Two Things Boards Should Never Joke About

Olan Hendrix, the first executive director of ECFA, shared the following wisdom in the May 1999 issue of CMA Management Monthly. His wisdom adds another layer to the distinctiveness of Christ-centered organizations and the boards that govern them.

“During a session of CMA’s Jungle Fighters Forum last year, I commented that ‘there are some things you should never joke about.’ When one emerging young leader asked for examples, I gave him two: prayer and fundraising. Let me explain why I believe neither should ever be the subject of jokes.

Prayer

“I couldn’t believe my ears! My client, who had retained me to search for an individual to fill a key position in his organization, told me he was rejecting the candidate I had recommended. I was convinced the man met all the job qualifications. He had an impressive track record, and seemed ideal for the position. His life was in order, and he fit the doctrinal mold exactly.

“Nevertheless, he was rejected—because it turned out he had made light of prayer.  When my client learned this person had made a tasteless joke on the subject, he was disturbed enough to remove him from further consideration.

“Naturally, I accepted his decision, but was astonished that one single negative factor would outweigh the many positive ones.

“That was many years ago and I no longer remember the joke, but I’ve never been able to forget the incident.  My client was absolutely right.

“While I’ve never considered prayer to be a joking matter, he helped me to begin to understand something of the solemnity of the believer communing with God.

“Humor is not only a useful tool, it’s also a valuable relief valve.  Our spirits can be lifted in a moment of sadness by a funny story. A tense meeting can be spared a disruption by a bit of humor. We need humor in our lives, but only humor that lifts the heart. 

Making light of the sacred, 

no matter what our intentions, 

can only be harmful.”

Bob Kelly, senior editor for CMA at the time observed in that issue, “It’s not uncommon to be part of a group at mealtime and have one thoughtless companion joke, ‘Last one with your thumb up says grace.’”

Kelly then asked leaders to contrast that flippant kind of disrespect for God, the Provider of all things, with this from Charles H. Spurgeon:

“God does not hear us because of the length of our prayer, but because of the sincerity of it. Prayer is not to be measured by the yard, nor weighed by the pound. It is the might and force of it—the truth and reality of it—the energy and the intensity of it.”

QUESTION: Oswald Chambers wrote that prayer is “the vital breath of the Christian.”  Is that vital breath evident both in your board meetings and outside of board meetings?

Next Blog: Olan Hendrix on why you should never joke about fundraising.

Reprinted with permission from CMA Management Monthly, No. 31, May 1999, published by Christian Management Association (now Christian Leadership Alliance). © Copyright 1999.

Graveyards and Succession Plans

“The graveyards are full of indispensable men,” Charles de Gaulle once said.

The general, statesman and president of France (1959-1969) also complained, “How can anyone govern a nation that has 246 different kinds of cheese?” (But that’s for another blog.)

If your CEO is the founder (or through longevity and competency your CEO has attained founder-level status), 

then it’s likely that your 

board is reticent about 

discussing the S-word: Succession.

Several years ago, a founder called me, and in the first 10 minutes of the call, I asked him, “Who can fire you?”

First came the nervous laugh, and then the admission. “Um. Ah. Well…actually, the board can’t fire me. I’m the founder,” he admitted.

Legally, I’m guessing his answer was incorrect since the bylaws of most nonprofits give the board the option of terminating its CEO. Objectively though, he knew the culture. Few board members, recruited by founders, are willing to pull the plug on their leader.

The larger point, of course, is not if founders can be fired, but if founders will be accountable to their boards. And thus this discussion becomes more spiritual than organizational.

In my consulting work with boards and their founder/CEOs, I’ve learned that each situation is unique and none are wholly healthy.  Dig deep enough with board members, staff, donors (and sometimes with a founder’s spouse or adult children) and you’ll uncover some angst. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

I urge Christ-centered board members—and their founder/CEOs—to get the discussion onto the board table in the early years—so it’s not a train wreck in the later years.
     • First, whose ministry is this? Per R. Scott Rodin’s insight, is your founder a steward leader or an owner-leader? (The roots of healthy ministries must be Christ-centered, not leader-centered.)
     • Is there a succession plan for emergencies? What’s the scenario if our founder is hit by a bus? (We’d be sad, of course, but what’s next?)
     • What are the agreed-upon steps in a succession plan if our founder/CEO resigns? What if the board asks for his or her resignation—and what’s the agreed-upon protocol for this? Do we all agree—up front—that we have the spiritual discernment and maturity to honor God in this delicate process?

We love and salute founders! They heard from God. They launched something bold to fill a need. They recruited board members, staff, volunteers and donors. They often sacrificed. With God’s blessing, they made it happen! So it’s only natural that founders often tilt toward George Burns’ tongue-in-cheek comment:

“If you live to be 100, you've got it made.

Very few people die past that age.”

Yet God-honoring founders know they are not indispensable. They know their days are numbered. God-honoring board members and founders create a culture where the S-word can be addressed in healthy ways. 

QUESTION: What is the next step in approving or re-visiting your CEO succession plan?

