Board leadership development

In addition to the cohort program this semester, I’m also taking a one credit class on Board Leadership Development. Because I didn’t have enough to do already, lololololol. Really, because I needed to take one more credit somewhere along this journey, and a chance to take a class taught by Kate Barr was too good to pass up.

Shortly before class started I wrote… So here I am in class on another Saturday morning. The MPA cohort won’t meet again until two weeks from now, but this class is one full Saturday plus three more two hour Friday sessions over the next few months. One of my cohort-mates is here too, but otherwise all new faces in this room.

In the evening after class I wrote… Today was 100% what I hoped this class would be. My classmates are exceptional nonprofit and public sector leaders and the academic content is rigorous. It was also great to talk more with my MPA cohort mate over lunch, especially in context of one of the key lessons of the day being the importance of developing trust through relationship building.

The class discussion was rich. I especially appreciated the non-student nonprofit leaders who showed up. Hearing how everyone’s perspectives and experiences bore out class concepts was illuminating. I spoke to my own experience a bit but tried to listen more.

The assignments for this class are one page reflection essays, which is awesome for me ‘cause I’m just gonna repurpose these blog posts. 😁

A week after class, I wrote… As I’ve thought about last week’s class session, It still feels like a privilege. I realized part of what I’m feeling is a greater level of familiarity in this class than my cohort. Much of the content we discussed is closely aligned with nonprofit management concepts that I learned here years ago (I tried to not quote Michael Wirth-Davis too many times). With that familiarity comes a consideration to check myself if I start feeling like I know all this already, because I don’t, and while I’m excited to discuss my own perspectives and experiences I will both learn more myself and be a better classmate by being mindful to listen actively and honor the opportunity to learn from others’ perspectives. The Humble Leadership text we’re reading in the cohort and Jay Kiedrowski’s leadership lessons are on my mind to guide my actions in practice here.

I’m really looking forward to the remaining three class sessions. It’s unfortunate that the next session is the same Friday morning as day two of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits annual conference, but I might put a message out on the class message board asking if anyone wants to carpool over there with me from campus. I’m also thinking ahead to my capstone project, and whether anyone in this class might be potential teammates for that work in Summer ‘25.

Class discussion takeaways

Reflecting back on my class discussion notes, these key concepts stand out as learnings to build upon:

  • Research has shown that the most important factor for effectiveness is interpersonal relationships
  • Governance is a function, boards are a structure
  • Governing happen everywhere (kind of like leadership)
  • It’s very important for nonprofit boards to establish their own accountability mechanisms.
    • The executive director has a very tricky role in that - it’s not the ED’s responsibility to govern the board, however it is part of the ED’s job to ensure the board governs itself.
  • Four main functions of governing:
    • setting direction
    • making policy and strategy decisions
    • overseeing performance
    • ensuring overall accountability
  • Three legal obligations of a board:
    • duty of care
    • duty of loyalty
    • duty of obedience
  • Board effectiveness gets comparatively little attention compared to the other work of a board. If a board spends just an hour a year learning about governance, that’s a leg up on many orgs.
  • The days of five year strategic plans are over, the world just moves too fast.
  • In times of crisis, it’s common for boards to kick in to super management mode. But when the crisis is over, the board has built those modes of operation. Who stands up to them to say it’s time to back off?
  • Staff can enable the board to govern by not just providing information but also interpreting it.
  • The BoardSource report metrics showed that fundraising is the area where most boards are rated the lowest. Yet at the same time, boards that scored high on fundraising metrics scored markedly lower on other metrics.
  • Very large fundraising-focused boards can contain governing coalitions within the board where power is actually held.
  • Giving the board and staff opportunities to interact gives the board the chance to learn about the work of the org from staff perspective – simply cannot provide that same perspective if solely filtered through the ED
  • One of the places where we see the most conflict and friction is board member participation on committees, because at that point they’re in a volunteer role accountable to staff rather than a governance role where staff is accountable to them.
  • One of the most common problems for boards is overstepping governance and micromanaging. It’s a gift to have a board member or two who understands governance. ED life hack: recruit other EDs to your board.
  • The two things you can change that make the biggest difference to the board is who’s on the board and how you spend time in meetings
  • There are three modes that a board needs to operate in:
    • Fiduciary: What’s right/wrong?
    • Strategic: What’s the plan?
    • Generative: What’s the question?
  • Difference between strategic and generative - strategic ends up in a plan, generative ends up in more questions.
  • Generative questions can lead to very intriguing and fruitful, but also uncomfortable and difficult big picture questions.
  • This is a great practical exercise to take back to real-world board meetings: for a question the board is grappling with, ask them to articulate which parts of the issue fit each mode.

Class reading takeaways

How much do Americans trust nonprofits? Isaiah Thompson, Nonprofit Quarterly, July 2024

  • Trust in institutions is eroding and nonprofits are not immune.
  • The nonprofit sector remains among the most trusted, however trust has declined.
  • Public policy and nonpartisan voter engagement orgs are less trusted.
  • 4 in 5 people who volunteer say they have positive expereinces with nonprofits.

Adaptive boards don’t stop at technical solutions. Jennifer Kramm, Propel Nonprofits, August 2018

  • Technical problems vs. Adaptive problems
    • Technical problems have “known solutions that can be implemented by current know-how”
    • Adaptive problems “can only be addressed by changes in people’s priorities, beliefs, habits, and loyalties”
  • Adaptive problems are more difficult and too-often ignored

Board Governance as Leadership, summary from Chait, Ryan, & Taylor, July 2009

  • Modes of governance -> outcomes
    • Fiduciary -> Conformance
    • Strategic -> Performance
    • Generative -> Robustness

Ethics and Nonprofits, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Rhode & Packel, Summer 2009

  • Too many people who observe misconduct fail to report it. Research has found four factors:
    • Moral awareness
    • Moral decision making
    • Moral intent
    • Moral action
  • Ethical reasoning is influenced by institutional norms and structures
  • Ethical leadership is often the most critical determinant of workplace culture
  • Nonprofits can take three steps:
    • Effective compliance
    • Effective financial management
    • Ethical culture

Chapter 4 - Leadership, Governance, and the Work of the Board, David Renz, 2024

  • Four fundamental categories of board work:
    • governance and strategic direction
    • resource development and acquisition
    • coaching and supporting
    • monitoring and oversight
  • The work of a board must change over time as an organization changes
  • Six core competencies for a board:
    • Contextual
    • Educational
    • Interpersonal
    • Analytical
    • Political
    • Strategic
  • Boards that engage in regular, systematic board development activities are more effective
  • There is a direct relationship between the board effectiveness and:
    • Knowledge and skill of its members
    • Clarity of their board member roles
    • Board members and executives meeting periodically
  • An effective board grows its capacity to serve by:
    • Organizing itself effectively
    • Attracting good people
    • Preparing members for the work
    • Helping members work together
    • Engaging and motivating members
    • Employing members time well
  • Eight core principles for a growing board:
    • The board must be effective for the organization to succeed
    • Board design is about the future
    • There is no one right design
    • Focus on principles not “best practices”
    • Leadership is critical
    • Structures don’t guarantee performance
    • Effective boards are teams
    • Development processes must meet members where they are
  • There’s a new form of governance emerging for multi-organization service delivery networks
  • Governance needs to be much more about leadership than control
  • Four principles for purpose-driven leadership:
    • Purpose before organization
    • Respect for ecosystem
    • Equity mindset
    • Authorized voice and power
  • Levels of stakeholder engagement:
    • Consult
    • Involve
    • Collaborate
    • Entrust
Written on September 21, 2024