1. Roles & Responsibilities
of Volunteer and Public Policy Board Leaders
TEXAS ALLIANCE OF GROUNDWATER DISTRICTS &
HIGH PLAINS WATER DISTRICT
Board Member Training Course
Bayer Museum of Agriculture | September 16-17, 2014
1121 Canyon Lake Dr.
Lubbock, TX 79403

2. Robert A. Floyd,
 Legislative Consultant for Hance Scarborough, LLP
 Lobbied before the Texas Legislature and U.S. Congress 41 years.
 Served as President and CEO of the Texas Motor Transportation
Association and the Texas Society of Association Executives.
 Served on the board of directors of state, local and national
associations and non profit organizations.
 Served as an elected member of the Eanes ISD Board of Trustees.
 Provides advice and counsel to trade associations and non profit
organizations in strategic planning, board leadership,
organizational performance, communications and public affairs.
 Author of The Courage to Lead: An Essential Guide for Volunteer
Leaders, Board Trustees and Public Servants
 Chairs the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument Committee,
a non profit organization that organized and raised funds for the
monument on the State Capitol Grounds to honor Texans who
served in the Vietnam War. Dedicated on March 29, 2014.

3. Seven Essential Questions
1. Are you getting the results that you want as a board?
2. Is the board working efficiently?
3. Is the board having difficulty resolving issues or developing policy?
4. Does the board have difficulty reaching consensus on key issues?
5. Do the same issues keep coming up meeting after meeting, year after
year, without the board being able to come to closure?
6. Does your constituency/stakeholders believe (perceptions are equal to
reality) that the board/organization is not meeting its needs?
7. Do members feel they are contributing to the final decisions?

4. 1. Establish Policy.
Meet the needs of constituents you represent.
Address the needs of the public as well.
Set policies that guide your organization to run effectively,
legally, and ethically.
Recognize policy decisions as those that affect the
organization as a whole.
Establish the framework within which the staff executive can
lead and manage.

5. 2. Establish a Partnership with
the Chief Staff Executive.
•Set guidelines for authority, responsibility, and accountability of the
chief staff executive and the board.
•Provide support.

6. 3. Nurture a Vision.
•Have a shared vision, sense of mission, and plan.
•Take the long view; help put difficult decisions into
perspective.

7. 4. Provide Direction Through Strategic
Planning.
•Stay in touch with your constituents and stakeholders and
your professional environment.
•Assess strategic implication of critical issues.
•Identify opportunities and threats.

8. 5. Assure the Financial Integrity of the
Organization.
•Tie financial policies to programmatic goals
•Maintain sound fiscal policy, practices, and controls.
•Assist in developing and approving the budget.
•Delegate implementation and administration.
•Monitor financial outcomes and performance.
•Think long-term, big-picture; not only annual
income/expenses.

9. 6. Participate Responsibly.
• Commit the necessary time or step aside.
• Regularly remind yourself of your role as a
leader/director.
• Keep politics in perspective.
• Review agenda materials sufficiently prior to meetings.
• Do your homework
• Keep the board working on board-level matters.
• Employ committees and staff effectively.
• Encourage potential board members leaders.
• Follow both local, state and national trends; other trends
in business, public affairs, technology, society, and
economics.

10. 6. Participate Responsibly – Continued
• Take special assignments willingly and enthusiastically when
asked.
• Bring a sense of humor to the board’s deliberations.
• Be a goodwill ambassador for the organization.
• Actively participate in membership recruitment and
retention.
• Support the organization’s public advocacy.
• Attend events and activities, including the annual conference
and educational seminars.
• Express opinions consistent with your conscience and
convictions, but support the majority decisions made by the
board.
• Speak for the board or the organization only when authorized
to do so.

11. 6. Participate Responsibly – Continued
• Maintain confidentiality of issues discussed in executive
decision making sessions.
• Serve the whole organization, rather than any special
interest group or constituency.
• Avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest.
• Disclose any possible conflicts in a timely fashion.
• Commit to continuous improvement.

12. 7. Commit to Board Leadership as
Team Leadership.
•Know the goal.
•Know your role as a board member.
•Provide feedback.
•Respect and value diversity.
•Develop trust and fight fair.
•Pitch in to help.
•Know how to solve problems.
•Spread the credit; celebrate
•Get results.