Rumsfeld’s Rules on Meetings

“The first consideration for meetings is whether to call one at all,” says Donald Rumsfeld in his jam-packed book of wisdom, “rules” and axioms, Rumsfeld’s Rules: Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life.

As the CEO of two Fortune 500 companies, White House Chief of Staff for President Gerald Ford, and Defense Secretary (twice), Rumsfeld has endured more than his fair share of meetings.  Here are several rules on “Running a Meeting” from his new book:

“Pay close attention to who is invited, and for goodness sake, avoid making meetings so large that it feels you should have rented an amphitheater.”

“The default tendency in any bureaucracy, especially in government, is to substitute discussion for decision-making. The act of calling a meeting about a problem can in some cases be confused with actually doing something.”

“If you expect people to be in on the landing, include them for the takeoff.”

Rumsfeld quotes Pat Moynihan: 

“Stubborn opposition to proposals 

often has no basis other than the complaining question, 

‘Why wasn’t I consulted?’” 

“I try to pay attention to every attendee in a meeting. I like to see how they are reacting to what is being said. Sometimes you can learn as much or more from nonverbal communication as you can from what is being articulated aloud.”

“Meetings do not have to be evitable, even if they appear on everyone’s calendar. For example, when I was the CEO of G. D. Searle, a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company, a meeting was scheduled on a topic for which I had received the briefing paper only minutes in advance. I could have attended anyway and listened to people talk about something about which I had little understanding.  But why do that?

"I canceled the meeting and set it for a later date 

when other attendees and I had time to prepare.”

I’m recommending that every board chair and CEO read the “Running a Meeting” chapter in Rumsfeld’s book. (His chapters on “Thinking Strategically” and “Planning for Uncertainty” are also excellent.) Actually, the entire book (including more than 400 rules) should be required reading!

Why? Christ-centered organizations are stewards of time, talent and treasure. Yet our “evangelical niceness” too often pushes conflict under the board table, fails to address those who are unprepared, too easily forgives those with late-arriving reports, and rarely admonishes those who are late to meetings. When is the last night you cancelled a meeting—because preparation was dismal? Elton Trueblood once said, 

“Pious shoddy is still shoddy.”

QUESTION: If you asked the Lord for a give-it-to-us-straight assessment of your last board meeting, what improvements might He suggest?

7 Board Disciplines and 6 Risks

“Finally! A book about boards that isn’t boring!”  

That’s Patrick Lencioni’s endorsement of The Imperfect Board Member, a quick-reading, but thorough governance fable.  Using the power of story and humor, author Jim Brown guides board members through his seven disciplines of governance excellence:
   • DIRECT organizational performance
   • PROTECT organizational performance
   • RESPECT owner expectations
   • REFLECT on organizational results
   • SELECT your prominent leadership
   • EXPECT great board-management interaction
   • CONNECT for healthy board relations

At your next board meeting, PROJECT (sorry…couldn’t resist) these seven disciplines on the screen and ask board members to rate the board’s effectiveness in each area.

The “PROTECT” area addresses risk management—an often-neglected agenda item for many boards. Online value-added resources are referenced in the book, including this two-page, three-column summary of risk management issues in six critical areas: 
   • Strategic risk
   • Operational risk
   • Financial risk
   • Knowledge risk
   • Compliance risk
   • Reputational risk

To manage strategic risk, 

Brown says that boards should conduct 

a full strategic planning process every three to five years 

and review and update the plan annually.

Contrast the absence of risk management board discussions with what ECFA President Dan Busby observed recently. In his presentation on “Financial Integrity Insights for Ministry Executives and Boards” at the Christian Leadership Alliance 2013 national conference, Busby shared a stunning best practice of one ECFA-accredited organization.

At each meeting, said Busby, this board invested a full hour on risk management issues. They first identified three or four possible risks and then broke into discussion groups in each corner of the room. They concluded the hour with a summary report from each discussion group with recommendations on possible next steps.

Brown writes, “One of the primary responsibilities of boards is to protect the interests of the organization’s owners. This involves being aware of the risks the organization faces and applying tools to limit the potential impact of these risks.”

He adds, “Eliminating all risks is not the goal because with no risk there is no return. Managing the risks is a key role of board members as they fulfill the discipline of protecting the owners’ interest.”

Many Christ-centered boards, in discerning the interest of the owners, have determined that God is the Owner of their ministries.  Thus, risk management for the board member/steward has significant consequences—both in this quarter and in eternity. 

QUESTION: How effective, and disciplined, is your board in assessing risk in these six categories?

S.M.A.R.T. Goals for Boards

I’m sure this isn’t a problem for your board—but please keep reading.

It’s possible that when a CEO’s work is more activity-driven than results-driven, it’s because the board also tilts towards activities—even very good activities. (Jim Collins said, “Good is the enemy of great.”)

But when a board sets goals for itself—and achieves those goals—it broadcasts to the CEO, the senior team, and the entire organization that “great” results are important.  And of course, Great Commission results are even more important.

