This article appeared in original form in the Leadership 1993 issue of ASSOCIATION
MANAGEMENT, copyright 1993 American Society of Association Executives.
www.asaenet.org

The Better Board’s Role
By Glenn H. Tecker and Marybeth Fidler

Zero in on key responsibilities, relationships, and outcomes – and create
an environment of organizational excellence.
Each year thousands of bright, competent, and enthusiastic individuals from
many areas and walks of life come together to form the boards of directors
with the association community. These gathered forces exhibit extraordinary talent
and commitment. The purpose of the members of boards is universal: to work with
like-minded colleagues to shape the world in which they live.

And each year, association staffs express optimism that the incoming board of
directors will understand their good intentions and become a partner in fulfilling the
association’s mission.

Despite this enthusiasm and optimism, however, the year often ends with disgruntled
board or staff members and an unspoken, uneasy feeling that more could have been
accomplished if only….

How Power Struggles Begin
Consider this scenario: As a newly elected board member of the Association for the
Advancement of Ideas, you attend the board orientation and retreat. During the
sessions, everyone nods enthusiastically as they discuss the board-staff partnership
and the board’s governance role. You and your fellow board members pay careful
attention to the notion that your role is to set policy, while the staff serves as full
partners in carrying out the work of AAI. Everyone concludes they are part of the
best association leadership team ever assembled.

Then, two weeks later, the power struggles begins.

It starts when one board member receives a complaint from a member about a budget
allocation issue; he calls several other board members to discuss concerns about the
staff’s activities. Via the grapevine, the chief staff executive and the chief elected
officer hear of the problem and learn that a small group of board members has
become disgruntled because its idea for funding a new project is not being
implemented.

At the next board meeting, a heated debate ensures over how something should be
done instead of whether it should be done at all. You spend more time discussing who
has the authority to make the decision about funding a new project than discussing
the project itself. Soon a rumor starts circulating that staff has too much power,
and a few people begin asking, “Who runs this association anyway?”

When AAI’s annual meeting opens, a coalition of members brings to the floor a motion
requiring approval of the budget by the entire membership; these members say the
association’s leadership does not understand their needs or how to allocate funds
appropriately. A small group of board members appears to be fanning this flame of
discontent. You and your fellow board members spend a good deal of the annual
meeting locked in a power struggle instead of discussing and addressing the common
interests of the members. What went wrong?

Understanding Group Responsibility
If this scenario is in any way familiar, take heart. You and your board are not alone.
Although associations offer an opportunity for like-minded people to work together,
they also present a complex and challenging set of dynamics.

Only a commitment on the part of board members and staff members alike to
strengthen the capacity for group excellence can overcome this challenge. We
dream of bringing personal qualities and ideas to the leadership of our associations;
yet often we do not fully understand the nature of group process, partnership
relationships, and the role of information within our organizations.

No Secret Formula
Essential elements. The essential elements of successful boards are neither
secret nor complex. Success involves understanding what’s important and
creating the opportunity for the important things to be done correctly.

First and foremost, the association leadership experience is a group experience,
a group responsibility. It is not a forum for excelling individually or for putting
forward individual agendas.

Self-evaluation. A group experience is successful when expectations are clearly
defined and agreed to by all parties. One way a board can accomplish this clarity
of purpose is by conducting an annual board self-evaluation process.

Whether conducted internally as part of a regular board meeting or facilitated by an
outside consultant, this evaluation examines relationships among chief staff officer,
board members, and association members. It also examines the success of the board’s
planning, policy, and oversight responsibilities and how the group’s leadership qualities
come into play on various issues. (See insert, “Board Self-Evaluation Process,” at the
end of this article for an example of an evaluation instrument.)

Focusing on Outcomes
Definition of success. Successful boards of directors develop a clear description of
what will constitute success for the organization. This means continual describing
how the world will be different because the organization exists. Examples may be
broad: “The association will be successful when the majority of the public understands
the importance of a certain thing.” Or they may be specific: “Success means a 10
percent annual increase in membership.”

