Everybody wants an engaged board. The engaged boards are the high performance boards. How do you create an engaged board?
Before we tackle that question perhaps, it would be good to define what an engaged board looks like. Every board member
Is an active participant in at least one committee
Attends more than 70% of the board meetings
Has at least one comment at every board meeting he or she attends
Is a donor beyond the token level
Is a referral source for new students
Is an active volunteer beyond board and committee meetings
Is an advocate or ambassador for the school
If that is a grade card for your board members, how are they doing?
Some Christian schools we work with think the lack of engagement is the fault of the board member. There are certainly times when we have the wrong individual on the board. Most of the time, they are the right people in the right place but the system lets them down.
The common thread among the seven criteria is passion. A passionate person makes time in their busy schedule for the board meetings, committee meetings, coming to the board meetings prepared, telling others, volunteering, and giving.
People usually join the board because of their passion (sometimes expressed as love of the parochial school, education, or children). So what happens to the passion?
Sometimes their passion fails to engage. The board or committee meetings are dysfunctional or ineffective. They joined to be part of the board. When board membership dampens their passion, they disengage from the rest of the list.
As an example, board meeting about the lunchroom menu should be avoided. If you joined the board because of your passion for the school, education, or children the meeting feels like a waste of your time. It is a waste of everyone’s time.
We hire principals to manage the daily operations. Why is the board doing the principal’s job? If the principal is incapable of doing the job, pay for training or hire a new principal. In short, if the discussion is appropriate it should be about the principal rather than the lunchroom menu.
Next Step:
Check the board agenda and ensure there are substantive mission, children, planning, policy, God centered (faith-formation, spiritual development, etc.), or educational issues
Eliminate the operational, maintenance, and functional issues, and let the committees and staff deal with those matters
Outside of the board meeting, have a small committee of two or three board members review each board member quarterly against the preceding list of seven criteria
If a board member’s passion is beginning to slip meet with them one on one and determine what is causing their passion to fade
Passion is infectious. The board is the leadership council. Their passion will infect the passion of the entire school (staff, parents, volunteers, students, visitors, donors, and referral sources).
Passion also fosters optimism. Optimism makes problem solving easier and catalyzes innovation. Problem solving and innovation keep organizations in the lead, make them more sustainable, and attract donors, students, and referrals.
You can have an engaged board. The board members want to be part of a group of engaged and passionate individuals. They will help you change the agenda. They are waiting for you to take the lead.
As always, contact us if you want help. We use a special process that offers a guarantee. For more information about our process and guarantee, you can click here.
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