Boards as Leaders

With the Skoll World Forum in full swing this week, I want to welcome folks near and far to this discussion. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about how the governance and leadership of social initiatives can make a bigger difference. Hildy

Hi Hildy -

and thanks for opening up this topic on SocialEdge, just as the Skoll World Forum 2009 is under way.

It seems to me that building a board that positively facilitates the work is important, and I very much suspect Barry Schwartz is right in saying that inspiration is the key. But what exactly do we mean by inspiration, and what is it that triggers it?

The image of artistic inspiration is that it strikes from above, and one poet, Randall Jarrell, even wrote that "a poet is a man who manages, in a lifetime of standing out in thunderstorms, to be struck by lightning five or six times". That kind of inspiration, to me, is the kind that might offer a unique, unheard of solution to a social problem - the kind of inspiration that founds a social enterprise. But there's a second kind of inspiration that comes with the acknowledgment of a good idea or a good approach - "that looks promising, I can get behind that" - and I suspect that's the kind of inspiration we are mostly considering here.

The question is, how do we facilitate the that kind of inspiration?

Hopefully, board members accept their positions in the first place because they approve of the work being done, and hav some enthusiasm for it - and approval is the beginning of a continuum that can lead to passionate support and dedication.

How do we move people up along that continuum?

I posted before I'd quite finished, so this is really part ii of the same post...

How do we facilitate the that kind of inspiration?

My sense is that some people treat this as a question in rhetoric, some people think it's an advertising issue, some may even think that it's a matter of offering appropriate benefits - but the closer we get to the social side of social entrepreneurship, the more it will be true that human passion is involved, and that real human communication - the full monte that Martin Buber called "I-thou" communication - is what does the trick.

So I for one am thinking about the impact of such things as statistics, images, anecdotes, tone of voice, quotes, sound bites, stories.

Because we humans are moved by each other when our reluctances and doubts are removed, and our interests and enthusiasms captivated.

Proof of social return on investment serves both these purposes - removing doubts and capturing enthusiasm. Statistics of meals donated, children taught, etc give the intellect a solid understanding of achievement, but it may be the face of one such child that engages the emotions. Statistics, the well-chosen image of a child's face? Are we talking the brochure here?

What I am trying to get at is the integrity behind the word "inspiration" - the idea that both the communications that we make to the board member, and the quality of the person who sits on the board, have to have that elusive quality we call integrity. Our board members must have their integrity aligned and aroused by the work, and our communications must be more than routine, more than tabular, more than brochures.

We have to take them there...

So I am just thinking aloud here, but a live encounter with problem and solution is worth more than a documentary, and a documentary more than a brochure, and a brochure more than a form letter...

I apologize if this seems simplistic, but human passion is a subtle and volatile quality, and I feel we have to go back to basics to understand it.

An inspired board is one that listened, that heard you, that felt spoken with, that was moved by your presentation. And that only happens when both parties in the communication are present, enlivened by being there by the opportunity.

In the case of social entrepreneurship, the possibility to better our common world.

Charles, I get what you're talking about. With heightened awareness, the inspiration is the presence in each. In the world of relation, (or board meetings) it's what manifests between people that counts. Martin Buber's "I-thou" is one of my all-time favorite books.

Great questions, Charles - and thanks, Jo, for the "second" on the recommendation of Martin Buber's work!

I am intrigued by the question of how to inspire boards vs. the question of how we uncover the inspiration they already have - the reason they joined the board in the first place.

I continually see board members who are inspired to make a difference, who quickly lose that inspiration as they become mired in the mundane aspects of "board work."

What approaches / systems might maintain that inspired beginning, and translate it into "inspired ongoing governance?"

I like your switch of focus to the idea of uncovering already present inspiration. Maybe we should be asking (ourselves, but also board members) what it is that covers up / obscures / dulls the initial inspiration? Do board members overdose on our communications, or starve for lack of them? Is it a matter of preferred format?

I keep coming back to the idea that personal exposure to personal integrity is the key, and that those formats that facilitate this will be the powerful formats...

Hi Hildy, as systems/approaches vary, ongoing inspiration is BEING in the space of possibility. With execution and control, the leadership challenge is to not allow the ego to get in the way. The social entrepreneur's job, to hold the collective focus with faith and self-belief, indeed is to transfer this inspiration. To get everyone in the present, creating the necessary social impact, and desire to create social value for the common good.

Along with the passion and persistence of self-belief, faith is the element of presence.

Charles and Jo: Have you seen boards who maintain that inspiration? Have you seen boards that embody it, with or without someone else (social entrepreneur, founder, executive director) igniting it? What has been your experience with that? What have you seen work?

I am reminded of something Stephan Chambers said last year sometimes problems are about behaviour and habits and histories, not about cash or incentives and the solutions also lie in behaviour and habits and art. Like, picking the third way in any given choice, I think social entrepreneurs excel in the art of changing the mythology of closed minds with their commitment to change. This inspiration is very transformative.

Generally for a board to carry the responsibility after a founder is gone, the shifting power dynamic, is inside the essence of the founder's inspired presence nudging the inspired board- (challenging embedded thinking and driving through change.)