13. 8. Evaluate Performance at all Levels
•Policy
•Finance
•Staff
•Board
•Organization

14. Knowing What’s Ahead
§ Absence of clear definition of success between
members of the board and /or between members of the
board and staff
§ Personal bias of influential constituents/stakeholders
§ Business environment of stakeholders in crisis
§ Turf protection, creating divisiveness
§ Only superficial issues discussed

15. Knowing What’s Ahead
§ Short-term expediency vs. long-term benefits
§ A lack of solid partnership among the people or
groups in power
§ Unpredictable future creating anxiety
§ Stakeholders having no sense of their future
§ Internal squabbling
§ Continuous conflict and confrontation
§ Energy internally directed and personally
driven
§ Lack of trust

16. Leadership and Ethics
"Congressional job approval is at 14%, one of the
lowest ratings in the fall before any midterm
election since Gallup began measuring approval in
1974. Most who disapprove say this makes them
more likely to vote this year. "
- Gallup, September 8, 2014

17. What Does Ethics Mean?
•Ethics mean teamwork…accomplishing tasks through
people working together.
•Ethics is meaning. Meaning in your own work and in the
work that you create for others.
•Ethics is love, compassion, service and validation.
•Ethics is seeing the world from the other person’s point
of view.
•Ethics is tied to core values. The ethical person is
motivated by what is right; not by what feels good.
---Peter Koestenbaum

18. Ethics in Empowerment and
Encouragement
•An ethical leader creates an environment that nurtures
excellence, risk, taking and credibility.
•Ethical leaders are willing to surrender authority, share
ownership and trust people’s judgment.
•When people feel they are partners, they accept
responsibility and take initiative; when they feel no real
connection, they put in their hours and go home.

19. Ethics and Integrity are entwined
“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have
integrity, nothing else matters.”--Former U.S. Senator Alan
Simpson
•If character is integrity based, people will put their faith in
leaders who demonstrate that they place their own interests
behind those of their followers.
•Integrity is being true to your word and your commitments;
it can not be faked.
•Integrity and honesty are closely aligned; honesty is being
true to self and others.

20. Ethics and Credibility
•A leader’s credibility is largely measured by the
consistency between his words and deeds.
•Credibility is developed over time. There are no
shortcuts.
•And as hard as credibility is to build, it can be broken by
one inappropriate remark or action.
•Credibility is derived from values.

21. Ethics and Authenticity
Authenticity starts with self awareness.
“Effective executives build on their strengths…on what
they can do. They do not build on weaknesses. They do
not start out with things they cannot do. (Peter Drucker)
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
•A lack of personal goals and a roadmap of how to meet them.
•No clear understanding of one’s own strengths and weaknesses,
plus a plan for improving.
•Not understanding there is only one standard for ethics in both our
personal and professional lives

22. Authenticity (continued)
•Always stressing what others can’t do well rather than
building on what they can do well.
•Not taking charge of one’s own personal learning and
development.
•A lack of generosity, not sharing time, ideas, feedback,
and compliments with others.
•Leading from the rear, sitting on the fence, and never
taking responsibility.
--Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the Girl Scouts of American

23. Lessons Learned
•As John Gardner writes, “Never confuse status with leadership.”
Leadership is not a position or place of authority. As for
personal accountability, the buck stops with each individual.
•Each individual must remain vigilant and when sensing the
ship is veering off course, take the responsibility to take the
appropriate action even though the con-sequences may be
severe.
•We must always be motivated by what is best for our
organization, not just for ourselves. We have an obligation to all
crewmembers when encountering the rougher seas of our
voyage.

24. Leading Change
1. Focus on change as an opportunity, not a threat.
2. Assure yourself there is a compelling reason for the
change, which can lead to major innovation in the
organization.
3. Recognize from the beginning that you cannot “manage
change;” by definition, change is unpredictable and often
messy. You can, however, manage the process, but not
without the help of others, patience, courage, endurance,
and at least one case of Maalox.

25. Why Do People Resist Change?
•We don’t understand the reason for it.
•We lack information.
•We don’t perceive a need to change.
•We feel we have already changed.
•We don’t see what it means for us.
•We don’t see a clear direction.

26. Resistance to Change
•We fear the loss of power, prestige, money, status,
friends, and work.
•We are reluctant to give up something that is
comfort-able and familiar.
•We were not asked for input about change.
•We have been hurt or betrayed by previous
changes.
•We fear we may not be able to learn enough to be
successful.
•We are already overwhelmed.
•We fear the loss of control.

27. 10 Steps for Leading Change
1. The change initiative should be compelling, yield
significant benefits, and capitalize on strengths and
opportunities.
2. Change is constant, unpredictable, and is always
accelerating.
3. Leverage technology as a key tool for organization,
coordination, communication, research, marketing, and
public relations.
4. Expect to be surprised.
5. Everybody resists change—clarify, communicate, consult,
set the course—but never conceal.
6. The change initiative should be compelling, yield
significant benefits, and capitalize on strengths and
opportunities.

28. Leading Change
7. Take risks—prudent risks.
8. Enlist “Change Champions” to help support the
change initiative.
9. Each change initiative should have a
• Clear target or outcome.
• Strategic Action Plan
• Budget/management of resources.
10. Stay the course.