Best Board Books #3: Best Practices for Effective Boards

Here’s a very helpful Christ-centered governance book—as part of my series on “best board books.” Pick one that fits your board’s culture and needs.

Book #3: Best Practices for Effective Boards, by E. LeBron Fairbanks, Dwight M. Gunter II, and James R. Cauchenour. Read my review here.

The total years of board leadership and board service for these three co-authors would rival almost any other trio. The best practices have been culled from 1) a lifetime of service as a denominational education commissioner (working with 54 educational institutions in 36 countries), 2) as a board chair and business leader, and 3) as a seasoned pastor/author and board member.

With almost 40 pages covering 11 documents in the appendix, you could skip the book and strike gold in every resource: “Leader Effectiveness Review Grid (22 leadership behaviors),” “Board Standing Policy Manual,” “Rules of the Road for Christlike Conflict Management,” and a “Board Survey” with 22 questions.

Can a book that articulates Christ-centered character standards for board members also meet the high bar of governance excellence? Yes! The guts of the book, 12 chapters, include helpful discussions on:
   • “Ears In, Fingers Out” (great shorthand for the board role)
   • “Take Time” (slowing decision-making down to hear from God)
   • “Yes! to Missional Change” (choose your battles wisely)
   • “Role Models of Generosity and Stewardship” (why board members must set the pace in generous giving and inspiring others to give)

In his chapter, “Yes! to Missional Change,” Pastor Dwight Gunter asks “How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?” His answer: “Seven. One to change the bulb and six to resist the change.” (Insert “How many board members…” and it’s just as funny.)

Co-author LeBron Fairbanks, founding director of BoardServe which serves as a global intervention and coaching resource for boards, shares my favorite quotation in the book—this from a CPA firm: 

“In the long run, only integrity matters.
In fact, without integrity, there will be no long run.”

BOARD DISCUSSION: What is the next book our board should read? What is the next book our staff should read—a book that would help them clear up many of the myths and misunderstandings about the board’s role versus the staff’s role?

MORE RESOURCES: Follow the “40 Blogs. 40 Wednesdays.” color commentaries on Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. Click here.

Our Biblical Model For Succession

CEO succession, a dormant subject just a few years ago, has come fully alive. Boards are thinking about succession, not only when their CEO is ready to retire or under threat of dismissal, but as a working principle of good governance. For Christ-centered ministries, Elijah’s transfer of prophetic authority to Elisha is our succession model. Follow the sequence. Elijah, aware that his leadership is coming to completion, is told by God to anoint Elisha as a man of unquestioned integrity and youthful energy. So, in an irreversible act, Elijah takes off his mantle and puts it on the shoulders of Elisha, never to take it back. The newly ordained prophet responds in kind. Elisha sells all of his equipment, slaughters all of his oxen, and feeds the poor to let everyone know that he will never turn back from his calling. Then, in a mentoring moment, Elisha follows Elijah to be his servant and learn from the master.

Dare we follow this model? If so, we need CEOs of Christ-centered ministries who are not threatened by the reality of succession. We need CEOs who are actively cultivating potential successors to their position. We need CEOs who pass the mantle of leadership without reservation. We need successors who cut all of the lines of the past in order to give themselves unreservedly, and even sacrificially, to CEO leadership. And then, we need senior statesmen who will make mentoring of the next generation the lasting legacy of their leadership.