The evidence is in (and has been for some time): Effective board service begins with a solid orientation experience. Yet every year in nonprofit boardrooms across North America, newbies are plopped into the deep end of the governance pool with little more than a howdy-do.
According to folks who study such things, 55 percent or more of board members take their seat without so much as a cursory introduction to their roles and responsibilities. And among the fortunate few for whom orientation was provided, “only 46 percent say their on-boarding experience prepared them to be an effective board member.” (Source)
Which is sad – for the organizations and for the good-hearted volunteers who’ve stepped up to board service.
What with the challenges and opportunities of the day, few organizations can afford to leave it to new board members to orient themselves or guess at what’s expected of them. Absent a quality orientation experience, recruits to board service fail to thrive, engage, or lead well.
Governance advocacy organizations (e.g. BoardSource, the Association of Governing Boards, the In Trust Center) and consultants (like me) regularly beat the drum hard for board orientation. For the most part, CEOs and board leaders nod to the cadence. In fact, I’ve yet to meet an organizational leader who didn’t want to do right by new board members. Generally, leaders understand that “to do right by” includes committing to board orientation that’s timely, helpful, and specific to the organization and its context.
DOING IS HARD TO DO
Moving from understanding to action, however, is another kettle of fish. There’s always something to get in the way of board orientation or that justifies a slap-dash, lazy approach. The temptations of board orienters are many, including the following three:
Temptation 1: Letting orientation slide. It’s tempting to put off orientation in years when there are just two or three newcomers. However, the few deserve and need orientation as much as the many. Building a strong board requires approaching every orientation situation with the equal seriousness, covering the same material. Whether the incoming class includes one or several, no board members should take their seat without a thorough orientation.
Temptation 2: Overwhelming. With so much to say and so little time to say it, it’s understandable that board orientors sometimes succumb to the temptation to overwhelm. But don’t go there. If ever there was a time to remember the Golden Rule, it’s when planning board member orientation. Put away the fire hose. Scrap the lengthy monologue and make room for conversation, for questions, for discussion, and for fun. There’s always tomorrow for the more of the story.
Temptation 3: Misdirecting. When board members get a warmed-over version of new staff orientation, it’s little wonder if they wander into management. Talk to board members like they’re staff and they act so — every time. Which is why it’s important to get the direction right from the start. Train up new board members in the direction they should go and chances are good that for the duration of their tenure, they won’t depart from it.
THE TEMPTER WITHIN
We tend to think of temptation as a force outside ourselves, yet truth be told, much of the time we’re the tempters of our selves. Forget the image of a demon on our shoulder. More often than not, the voice whispering in our ear “don’t believe the research” or “there are better uses of your time,” is our own. Over and over, individually and in concert with others, in our homes, our places of work, and in the boardroom, we do what we know we shouldn’t and fail to do the things we know we should.
Fortunately, as people of faith, the power that is in us is greater than the power that is us. When we are weak, or tired, or lacking the will to do what’s right, we have at the ready all we need to see us through. With God’s help, board leaders can offer new members the quality orientation they need to thrive, engage, and lead.
Thanks be to God who delivers board orienters from themselves.
For more on board orientation, see:
Three lessons from Walmart for board member orientation