Maintaining this inspiration as a sustainable strategy means that with the transformative act, the spark ignites everyone around the table, whether the social entrepreneur is physically there or not (to carry on the work.)

Really liked this article. I'm not as worried about rhetoric. For those that have the capacity to lead this becomes a simple decision. "We're not going to sit here and debate financial reports. We're going to talk about how we aim to change the world."

I think this implied but to be sure, this approach is as important for staff and funders. Turnover rates are notoriously terrible in not-for-profit world. I think people are inspired to work for a cause - so find an org and join the team. Over time the inspiration/fire is lost

or not affirmed. Then it becomes about a job - not a cause -- and on to the next.

re: Proof on social return on investment - I think a healthy debate but look at some of the most inspirational messages/leaders in history Gandhi, MLK, etc. Not about stats. About an unwavering vision for change.

I have some tangential thoughts about big, inspirational framing questions - linking to http://www.forimpact.org/2008/01/9_big_board_questions.php

Nick: Your post moves the discussion to a different place - thank you!

Your suggestion above is definitely correct; inspired leaders will absolutely demand to discuss more than just the financials!

However, current standards of excellence in governance, as promulgated by renowned “board education institutes,” focus the overwhelming percentage of their teaching on accountability for means over ends.

If a board wants to learn to be more effective, these are the systems they are being taught as “best practice.” In fact, funders in many US communities are beginning to require adherence to these means-focused accountability systems as a prerequisite to funding.

It would therefore take a board filled with incredibly strong, focused, authority-bucking individuals to buck the overwhelming authority of these accrediting institutions and funding institutions.

That is why principle #6 in The Pollyanna Principles states that "Individuals will go where systems lead them." Current governance systems pointedly instruct boards to do the exact opposite of what you are suggesting! http://pollyannaprinciples.org/info/the-principles/

My own work for the past eleven years has been to create systems that yes, provide for that mandated "accountability for the means,” but only within the larger context of PRIMARY accountability for creating visionary end results. (This short video helps explain http://is.gd/pkY8 )

Because none of us knows when our time on earth is done, we know a strong visionary founder will not be around forever. Therefore, the only assurance we have that their inspiration will live on is to inculcate that inspiration into the culture of the organization (culture simply being a system for handing down vision and values and purpose.)

Which begs the question: • How do we create a culture of inspiration for boards, to ensure the organization always embodies that inspired entrepreneurial spirit? • How do we sustain inspiration as a way of being in the leaders of the organization - the boards who sit at the top of the org chart?

How do we make inspiration an organization's systemic way of being?

When I started Cabrini Connections in 1992, we built the principles of Governance is Governance, by Kenneth Dayton, into our bylaws. You can read it here. http://www.independentsector.org/pdfs/governance.pdf

As a result, the Board I've recruited over the years has given me tremendous flexibility to lead the organization, and members have served as volunteers along with others who are not on the board, to help us achieve the mission of the organization. I've been blessed to have that type of support.

However, I think there are some challenges built into the concept of volunteer leadership in the non-profit sector. Many of these are described in the links I've collected and posted on this section of the Tutor/Mentor Connection web site: http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/LinksLearningNetwork/LinksLibrary/tabid/560/rrcid/8/rrscid/96/rrpid/1/rrepp/20/Default.aspx

In one of the links, a report by Compass Point, the reason many executives leave non profits boil down to relations with boards, and access to capital. I feel these two problems are connected.

In a small non profit, access to capital is always a crisis. Thus, you try to recruit board members who can raise money, and provide governance. I think there's an assumption that people who can do both jobs well, or even fair, is a huge mistake. I think there is a very small pool of people who can and will consistently raise large sums of money (or even one, or two thousand dollars a year) for their non profit.

Furthermore, I feel that the more a person has the ability to personally give money, or get it from friends, the less time that person has to really get to know the workings of the non profit, and thus provide good governance, because he/she is so busy with the job of earning their income, and taking care of their own family priorities.

Since board members cycle in non profits, a CEO is constantly trying to help new people catch up with the workings of the organization, its vision, culture, etc. This can be a huge drain on the time and effort that should be spent focusing on the mission of the organization. And since funding is almost always in a crisis stage, the board meetings don't leave a lot of time for visioning and empowering.

In my own organization, I'm trying to create a culture of learning, where the kids we mentor, the volunteers, our staff, and our leaders and donors are all learning from the same information that we make available daily, and using this information to become owners of the mission and strategies of the organization. In such an environment, I can facilitate this information and learning and the actions of many people, like the coach of a football team, or the leader of an orchestra. It's an ideal I stive for and in some ways it is working.

However, if we could find ways to do this consistently, we could turn kids into this type of learner, and we would fix the education problems of America. I would be rich. If I could turn board members and busy volunteers into this type of learner, I'd revolutionize the way the non profit sector works and the impact we all have. I'd not be working 60 hour weeks trying to do everything it takes to raise the money, train the people and do the work, too.

Good board members scarce. There are thousands of non profits looking for them.