This activity should not be relegated to a once-a-year retreat or added to an agenda
that has a few extra hours available. Defining success is an ongoing process that
looks long and far into the future of the organization, taking into account information
about member needs and common interests, emerging external realities, and internal
organizational capacities. On this essential consensus all else depends.

Opportunity through agreement. If board members do not agree where the
organization is going, their efforts become fragmented and lead to decisions made
out of the context of the whole association. When this happens, an association’s
board members and staff members fell the need to protect turf, members become
disgruntled or indifferent, budget allocation arguments are rampant, and
thousands of dollars are spent in useless activity.

When an association board of directors agrees where the organization is going,
every volunteer and staff member has the opportunity to contribute to this
future direction. Such agreement also frees the board to carry out effectively
its primary corporate functions: approving goals, making sure the desired
outcomes are achieved, and seeing that the necessary resources are available
and used efficiently.

Effective consensus. In an association with professional staff, focusing on
these responsibilities means the board members invest their time at the highest
level of direction setting, policy setting, and strategy development. Detailed
discussions of how something will be done do not consume leaders’ valuable
time; no do board members actually do themselves something that would
be better done by other.

Productive policy and strategy discussions require a continual stream of
information on which to base sound decisions for the future. Associations
can gather this information through form research, focus groups, and
frequent communication among leaders and members via correspondence,
group dialogues, or one-to-one discussions.

Mutual commitment to clear outcomes generates the synergy on which
effective consensus is built. Consensus does not mean a compromise –
“let’s take a little bit of my idea and a little bit of your idea” – that reflects
the lowest common denominator on which everyone agrees. Instead,
consensus means “Yes, I can live with this solution right now, because it
seems to best meet the organization’s needs.”

Relationship with the chief staff officer
Partnership with staff. A chief staff officer working with a board of directors
that has not defined organizational success might as well be holding a
ticking clock connected to a bomb. Only after an organization has
defined its direction can it develop a meaningful relationship with its
chief staff officer. The definition of success forms the basis of an
effective board-staff partnership.

Many organizations find it helpful to think of the chief elected officer and the
chief staff officer as partners who jointly fulfill the role of chief executive officer.
This corporate image often helps dispel unproductive concerns about the
appropriate role of staff and volunteers and allows the two leaders to work
out a division of labor that provides the organization with the leadership
required to excel.

Conditions of success. Maintaining a healthy and productive partnership
between the board and the chief staff officer requires a clear statement of
expectations (what will success look like?), an ongoing forum for feedback
regarding concerns and important issues, and a climate of mutual respect and
trust acknowledging that all parties are committed to achieving the
organization’s vision of success.

For the board of directors, this partnership implies investing time and
resources to clarify expectations and provide feedback and making a
commitment to communicate and discuss concerns and problems in a
truthful and forthright manner.

Board Meetings
Atmosphere of openness. Board meetings in successful associations
with professional staff focus on direction setting, policy setting, and
strategic thinking. They do not focus on developing how-to plans, redoing
committee recommendations, or hearing previously published reports so
that the spotlight may shine on a board or staff member.

Successful board meetings have an atmosphere of openness that values
diversity of opinion and thinking. This tone depends not only on the leadership
demonstrated by the chief elected officer and staff leaders but also on each
board member’s commitment to expressing thoughtful and candid viewpoints.

Shared responsibility. Although association leadership is a group—rather than
individual—experience, deployment of individual talents toward meeting group
goals is critical. Effective elected and staff leaders look for ways to assist
board members in contributing their unique talents toward the accomplishment
of shared organizational goals.

This equation for success has two factors, and both must have equal value.
Not long ago, a chief elected leader was heard to mumble after a grueling
leadership day, “I wonder what I can do to make this a more satisfying
experience for our board members?” a pragmatic fellow leader responded, “I
can assure you none of the board members will lose any sleep over how to help
you have a more successful leadership year.”

