit: 20 True/False Statements the Board Must Address Annually (<b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/11/tool-6-boards-annual-financial.html">Tool #6</a></b>),” from the book, <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board.</i></span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-28835337306464192452020-04-28T05:00:00.000-04:002020-04-28T05:00:11.348-04:00QUESTION 1: Is Our Board Composition Right?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />“A Board Full of Generalists <br />Is Not Good Enough Anymore”</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />This week while we’re still enduring the COVID-19 marathon, I’m launching a series of 14 pesky boardroom questions—over the next 14 blogs. I’m leaning on the savvy wisdom of Ram Charan’s helpful governance book, <i>Owning Up</i>. (<b><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/01/owning-up.html">Click here to read my review</a></b>.) The first chapter (just 18 pages) is jam-packed with boardroom insights. He writes:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“The role of the board has unmistakably transitioned from passive governance to active leadership with a delicate balance of avoiding micromanaging. <b><span style="color: #073763;">It’s leadership as a group, not leadership by an appointed person.</span></b>” He adds, <span style="color: red;">“With the right composition, a board can create value; with the wrong or inappropriate composition, it can easily destroy value.”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>QUESTION 1 of 14: Is Our Board Composition Right?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Owning Up: The 14 Questions Every Board Member Needs to Ask</i> (<a href="https://amzn.to/3bD6CxM">Order from Amazon</a>)<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Here are three takeaways:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">Plan for Board Succession.</span></b> Address “the anticipated requirements of the board composition over five to ten years. Staggering the ages of directors on a board is important—that’s why a ten-year view is needed.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">Recruit for Expertise (but don’t recruit micro-managers).</span></b> Charan recommends using a skill assessment matrix <b><span style="color: red;">“…because a board full of generalists is not good enough anymore.”</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b><span style="color: #073763;">Conduct Deep Reference Checks. </span></b>“Standard reference checking is not enough. Governance committees must make the commitment to vigorously check a candidate’s references by talking to other people in the board’s own social and professional networks.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The author asks board members to annually conduct their own reality check: “Are You Staying on Your Board for the Right Reasons?” Chapter 1 also notes the biggest red flag to avoid—a board nominee with a big ego. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">So is your Christ-centered board appropriately addressing these board composition issues?</span></b> Urge your Governance Committee, or Executive Committee, to read this chapter and ask these questions:<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Do we have a plan for board succession? <i><span style="color: #073763;">Is there a spiritual discernment component to our board member recruitment process?</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Is our board composition wide enough and diverse enough to address our needs five years from now? Is boardroom group-think common or uncommon? Do we hear from God about our board prospects—or just the loudest-talking board member or the largest donor?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Do we consistently go deep when checking references—including a board prospect’s pastor, small group leader, and/or other influential people in his or her life?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">It’s been said that “there are no dysfunctional organizations—only dysfunctional boards.” </span></b>Thus, creating and leveraging the right board composition is critical. God-honoring boards will give high priority to board succession best practices.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>BOARD DISCUSSION: </b>What ONE next step is the most critical for our board—this quarter?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>MORE RESOURCES:</b> Check out these helpful ECFA resources:</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/ToolboxSeries.aspx">VIDEO</a></b>: <i>ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 1 - Recruiting Board Members: Leveraging the 4 Phases of Board Recruitment: Cultivation, Recruitment, Orientation, and Engagement </i>(online video, viewing guide, and facilitator guide)</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b><a href="https://nonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2018/02/lesson-14-if-you-need-board-member.html">BLOG</a></b>: “If You Need a Board Member, Recruit a Board Member,” by Bruce Johnson, in the 40-week series, <i>Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom Blog</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">• <b><a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/10/tool-1-pathway-to-board.html">TOOL</a></b>: “The Pathway to the Board: Six Steps on the Pathway to Board Service,” from the book, <i>ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board</i></span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-43751759112216844262020-04-21T05:00:00.000-04:002020-04-21T05:00:00.571-04:00Pop Quiz: Top-5 Ways to Bless Your Ministry<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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<b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />“What Everyone Knows Is Usually Wrong” </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b><span style="color: red;">STOP! </span></b>Before you read further, grab a blank piece of paper and a pen (it’s homeschool time!)