Getting the Most from Your Board Experience. A leadership guide for new board members for nonprofits and associations. Provides tips on roles and responsibilities of the board and of directors.

1. Wheat Organization Leaders of
the Future
Getting the Most from Your Board Experience
Steve Drake
February 24, 2015

3. Conducting Board Business
A board meeting …
… is an unnatural act committed
by consenting adults!

4. Board’s Job
1. Establish outcomes or end results
2. Executive limitations
3. Board-staff relationships
4. Board process & responsibilities

5. Board’s Job
1. Establish outcomes or end results
 What good?
 For whom?
 At what cost?

6. Board’s Job
2. Executive limitations
 White edge lines
 Establish “shall nots”
 All else permitted

7. Board’s Job
3. Board-staff relationships
 Board’s job: governing
 Staff’s job: managing

8. Board’s Job
4. Board process & responsibilities
• Agendas
• Consent agenda
• Chair’s
– keep on task
– involve all
• Discussion

9. Evaluation
• Board self evaluation
• Staff (CEO) evaluation
Board’s Job

10. Meeting Courtesies
• Show up
• Prepare
• Listen
• Be on time
Board’s Job

12. Motions, Amendments
• Don’t get overly hung up during motion
process
• Main motion
• Amendments
– Vote on amendment
– Vote on main motion as amended

13. Engaging Discussion
• Avoid “playing devil’s advocate … substitute
with “yes, and.”
• Respectful
• Listen

14. If there’s a Gator in the room
Move it?
Go around it?
Go over it?
Pretend it is not there?
Remove it?

16. Steve Drake
President
10564 Carena Circle
Fort Myers, FL 33913
(314) 239-9464
CONTACT
INFORMATION
steve@scdgroup.net
@stevedrake
@causeaholic