In successful organization, everyone shares the responsibility for helping
one another contribute effectively.

Stakeholder relationships. A stakeholder is anyone who has a right to influence
the decisions of the organization or is in a position to significantly affect the
outcome of a decision. In associations, stakeholders include the members and
sometimes others from a wider community.

Maintaining effective stakeholder relationships means fostering a clear
understanding of the organization, its direction, and its leadership decisions.
It means keeping lines of communication open between leaders and members
as well as among the members themselves.

Facilitating consensus. In some cases, the most effective strategy is not
to make a leadership decisions at all. Instead, you can assist stakeholders
with differing needs or opinions to work out the solution themselves.

If, for example, two groups of members disagree about a public policy position,
you may help them develop consensus among themselves, rather than impose a
decision. By assisting the parties in reaching consensus, you build understanding
and develop a solution both can accept. Too often, a leadership decision
alienates one group while pleasing another.

Two-way listening. Critical to stakeholder relationships is the manner in
which two-way communication occurs. It is not effective to ask only for feedback
or criticism from constituents. Nor is it effective to simply market and defend
leadership decisions.

Communication is an interactive process in which all parties take the time to
hear and understand one another – acknowledging that all opinions, no matter how
diverse, are valid – and then seek an acceptable alternative. Often, in our anxiety
to be heard, we forget to hear what others are really saying. Too many
organizational decisions have been based more on the misunderstanding that the
understanding among people.

Effective board members invest time and resources to develop excellent listening and
communication skills through formal training. They also stay fully informed on the
views of members and the wider community by investing ample time and resources
in focus groups, correspondence with stakeholders, and group forums.

Representative of the whole. Although board members may represent different
groups and bring special-interest perspectives to the board table, each one must
take on the role of a decision-maker and leader of the organization as a whole.

This principle seems so fundamental it may be dismissed as silly – parochial
concerns of a member subgroup or loyalty to a particular committee or a program
drives a board member’s behavior. Solely because of support from a vocal committee
chair, for example, a board may approve a budget item that has no bearing on the
achievement of organizational goals.

The Role of Respect
Because association leadership is a group experience, it requires respect for the
opinions and needs of others. Only in an environment of mutual respect, where
all viewpoints are truly heard and honored, will people c consistently express their
most important and truthful thoughts.

This does not mean that board members continually praise one another. It does
mean they bring a richness of opinions and perspectives to the table and build on
those collective ideas to create the best decision.

Effective board of directors value the opinions of each board member and staff
member, seeking to understand those opinions clearly and acknowledging their
good intent. Showing this respect requires time and energy. It also implies
willingness to accept decisions the group arrives at cooperatively.

One sign that direction-, policy-, and strategy-setting take place in a
respectful environment, with ample time for expression of diverse viewpoints,
is when the agenda allows no time to discuss details, such as the color or
design of a brochure or the system for processing membership applications.

The Road to Excellence
When a board or directors focuses on outcomes, invests in dynamic and
healthy relationship with the chief staff officer, sticks to setting direction and
policies based on members’ documented needs and desires, and operates in an
environment of mutual respect and cooperation, it is well on the way to
achieving excellence.

Then, and only then, is an association able to shape the world of its members.

Checklist for Organizational Excellence
Effective boards of directors share these characteristics, which make the difference
for organizational excellence and team satisfaction:

· Focus on the outcome: Where is the organization going, and how will we know when we get there?

· Invest in a healthy and dynamic relationship with the chief staff officer.

· Set direction, policy, and strategy; do not develop detailed plans or engage in or redo committee work.

· Share the responsibility for encouraging each leader to contribute unique talents and abilities based on the organization’s needs.

· Create an environment of mutual respect and cooperation, manifest in truthfulness and forthrightness.

· Invest in two-way communication with stakeholders.

· Learn to hear and understand one another.