…and answer this question: </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“During this COVID-19 crisis, what are five ways that I can leverage my time, my spiritual gifts, and my network—to make a unique impact as a board member?”</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>1.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>2.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>3.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>4.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>5.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Time’s up! Pens down!</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Here’s my Top-5 list, plus a book recommendation for each suggestion:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">#1. MEMO TO SELF: SHUT UP!</span></b> Even though—like all board members—I have dozens of brilliants opinions and recommendations for everyone else, I would reel it back a bit and try to be a better listener on Zoom calls. Maybe I could tamp down the know-it-all gene, and—instead—bless other board members, our CEO, and senior team members. I’ve posted this on my office wall:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“You can be known as the person who helps articulate the critical issue or as the person who provides hasty answers to solve the wrong problem. <br />Which would you prefer? Exactly.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2020/03/the-advice-trap.html">Click here</a></b> to read my review of <i>The Advice Trap: Be Humble, Stay Curious & Change the Way You Lead Forever</i>, by Michael Bungay Stanier.<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">#2. HELP OUR CEO DISCERN “THE ONE THING.”</span><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b>As a board member, I would call or email the CEO with this insight and offer to have a conversation about his or her “ONE Thing:”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"What's the ONE Thing you can do this week <br />such that by doing it <br />everything else would be easier or unnecessary?"</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2016/05/the-one-thing.html">Click here</a></b> to read my review of <i>The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results</i>, by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan.<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><b>#3. DON’T MAKE THE PROBLEM WORSE.</b> </span>As you experiment with new programs (online and other innovations), take a step back to ensure that you don’t create unintended consequences—like the “cobra effect” noted here:<br /></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“When we fail to anticipate second-order consequences, it’s an invitation to disaster, as the ‘cobra effect’ makes clear. The cobra effect occurs when an attempted solution to a problem makes the problem worse.” That happened in India, during the UK’s colonial rule. “A bounty on cobras was declared,” and citizens received cash for producing dead cobras. You guessed it—the entrepreneurs <br />began breeding more cobras. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2020/04/upstream-the-quest-to-solve-problems-before-they-happen.html">Click here</a></b> to read my review of <i>Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen</i>, by Dan Heath. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">#4. CONSULT OUTSIDE WISDOM.</span></b> I would urge our board and CEO to slow down (even though these are urgent days) and not launch new initiatives or apply Band-Aid fixes to complex problems—without adequate due diligence. I’d give our CEO quick examples of hasty actions gone south—including several that I’ve observed in the last four weeks. <i><span style="color: #073763;">My sense: many program and communication disasters could have been avoided—had the CEO and/or the board sought outside wisdom from an independent third party. </span></i>(You likely have observed numerous knee-jerk reactions. “What were they thinking? Why didn’t they ask someone outside their inner circle? Yikes!”)</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">Peter Drucker: </span></b></div>
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<b>“What everyone knows is usually wrong.”</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2014/01/the-practical-drucker.html">Click here</a></b> to read my review of <i>The Practical Drucker: Applying the Wisdom of the World’s Greatest Management Thinker</i>, by William A. Cohen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">#5. DELEGATE!</span></b> I’ve noticed in recent weeks that CEOs and board members have taken on heavy, heavy loads—doing way too much—and, in one sense, playing god, not leaning on God. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“There is no virtue in doing more than our fair share of work,” writes J. Oswald Sanders in his oft-quoted classic, <i>Spiritual Leadership</i>. Referencing the delegation counsel from Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, Sanders adds, “Moses could doubtless have done the task better than the 70 men whom he selected, but had he persisted in doing so, he would soon have been only a memory."</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://urgentink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/08/issue-no-153-of-your-weekly-staff-meeting-features-a-spiritual-leadership-classic-at-your-next-staff-meeting-ask-a-team-me.html">Click here</a></b> to read my review of <i>Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer</i>, by J. Oswald Sanders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>BOARD DISCUSSION: </b></span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">What’s the board’s “ONE Thing” this week—and who is best gifted to own this? Is our CEO trusting God—or playing god?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">MORE RESOURCES:</span><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Lesson 9 in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>, “Just Do One Thing a Month. Make a specific ask of each board member each month.” Devlin Donaldson suggests how you can unleash your board members to experience much greater satisfaction and productivity! <b><a href="https://morelessonsnonprofitboardroom.blogspot.com/2020/03/lesson-9-just-do-one-thing-month.html">Click here</a></b>.