Slides from opening keynote for the New York State Association of Realtors

1. Boardology:
The Art & Science of Board
Leadership
Holly Duckworth, CAE, CMP
@hduckworth
#LSI #leadership #NYSAR
Leadership Solutions International
#nysar @hduckworth

2. #nysar @hduckworth

3. Leadership is the art
of getting things done thru
inspiring other people.”
Holly Duckworth, CAE, CMP
www.leadershipsolutionsintl.com

4. Technology Zone:
Twitter @hduckworth
www.Facebook/leadershipsolutionsinternational
www.leadershipsolutionsintl.com
Use this as a place to learn and grow.
#nysar @hduckworth

5. An effective board of directors:
___EDUCATES____, ___________ and
___________________ and _________
how to achieve the organizations goals.

6. An effective board of directors:
___EDUCATES____, ___CONNECTS____ and
___________________ and _________ how to
achieve the organizations goals.

7. An effective board of directors:
EDUCATES, CONNECTS
______INSPIRES________ and _________
how to achieve the organizations goals.

8. An effective board of directors:
EDUCATES, CONNECTS
INSPIRES and ___DECIDES____ how to
achieve the organizations goals.

10. Is it time to panic?
Everything about our associations is
changing. You may be running the race
for relevance, or looking at your
association in unorthodox ways... but, at
the end of the day it comes down to
leading people.

13. Carpe Diem
Seize the day!

14. Collective Expertise

15. Art of Board Leadership
#nysar @hduckworth

16. First Things First

18. I’m optimistic about the vision of my organization.
WE fill a tremendous void before the organization was
created
Karen Conlon, President & CEO
CA Association of Community Managers

19. I’m optimistic about
Our staff is the best we have ever have talented
Nathan Ridnouer - Specialty Equipment Marketing
Association

20. I’m optimistic about…
Changes in our industry and the changes we have made
to our governance structure
Sharron Bradley - Western Home Furnishings
Association

21. Start with the Truth
@hduckworth

22. Who are you as a Leader?
Wave the
magic wand
Tap your gavel?

24. Role of the Board of Directors

25. Questions to Ask
Yourself & Your Board
Am I committed to the mission of the
organization?
Can I contribute the necessary time to be effective?
Am I comfortable with the approach to
fundraising?
Can I place the organization’s purposed and
interests above my own professional and personal
interests when making Board decisions?

26. Responsibility of Directors
Must know and understand the mandate of the
organization
Must be familiar with those whom they serve (i.e. the
members)
Must be transparent in their operations
Must develop appropriate policies and procedures
Must avoid conflict of interest

27. Responsibility of Directors
Must be fiscally responsible
Must implement assessment and control systems (i.e. for
finance, strategic planning)
Must plan for succession and the diversity of the Board

28. Role of the Board
Communicate.
Listen. Seek to understand before you seek to be understood.
Speak! Don’t be afraid to be understood.
Question? This leads to greater understanding and better
decisions.
Make decisions based on situation not personality; avoid
all appearance of conflict of interest

29. Role of the President
The President is the facilitator. They do not control the
discussion or mandate policy. The main role is to ask
questions and listen.
They are the official spokesperson for the association, unless
they choose to designate someone else.

30. President
The President shall serve as chairman of both the Board of
Directors and the Executive Committee. The President shall
also serve as a member, ex-officio, with right to vote on all
committees except the Nominating Committee.
At the Annual Meeting and at such other times, the
President shall communicate to the members such matters
and make such suggestions that will promote the welfare
and increase the usefulness of the association.
The President shall perform such other duties as or as may
be prescribed by the Board of Directors.

31. Role of Board Members
Keep the best interests of the membership and of the
organization in mind.
Support decisions once they are made. Your time for
questioning is during the meetings.
Be fiscally responsible.

32. Role of Staff
Implement the Direction Set by the Board
Empowered to make financial decision as set in the
framework of the budget
Knows and implements policies as set by the board
Maintain and be the voice of history for the
organization gently reminding board of Polices &
Bylaws to guide them in decision making
May be to take minutes and notes of meetings

33. Role of Staff is NOT
Micro managed decision making
Question decisions made

34. Duty of Care
Directors’ fiduciary duties can be divided into two main
branches:
a) the duty of care; and,
b) the duty of loyalty.
The duty of care imposes on directors a duty of
competence or skill – i.e., a requirement to act with a
certain level of skill; and a duty of diligence. The duty
of skill and diligence must be performed to a certain
“standard of care”.

