The Power of Passion: It’s OK to Say No!

A leader recently told me that while she had said yes to a volunteer opportunity—she should have said NO!

“Looking back now,” she told me, “I realized I had zero passion for the project. I said yes, but that was a big mistake.”

How many times is this scenario inappropriately played out in your boardroom? Recognize anyone here?
• Your board chair asks Chandler to lead the task force. She’s amazingly effective—but has zero passion for this assignment. She says yes—but has no joy in the task.
• Your CEO needs a board member to represent the ministry at a community event. Roberto is a team player and says yes, but procrastinates in his preparation—and it shows. He didn’t bring his A game.
• Suzanne’s social style is “amiable.” She’s a pleaser and said yes to a last-minute request. Her congeniality exceeds her competence. Another bungled assignment.

Hans Finzel writes “When who we are lines up with the role we are in, then we are in a place of passion.” He urges leaders (and I would add, board members) to say yes ONLY when opportunities fall in the “The Passion Zone.”

In describing the passion zone, Finzel asks: How much does “The Leader” circle (gifts, abilities, strengths, personalities, values, calling) overlap with “The Role” circle (followers, culture, responsibilities, activities, situation, history)?

While his book speaks mostly to organizational leaders, savvy board members will find it immediately convicting also. Board members could use a serious does of Finzel’s transparency:

“The number one issue for me was passion.
My heart was no longer engaged in my job—the fire had gone out.
My heart had left the building.”

Click here to read my review of The Power of Passion in Leadership: Lead From Your Heart, Not Just Your Head, by Hans Finzel (just 73 pages).

Here’s the gut check for board members: does your board service (including your ad hoc assignments) leverage your “3 Powerful S’s” (Spiritual Gifts, Strengths, and Social Styles)? If not, your board work will often be a draining experience. That’s not God’s plan!

What should you do?
• Ask a wise and trusted friend if your board service is adding to Kingdom impact and your joy—or detracting from it.
• Say “NO!” when assignments will not align with your giftedness and passion.
• Say “YES!” when assignments bring you joy and others affirm your passion.

Finzel notes Proverbs 4:23 in the NIV: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

BOARD DISCUSSION: Are we asking the right board members to tackle the right assignments? Are we getting an appropriate number of “no” responses—perhaps meaning board members are telling us the truth about what brings them joy?

MORE RESOURCES: Erika Cole shares wisdom on this issue in her guest blog, “Align Board Member Strengths With Committee Assignments,” based on chapter 25 in Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: 40 Insights for Better Board Meetings (Second Edition), by Dan Busby and John Pearson.

Board Service Word Association Game

Quick! What’s the first word that comes to mind when a colleague or family member asks you, “What’s it like to serve on that board?”

Pick one:
   • Joy
   • Irksome
   • Boring
   • Inspiring
   • Fulfilling
   • Fun
   • Fruitful
   • Encouraging
   • Discouraging
   • (Other):

What’s your word?

My dad served a few terms on the deacon board at our church. I don’t ever recall his post-board meeting commentaries being joyful. Did your parents serve on church or ministry boards? How would they describe board meetings? Are you serving on a board today because of a parent or older mentor who paved a positive path for you?

As a young CEO of what is now called Christian Camp and Conference Association (CCCA), I was blessed with remarkable board members, and especially board chairs. I remember looking forward to board meetings. 

One of my board chairs in the 1980s, Bob McDowell, had a rich blend of both pastoral and practical gifts. He told us that at the board meetings of Warm Beach Camp and Conference Center (where he served as CEO), he projected the mission statement on the wall—so all decision-making would be in alignment with their mission. That helped our association board fine-tune our mission and stay focused on our vision.

Fast forward to 2016. Bob’s son, Ed McDowell, is now the CEO at Warm Beach and also chairs the national board of CCCA. Ed, I’m sure, saw joy in his dad’s board service, and he joyfully accepted the leadership and board baton. Today, Ed is creating a ripple effect of board service fruitfulness—locally, nationally, and internationally.

This past month when Ed and I were facilitating a board enrichment process for 12 ministries, I learned a new governance term from him: “heavy lifting.” The Warm Beach board meets three times a year (including a board retreat). “Heavy Lifting” or “Work that Matters,” notes Ed, “gets the prime energy of the day. In our 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. agenda, heavy lifting will be from 9:30 a.m. to noon.”

The board wants their best energy (mornings) to be focused on the big agenda items for that meeting. Here’s a bonus idea from Ed. The Warm Beach board uses this sequence in their heavy lifting sessions:
   • Context
   • Draft Recommendation
   • Discussion
   • Refine or Refer Back (to committee, staff, or task force)
   • Approve If Ready

“Heavy lifting” was a new board term for me—and, as I reflected on this, it was a double blessing.  Bob McDowell mentored me on joyful board service and now I’m learning even more from his son, Ed.

QUESTION: Does your board service inspire other family members (sons, daughters, nieces and nephews) to invest their lives in Christ-centered board work? What are they learning from you about growing healthy boards?

Board Member Getting: It’s Time to Demystify Fundraising

In my last blog, “Board Member Giving: 4 Types,” I launched a two-part discussion prompted by the ECFA 3rd Annual Nonprofit Governance Survey (watch for the Executive Summary this fall). The survey said there’s a big gap between board giving and the training of board members in fundraising and stewardship.

The Gap. The survey reports that “less than 42 percent of their organizations provide training to equip and inspire board members on the ‘how to’ of inviting others to give.” So there’s a big gap between expectations and equipping.

The Fix. (Actually, as you know, there is no “quick fix,” but there are best practices.) Here are some thoughts: 

First, leverage passion and giftedness.  Every Christ-follower does not have every spiritual gift. Yet, many leaders expect every board member to be competent fundraisers. Some are gifted in inspiring others to give; some aren’t. 

“Fundraising” is not a spiritual gift, of course, but I’ve noticed that some board members, with training and inspiration, can leverage their giftedness in leadership, administration, evangelism, even mercy and exhortation—to the benefit of kingdom resource development.

Next, let’s demystify fundraising. I was asked to discuss this subject with a board recently and so I started the session with a simple exercise. I asked the group to divide up into groups of two and answer this question:

“Describe a time when you experienced great joy
upon giving a financial gift to an organization, a church, or a friend.”

The stories were amazing! Smiles boomeranged around the room! The conversations were joy-filled. 

In that teachable moment many board members realized that generous giving is both God-honoring and personally uplifting. Many realized—almost an epiphany—that inviting another person to give generously is inviting them to experience the kind of joy that they had experienced. 

Inviting others into the joy of giving is a natural, friend-to-friend thing to do. It’s only unnatural when we allow Satan to cloud the purity of generosity with bad theology. 

So…rather than blame, shame, cajole or pressure your board members into being reluctant fundraisers, go slow. Invite reflection. Focus on joy, not obligation.

I know. It’s much easier to blog about fundraising than to actually do it. In R. Scott Rodin’s thin little novelette, The Third Conversion, he cautions Christian development professionals (and board members):

"This is a bad time to get good at doing old things. The new wine of this biblical way of raising ministry resources requires new wineskins."

QUESTIONS: Has your board or CEO created a “one size fits all” herd mentality that demands every board member must be a fundraiser—without thoughtfully leveraging the passions and spiritual giftedness of each board member? If so, how are you going change this? Could you individualize expectations so you’re aligning board work with the way God has uniquely made each person around the table?