Board Development Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Spokes

Building Trust

November 19, 2024 by Michael Simkins

How do you run an organization without trust? How does a nonprofit board of directors fulfill its duties without trust? Not easily.

At a recent Spokes workshop, the presenters talked about the importance of trust in building a resilient and inclusive board culture, but they didn’t say much about how to build trust in the first place. Where does it come from?

So, I asked my new friend chatGPT to list the most crucial factors for building trust. Here is what I got:

Sincerity – Honesty and authenticity in words and actions.
Reliability – Consistently following through on commitments.
Competence – Possessing the skills and abilities necessary to fulfill responsibilities.
Care – Demonstrating concern for the well-being of others.

Considering my life’s experience, those make perfect sense to me. I also asked chatGPT to recommend a couple books on the subject of building trust. The Thin Book of Trust: An Essential Primer for Building Trust at Work by Charles Feltman appealed to me.

Feltman provides a framework for evaluating trustworthiness, helping readers identify areas where trust may falter. The book emphasizes that trust is dynamic, built through repeated interactions, and can be repaired when broken.

https://www.bkconnection.com/books/title/the-thin-book-of-trust-third-edition

Board Service 101

October 7, 2024 by Michael Simkins

Serving as a director on a nonprofit board offers valuable benefits to both you and your community. You’ll develop leadership skills, expand your network, and make a meaningful impact on a cause you care about. Your volunteer service ensures the organization stays mission-focused and effective, supporting positive change and enhancing the quality of life in your community.

Topics in this short introduction include:

Your responsibilities as a director
The three “duties” of a nonprofit director
Finding the right board for you
Typical time and financial commitment

Unconscious Bias

June 2, 2024 by Michael Simkins

What is unconscious bias, and what can I do about it?

Unconscious bias refers to the automatic, unintentional, and often subtle prejudices and stereotypes that influence our attitudes, actions, and decisions without our conscious awareness. These biases stem from our brain’s natural tendency to categorize and make quick judgments based on past experiences, cultural norms, and societal influences. While unconscious biases are a normal part of human cognition, they can lead to discriminatory behavior and perpetuate inequalities in various areas of life, including the work of our nonprofit staff and boards of directors.

What can I do?

Identifying unconscious biases is a crucial step towards fostering a more inclusive and equitable environment. One effective method is through implicit association tests (IATs), which measure the strength of associations between concepts (e.g., race, gender) and evaluations (e.g., good, bad) or stereotypes (e.g., athletic, intellectual). These tests can reveal hidden biases that might not be evident through self-reflection alone. One resource for such tests is Project Implicit.

Another useful strategy is to seek feedback from diverse groups. Engaging in open, honest conversations with individuals from different backgrounds can provide insights into how your behavior and decisions might be influenced by unconscious biases. Additionally, mindfulness practices, such as self-reflection and journaling, can help increase awareness of your thought patterns and challenge implicit assumptions. By recognizing and addressing unconscious biases, nonprofit leaders and board members can contribute to creating more fair and inclusive communities.

Board Recruitment

May 21, 2022 by Michael Simkins

What’s the best way to find new board members?

While there is rarely one best way to do anything, when it comes to finding new board members a great way to start is to know what you’re looking for. Create a concrete list of traits or attributes you need to have represented on your board. You need to be strategic. You’ll hear this referred to as a board matrix. List desired traits, skills, and characteristics down the left column. In the top row, give each of your current board members a column, then check off which attributes each brings to the table. Basically, you’re doing an inventory of what you currently have “in stock” and identifying what you need to go find.

Knowing what you need makes it so much easier to know where to look! Need a lawyer? Talk to lawyers. Talk to people who know lawyers. Contact the local bar association. Need someone with lots of community contacts? Get acquainted with a member of a local service club. That person may not be interested but may well know someone who is. Share your specific need with your friends. They’ll have ideas.

Be aware that you don’t need a separate person for each trait. Often, you can find someone who will fulfill more than one need. For example, one board I served on wanted to have a lawyer on the board. Also, the board was mostly male “baby boomers” and wanted a better balance of perspectives. Through sharing their vacancy with people in the community, they found a female, Gen X attorney!

Here are some helpful resources:

Managing Conflict

March 28, 2022 by Spokes For Nonprofits

Do you have advice about how to manage conflict on our board? We seem to be in two camps and can’t agree on what to do.

Conflict is bound to arise when a group of people is involved in a common endeavor. It’s not a bad thing. In fact, differing opinions can lead to creative solutions. On the other hand, serious and unresolved conflict can cripple an organization. Here are some suggestions for preventing, managing, and resolving conflict gleaned from some expert resources.

Pointers

In her article “Moving From Dissonance to Harmony: Managing Conflict on the Board,” Jill Sarah Moscowitz offers these basic pointers:

Start by reminding yourselves of your common interest in furthering the mission of organization
Identify the key issues. Even if they seem obvious, take the time to label them and write them down.
Begin with facts rather than assertions.
Avoid taking about “my position” versus “your position.” Instead, seek out your common interests. What do you all want to see accomplished.
Be truly curious. Focus more on listening than having the answer.

Face-to-Face Communication

Writing in “Managing Conflict: A Guide for Volunteer Boards,” E. Grant MacDonald emphasizes that “Confronting a conflict situation almost always can benefit from face-to-face communication.” He suggests holding a series of meetings and offers these recommendations:

Involve a trusted third party to facilitate the meetings.
Insist on confidentiality.
These are private meetings, not board meetings, but they are not secret meetings.
Make sure everyone knows that no decisions will be made in these meetings that bind the organization. The goal is for the parties to agree on recommendations that they will make to the board at large.

Avoiding Conflict

MacDonald also offers these ten practices to help avoid unnecessary conflicts in the first place. Many of them can be part of your board development activities.

Practice good interpersonal communication.
Operate with a strategic plan.
Clarify roles and responsibilities.
Help develop a skilled chairperson.
Learn about conflict resolutions processes.
Establish a code of conduct for directors.
Encourage performance evaluation.
Implement a grievance procedure.
Celebrate agreements and new understandings.
Look to gender and cultural differences as a way out of a mess.

References:

Moving From Dissonance to Harmony: Managing Conflict on the Board

Managing Conflict: A Guide for Volunteer Boards