35. Duty of Loyalty
The duty of loyalty requires that a director
act honestly and in good faith in the best interests of the
corporation. Among other implications, it means that a
director is not allowed to profit from his or her office (the
“no profit rule”) and must avoid all situations in which his
or her duty to the Corporation conflicts with his or her
interests (the “no-conflict rule”).

36. Conflict of Interest
An apparent conflict of interest occurs when the
answer to the following question is "yes":
Would a reasonably informed person perceive that the
performance of the director's duties and responsibilities
could be influenced by their financial or material
interest?

37. Conflict of Interest
Occurs when:
a board member diverges from the associations’s
professional obligations to a private interest involving
actions that are determined by personal or financial gain
a board member acts in a position of authority on an
issue in which they have financial or other interests

38. Examples: Conflict of Interest
Directors could be in conflict of interest if they offer
services to the association on whose board they serve
even if the charge for these services is at or below the
market value.
A board member who has check writing/signing authority
is responsible for paying invoices from a relative or
business partner even for legitimate services

39. Liability of Directors
Directors are responsible for breaches of their fiduciary
duty to the corporation. They can be held personally
liable for breaches of statutory provisions that
impose responsibility on them as directors.
Directors are liable for the crimes that they commit
themselves, even if committed while executing their
responsibilities as a director.

40. Liability of Directors
Directors are usually not personally responsible for the
contracts they sign on behalf of the organization as long as
they have the legal right to do so.

41. Liability of Directors
Directors can be held personally responsible for scenarios
that include unsafe venues, the inappropriate actions of
volunteers (for example, libel and slander in an
organization’s communication vehicle, such as a newsletter
or website), or the inappropriate use of organizational
funds.

42. Liability of Directors
Directors can be held personally responsible for acting
outside their authority, for example, by signing contracts
when they are not empowered to do so.
They may also be held responsible for the improper use of
member record information.

43. Bylaws
You have one set of Bylaws as–Association Minimum
Bylaws
These are the rules by which you operate, your
“constitution”

44. Bylaws
Bylaws govern:
What you are called Where you operate
(state/province/country)
What your objectives are
Who can be a member and member responsibilities

45. Bylaws
Bylaws also govern:
Meetings
Voting
Quorum
Procedure
Elections
Your governance structure
Board of Directors
Executive
Term of office
Removal of Board members

46. Bylaws
Specific Committees
Nominations
Finance
Financial Operations
Dissolution of the organization

47. The Only Reason to have a Board
Meeting is:
To set Policy for the Association
Board Meetings Should:
Be no longer than 1 hour in length
Should be strategic in nature
All “action” should be made in the form of a
motion and submitted in writing 1 week prior

48. The Perfect Board:

49. Believe in Your People
@hduckworth #NYSAR

50. Volunteer Victories: Recruit, Retain
& Maintain Volunteer Leadership
Holly Duckworth, CAE, CMP
Leadership Solutions International
@hduckworth

51. @hduckworth

52. @hduckworth

53. 100%
@hduckworth

54. The dating game:
@hduckworth

55. What traits do you want in a
volunteer?
@hduckworth

56. What are the benefits of
volunteering?

57. What skills should go on my
volunteer job description?
Personal Skills Shared Board Skills
Leadership Association Experience
Strategic Thinking Diversity – reflects
membership
Communication
Global Mindset (if applicable)
Influence
Financial Expertise
Loyalty Association Experience
Business Acumen Governance
Financial Skills Strategic Planning

58. Skills Analysis - Individual

59. Skills Analysis - Collective

60. Why use Volunteers?
Greater impact to your vision mission
Save organization time
Increase organizations revenues

61. Volunteer vs. Employee
It’s more than the difference between simply a pay check and no pay check.
Are you teaching your volunteers this when they work with other
volunteers?
@hduckworth

62. Technology

63. How many people do we need?
How do we Recruit Volunteers?
Honest
How much time does it really take?
What times of the year are busy on this committee?
Authentic
Job Description
Specific Start Date/time
Specific End Date /time
Delegation
Let them own it
Follow Up
Appreciation
@hduckworth

