By: Beth Finch |
BoardSource published results from the 8th version of its national survey “Leading with Intent: A National Index of Nonprofit Board Practices.” Although not exclusive to charter schools and education, 850 non-profit chief executives and 246 board chairs completed the survey; and it includes a trove of valuable information.
CEO of BoardEffect, Todd Gibby, highlighted a few less publicized but still important items from the 50+ pages of results. These were his “Top 10 Not-Quite-Headlines, But-Still-Super-Interesting” points from this study:
Any way you slice it this is a big investment of time and energy.
Notwithstanding some commonly held perceptions, it’s certainly NOT all about the meeting.
Providing concise and meaningful dashboards that encourage generative discussions can inspire and encourage participation.
CEO responses indicate that meeting focus is stuck in fiduciary mode, in spite of meaningful prep and solid meeting management.
This seems to support CEOs’ assessment of board activity being more about oversight than insight and foresight.
Understanding what’s working for board members can be valuable. Bi-annual updates and progress reporting on board goals can mobilize and encourage board participation.
I interpret this as the strongest indictment in the survey by CEOs of their boards. It’s hard to imagine how boards can operate at a strategic level or engage in an informed assessment of their performance, if they are not truly engaged. Creating systems such as use of dashboards and technology to inform and educate board members but remaining mindful of their time and capacity is constructive.
Yikes that sure seems like a big jump since 2010. Given the points above, and knowing how time-intensive it is to find the right people in any business, this is not good news. This also seems to follow directly from the point above regarding engagement: engaged boards attract the right people, while passive boards do not. This seems more of a symptom than the problem itself.
Technology is no panacea, but it can certainly help.
I’ll toast to that! Strategy + People + Processes + Technology really can make can impact in this critically important area.
CharterSource is committed to building strong boards and organizations. Check out some of our training programs at http://chartersource.org/member-benefits/training/. Or email us at charter411@chartersource.org for the latest training update.