· View service as a group experience, not an individual opportunity.

· Invest in regular, simple, and straightforward self-evaluations to create awareness, establish sensitivity, and promote commitment to effective behavior. Even a board composed of “sophisticated, organizationally experienced policy makes” needs to know how well it is employing its collective knowledge.

Symptoms of Board
Dysfunction
Answering yes to one or more of the
following questions may signal a need
to focus on group process and
communication:

1. Do you experience low production or
team output?

2. Do you hear complaints from within the
team?

3. Is there conflict or hostility among team
members?

4. Is there confusion about assignments or
unclear relationships among people?

5. Is there a lack of clear goals or
commitment to goals?

6. Are you experiencing a lack of innovation,
risk taking, imagination, or initiative?

7. Do participants leave meetings feeling
disgruntled?

8. Are people afraid to speak up, not
listening to each other, or not talking
together in the appropriate settings?

9. Is there distrust among leaders and
member or among members?

10. Are decisions made that people do not
understand?

11. Are decisions made that people do not
support?

12. Do people feel that good work is not
recognized or rewarded?

*Oversight and direction* 6 5 4 3 2 1	We participate in board meetings where the majority of the agenda and board time focuses on direction setting and the development of policy strategy.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We maintain sound fiscal policy and practices and realistically face the financial ability of the organization to support its program of work.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We are committed to strategically planning for the long-term future of the organization, consider this a regular activity of the board, and weigh all decisions in terms of what is best for those served by the organization.
*Chief staff officer* 6 5 4 3 2 1	We have mutually agreed upon (in writing, if appropriate) a definition of success for the organization, and we have provided the resources and authority necessary to achieve expectations.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We have provided the chief staff officer with a clear statement of the personal qualities and performance expectations against which he or she will be measured periodically; and we have agreed to a process for providing feedback as plans are being executed.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We provide opportunities, encouragement, and resources for the professional growth and development of the chief staff officer and staff.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We discuss immediately any items that are controversial to either board members or the chief staff officer.
*Board meetings* 6 5 4 3 2 1	We honor the established procedures for board meetings, providing ample time for interested parties to be heard but preventing one individual or group from dominating discussions.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We seek ways to support all elected leaders and fellow board members in the successful execution of leadership duties. We seek to recognize individuals’ strengths and provide opportunities for the organization to benefit from them.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We make decisions based on data available and support the organization’s commitment to collecting the information needed for sound decision making.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We seek and respect the opinion or recommendation of staff when considering a decision and ensure that board committees and other work groups receive the proper authority and resources to complete their assignments. We do not redo the work of committees or work groups.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We give adequate time and attention to controversial items, act with deliberate speed on urgent matters, and present decision of the board without bias.
*Stakeholder relationships* (Stakeholder refers to parties – members as well as outside parties – interested in or able to affect the organization’s ability to accomplish its purpose.)
6 5 4 3 2 1	We actively foster a clear understanding of the organization, its direction, and its leadership decisions among the stakeholders; we actively foster open lines of communication between leaders and stakeholders.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We seek to be fully informed of stakeholder attitudes and the special-interest groups seeking to influence the organization and are fully prepared to represent the interest of the organization.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We act responsibly in channeling concerns, complaints, and criticisms of the organization through the chief staff officer; we speak thoughtfully in the face of unjust criticism of others.
Personal qualities 6 5 4 3 2 1	We demonstrate an ability to think independently; rely on fact rather than prejudice; and hear, understand, and consider all sides of a controversial question.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We show respect for the intentions and interests of others and for group decisions cooperatively reached.
6 5 4 3 2 1	We have a willingness to devote the necessary time to fulfilling the responsibilities of a board member as outlined in the organization’s written position description.

6	5	4	3	2	1
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The Better Board’s Role By Glenn H. Tecker and Marybeth Fidler

Personal qualities

The Better Board’s Role
By Glenn H. Tecker and Marybeth Fidler