Daniel: Thank you for this thoughtful addition to the conversation. It brings us to yet another step in the discussion:

If we had no governance models at all, and were starting from scratch - and we wanted to create boards who had a culture of ongoing learning - what would need to be in place for that to happen?

If instead of "fixing the problem of boards" we aimed at the type of inspired culture of learning you describe, what would need to be in place to achieve that?

This short video might help get your juices flowing. http://is.gd/pkYo If, as the video suggests, we were to reverse engineer the future of "inspired governance," what might that look like?

(Perhaps it might look like what is described in another short video here? http://is.gd/pkY8)

Hildy

I was excited to see your use of backward mapping in the two videos. I've based much of my thinking on an article written by Elmore at Harvard University. I've also borrow ideas from Drucker as well.

I use maps in my visioning saying "what would it take for every one of these high poverty neighborhoods to be populated with comprehensive, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs". I use graphics to show the steps of the career ladder that start in preschool, and go one year at a time through k-20 education then to careers. The question I ask is "What are all the things that we (the community) need to do to assure that each child born today in a high poverty neighborhood are starting a job/career by age 25?" The information we collect and post as links on our web site represent things some people in some places are already doing to reach this vision. If we can learn and innovate from the ideas of others, we can constantly improve our efforts.

The key word is "accountability". What degree of sacrifice are people willing to accept, as true accountability, for the actions that would need to be taken to achieve this vision? Finding more than a few people willing, or able, to make such a degree of sacrifice is daunting. Keeping them involved, and adding more people each year, is an even bigger challenge.

By posting this vision on a web site, I can come to this forum, and go to other places, each day, to try to inspire people, not just board members, to take ownership of the idea.

Daniel: Your last phrase, "take ownership of the idea"- it has me thinking. Thank you for that. We so often use the words "accountability" and "ownership" that we do not realize the degree to which they are linked. But indeed that is a big piece of building a governance system around inspiration towards visionary end results - having not just "accountability for" those results but "ownership of" the results.

We have found in our work that board members join boards because they are inspired, but that they get so mired in what they are taught is "best practice" - a focus on organizational means - that they quickly become the boards we all love to hate. If the systems have created these bored boards, systems can create inspired boards.

Inspired boards focus first on their ownership of and accountability for the end results they intend to create in the community. Inside that, they own and are accountable for oversight of the means. This approach has been powerful in its ability to effect both internal and external change.

I am eager to hear how others have moved boards to own those results - to create more visionary community change.

Hildy

I also agree Daniel that "if we can learn and innovate from the ideas of others, we can constantly improve our efforts...to take ownership." You're right, accountability is action. Linking another idea to quite a way back, in Carlos's conversation on fiefdoms, ownership starts from within, stemming out of a prosperity consciousness. A lack of ownership is often a block to action if the scarcity mindset - through individual or group fiefdoms -takes over from the inspired learning of prosperity consciousness.

Hildy, going back to your prior potato planting metaphor, one sustainable seed ( for growing into food) is the decision to give power to the powerless, like planting from scratch, it creates a new pathway toward social consciousness that releases the beliefs that create the appearance of lack - especially with funding challenges and when there's no governance model.

The key to inspired learning is inside inspired thinking which can create, for boards, not just a new form of governance but a whole new life form for sustainable development - by turning social conscience into enlightened consciousness. Helping, is the understanding that our heart is our subconscious mind, increases this consciousness. So when the flow of energy, (of which capital,or lack of is just one aspect,) is knowledge based information through (inspired learning) spreads accountability easily. Like, the electrons in an atom being held together by an invisible force- inspired learning ( with and through others) becomes the necessary culture rather than a top-down institutional approach as the only way to govern. Just some thoughts.

Jo: Your comments reminded me of a book I often touch back to, Brafman and Beckstrom's "The Starfish and the Spider." If we trust the power of EVERYONE being inspired, and their owning that inspiration individually, they will come together to build that collectively inspired leadership.

What is clear to me is that current "best practice" in governance steers boards away from inspired leadership, focusing instead on governance of the means - financial, HR, etc. For inspired individuals to continue to work from that place of inspiration, the "best practice" must be re-focused to encourage those individuals to keep their board work focused on what matters most - leading towards significant community / global improvement.

I have written about this fairly extensively, and have actually focused my own governance work on the question of leading for impact. Some of that can be found here: http://www.help4nonprofits.com/NP_Bd_Governing_for_What_Matters1-Art.htm

Which brings me back to wondering - what other models are out there that focus all of a board's energy on the only thing that matters - leadership on behalf of creating inspired community change?

Hi Jo,

Seems we read the same books. Here's a page I've had on my site for a couple of years that illustrates how people can take ownership by connecting people they know with information and ideas that help those people form their own reasons and ways to get involved: http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/collaboration-and-capacity-building-articles/60-the-spider-and-the-star-fish

In the Spider and the Starfish examples of blended organizations, such as eBey, were given to show how technology platforms can support the involvement of millions of people. This is a step toward getting boards, and other volunteers, to become owners. If you look closely at the T/MC web sites, I not only provide information for my own board and volunteers, but for those who support any other tutor/mentor program in the country.