I like to use the “S.M.A.R.T.” goals acronym.  Goals must be:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-related

So what goals should a board set for itself? After consulting with a board several years ago, I recently received an encouraging update from the ministry’s CEO. He wrote:

“Our board has continued to implement your recommendations.  Here is some of what has been accomplished:
   • Gone from 20 board members to 13.
   • Gone from 10 committees to three committees.
   • Gone from no evaluation or accountability of board members to annual assessment and interview as term of service is coming to a close.
   • Gone from no role description or qualifications for board members to having both documents.
   • Gone from one-third of the board members not donating annually to 100 percent of board members being donors of record each year.”

Wow! Imagine now the influence the board has with the CEO, senior team, staff and volunteers. Goals were set. Goals were achieved. 

Why are goals so important? In Donald Rumself's new book, Rumsfeld's Rules: Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life, he writes, "If you don't know what your top three priorities are, you don't have priorities."

And by the way, which board (the old board or the rejuvenated board) has the greatest potential to see God’s work flourish?

I say five cheers for this board—and three cheers for S.M.A.R.T. goals for all boards!

QUESTION: What are the Top-3 Goals for your board this year?

The Participant Hat: Hinting, Whining or Affirming?

In the hot-off-the-press ECFA Governance Toolbox Series No. 2: Balancing Board Roles, the short DVD helps boards define and clarify their appropriate roles regarding the three board hats: Governance, Volunteer and Participant.

So what’s the Participant Hat?

The 20-page Board Member Read-and-Engage Viewing Guide (each toolbox includes 12 guides) says that boards must define those special events (including fundraising events, as detailed in board policies) that board members, and perhaps spouses, are expected to attend.

“The best boards communicate their Participant Hat expectations to current and new board members.”  Are expectations crystal clear for your board? 

Which Participant Hat scenario describes your board’s experience?

• Scenario 1: Hinting.  A week before the work day or walk-a-thon, your CEO or board chair hints that it would be helpful if board members participated.

• Scenario 2: Whining.  After the work day or walk-a-thon, your CEO or board chair whines that it would have been helpful if more board members had participated.

• Scenario 3: Affirming.  At the beginning of each year, the Board Member Annual Affirmation Statement lists the Participant Hat “attendance-required events” and all board members affirm their high commitment to participate (or ask to be excused). 

 “Affirming is certainly favored over hinting and whining. For example, new board members should know—up front—if hosting a table of 10 at the fundraising dinner is a required Participant Hat event.  

"Glossing over their lack of advance planning, 

some CEOs and/or staff members 

often default to clever guilt tactics 

to prod board members into showing up. 

"That’s inappropriate and unfair—and hardly God-honoring!”

The solution is simple—and a downloadable template is included in the toolbox.

The viewing guide continues, “Board members should be informed, up front, of the organization’s realistic expectations regarding attendance at ministry events. Effective boards leverage a “Board Member Annual Affirmation Statement,” a document signed annually by both new and current members that spells out the specifics for all three hats. This annual affirmation also adds rich meaning to the spiritual calling of board service and inspires high commitment.”

Click here for more information on the ECFA Governance Toolbox Series:

• Series No. 2: Balancing Board Roles – Understanding the 3 Board Hats: Governance, Volunteer and Participant
• Series No 1: Recruiting Board Members – Leveraging the 4 Phases of Board Recruitment: Cultivation, Recruitment, Orientation and Engagement

QUESTION: Are the Participant Hat expectations crystal clear to all board members?

The Board and the Bachelor Farmer

As an observer at a recent board meeting, I watched the body language around the room as the CEO concluded his board report with, “And now I’d like to read a letter we received this week from an attorney.”

Most of us grimaced, “That can’t be good!”

But the glass half-full folks were right again. The lawyer’s letter announced—out of the blue—that a bachelor farmer had died and a gift from his estate was enclosed for this small ministry. But the unrestricted gift was large. More than $275,000!

Earlier in the meeting, ironically, after a team member reported on some amazing Kingdom results, the board launched into the Doxology in four-part harmony. 

“Praise God from whom 

all blessings flow.”

A second rendering of the Doxology almost broke out again.

At the end of the meeting, the board chair asked me to pray—and I was blessed with this Holy Spirit nudge to remind the board about governance faithfulness.

“Before I pray,” I began, “think back a few years to when this bachelor farmer was deciding where to invest his estate gifts. Undoubtedly he did his research and concluded that your ministry was worthy of a large gift.  But I’m guessing he also looked at the list of board members back then to discern if those men and women were faithful stewards of the ministry’s mission, vision, programs and funds.

“And today, I’m sure, more bachelor farmers, and dozens of other givers, are looking at your board—at your faithfulness—and discerning if your ministry is worthy of their giving. 

Board faithfulness, 

every day, every meeting, every year, 

counts for eternity.”

Traveling home from that exhilarating meeting, I was reminded of a column I had written in 2004, “Big Blessings Abound When Management Faithfulness Flourishes,” describing the faithfulness factors that enabled Joan B. Kroc, wife of Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s Corporation, to bless The Salvation Army with a gift in excess of $1.5 billion. Click here to read more.

In Matthew 10:42 (The Message), Jesus said, “This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.”

QUESTION: What stories of management faithfulness and governance faithfulness are you using to inspire and motivate your board members?