</span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7525764187202328538.post-87470956021962194682020-04-14T05:00:00.000-04:002020-04-14T05:00:01.467-04:00Gloom, Boom, and Zoom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<b style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">God Willing, the Post-COVID-19 Era Might Usher in an Unprecedented Response to the Gospel</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Wow! All bloggers today (no matter the subject) are medical, financial, psychological, and pastoral experts. COVID-19 has unleashed the advice-giving genes in every LinkedIn and Facebook user. So…here is my three cents-worth:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><b>#1. GLOOM.</b> </span>Even the newspaper comic strips have themed into the despair. (See “Pearls Before Swine” by Stephan Pastis for last Tuesday. <b><a href="https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2020/04/07">Click here</a></b>.) Some board members—one layer removed from the day-to-day action/survival plans—may inappropriately tilt toward gloom. Be aware!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But—when you are a student of your CEO’s, board chair’s, and board members’ “3 Powerful S’s” (<b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/Align-Board-Member-Strengths-with-Committee-Assignments-LessonsNP">click here</a></b> for more on spiritual gifts, strengths, and social style), you’ll understand and balance their responses to crisis. For example, the way each of <b><a href="https://www.managementbuckets.com/people-bucket">the four social styles</a></b> <i>act </i>is different: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • <b><span style="color: #073763;">Analyticals</span></b> are cautious.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • <b><span style="color: #073763;">Drivers</span></b> are decisive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • <b><span style="color: #073763;">Amiables</span></b> are slow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • <b><span style="color: #073763;">Expressives</span></b> are impulsive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Your board needs deep discernment from all members—before moving in the wrong direction to address your unique crisis. And—remind the drivers on your board—that you may need to stop and lament. (<b><a href="https://time.com/5808495/coronavirus-christianity/">Read N.T. Wright’s thoughts on lamenting</a></b> in <i>Time</i> magazine. He writes, The mystery of the biblical story is that <i>God also laments</i>.”)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">#2. BOOM.</span></b> Possibly, God willing, the post-COVID-19 era might usher in an unprecedented response to the Gospel. Are your board, CEO, and senior team making plans—not for surviving, but thriving? Maybe:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • Colleges and camps will become residential villages of revival.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • Churches will re-invent themselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • International outreach will be resourced with an outpouring of funds and volunteers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • Christian ministries will innovate down Holy Spirit-led paths.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maybe, one more time, we should read <b><i><a href="https://amzn.to/2wqJ3Js">The Prayer of Jabez</a></i></b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">#3. ZOOM.</span></b> (<i>Note: I’m not an online meeting expert.</i>) While there are hundreds of articles and columns on how to facilitate online meetings with Zoom, Skype, and other portals—is anyone actually reading these articles? <i>I don’t think so!</i> <br /><br /><b>Four suggestions:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • <b><span style="color: #073763;">Your screen presence. </span></b>If I can see the ceiling in your office or third bedroom, repeat after me: “Position the camera at EYE level.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • <b><span style="color: #073763;">Meeting agenda.</span></b> Please email the agenda at least two to seven days in advance. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • <b><span style="color: #073763;">Should you postpone a decision?</span></b> Hopefully, our business-by-bunker environment will end soon. But—caution! There are two enemies of sound board decisions—and one is to make major decisions online, and not in person. And if you must meet online, estimate the length of the meeting—and then double it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> • <b><span style="color: #073763;">Ask for feedback.</span></b> Zoom meetings will unlikely meet the needs of all four social styles, but always (always!) ask for feedback. <a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2019/11/tool-4-five-finger-feedback.html">Every meeting can be improved</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>BOARD DISCUSSION: </b></span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Around-the-Zoom-room: <a href="https://ecfagovernance.blogspot.com/2020/03/pick-1-word-that-describes-how-youre.html">What are you feeling today</a>? What are your insights about the future? What is God saying to you?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #073763;">MORE RESOURCES:</span><span style="color: #073763;"> </span></b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read Lesson 29 in <i>More Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom</i>, “The Two Enemies of Sound Board Decisions. Avoid being pressed for time and making major decisions remotely.” <b><a href="https://www.ecfa.org/Content/The-Two-Enemies-of-Sound-Board-Decisions-MoreLessonsNP">Click here</a></b>. </span>John Pearsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02097160615301404510noreply@blogger.com0