64. Understand Motivations of the
person
Learn a skill
Share a skill

65. @hduckworth

67. Remember with
volunteers they have a
choice and 100’s of
other organizations
would love to have the
same people
With volunteers it is all
personal and passion
@hduckworth

68. Recruitment Ideas:
Volunteer Fair
Virtual Volunteerism
Job board
Volunteer Manager
Use of President Elect, to recruit to their team
Track skills of your members
Offer Leadership Training
Tell your own Testimonials about why and how you
volunteer (web, newsletter, in person)

69. Volunteers need to know they are part of something bigger

70. Next Generation Volunteers
@hduckworth

71. Tips to Volunteer Recruitment

72. @hduckworth

73. Secrets to Retain Volunteers?
Give them ownership
Give them something meaningful to do
Demonstrate for them how what they do makes a
difference to the organization
Make it easy to volunteer
Keep task sizes manageable
Have regular committee meetings

74. 7 Tips on Successful Volunteerism
Work on a cause that means something to you
Consider sills you have to offer
Do you want to learn something new
Combine goals
Don’t over commit
Think family
I never thought of that vs. that will never work

76. Volunteer Victories: Recruit, Retain
& Maintain Volunteer Leadership
Holly Duckworth, CAE, CMP
Leadership Solutions International
@hduckworth

78. Document your Plan Simply
and Clearly Now
@hduckworth

79. Business Plan: After

80. CTRL+ALT+Delete:
How to Reboot Your
Organization for Success
Holly Duckworth, CAE, CMP
@hduckworth
#leadership
Leadership Solutions International
#nysar @hduckworth
#nysar @hduckworth

81. #nysar @hduckworth

82. #nysar @hduckworth

83. Is too much control holding back
creativity in your organization?
#nysar @hduckworth

84. Is your organization not creating
alternate solutions to common
problems?
#nysar @hduckworth

85. Do you wish your organization
would delete legacy systems that
are holding the organization back?
#nysar @hduckworth

86. #nysar @hduckworth

87. Why do you want to reboot
your organization?
#nysar @hduckworth

88. #1
Ask for forgiveness: Not permission
Let go of controlling policies and procedures
#nysar @hduckworth

90. #2
To get control give it up.
Let the members run the membership.
#leadership @hduckworth

91. #nysar @hduckworth

92. CTRL
At your
company,
is work a place
you go or a
thing you do?
Citrix’s Jessica B. attendsaameeting while checking out the surf surf
Citrix’s Jessica B. attends meeting while checking out the
contest in San Francisco, CA
contest in San Francisco.

93. Flexible and mobile work
The key to releasing control and
embracing improved productivity

94. #3
Two Best Practices = Next Practice
BETA
#leadership @hduckworth

95. Who me? Innovate?
Where to begin

96. #4
Look at more flexible strategic planning:
Build strategy on the go and be willing to fail.
#leadership @hduckworth

98. #5
Delete old ideas, beliefs, and goals that are no
longer moving your organization forward.
#leadership @hduckworth

100. #6
Delete old vision in the
knowing of something new.
#leadership @hduckworth

101. @hduckworth
What do you
see today?
What you visualize, you will actualize

102. Simplify Work
#nysar @hduckworth

103. #1
Ask for forgiveness: Not permission
Let go of controlling policies and procedures
#leadership @hduckworth

104. #2
To get control give it up.
Let the inmates run the asylum
#leadership @hduckworth

105. #3
Two Best Practices = Next
Practice
BETA
#leadership @hduckworth

106. #4
Look at more flexible strategic planning:
Build strategy on the go be willing to fail.
#leadership @hduckworth

107. #5
Delete old ideas, beliefs, and goals that are no
longer moving your organization forward.
#leadership @hduckworth

108. #6
Delete old vision in the
knowing of something new.
#leadership @hduckworth

109. Simplify Work

110. What one thing will you do
based on this session?
#nysar @hduckworth

111. Simplify Work
#nysar @hduckworth

112. Thank you
www.leadershipsolutionsinternational.com/2013N
YSAR
Holly Duckworth, CAE, CMP
Leadership Solutions International
@hduckworth
#nysar @hduckworth