Tip #22 What's the #1 Cause of Board Member Underperformance
A common problem behind many instances of individual board member underperformance according to the authors of a popular governance book is a problem of purpose. (Richard P. Chait and others. Governance as Leadership. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. 2005, page 15) In their view board members are dissatisfied and find themselves "asking 'Why am I here?' and 'What difference do I make?' " (Chait, p. 16)
When I survey board members and ask them if their board meetings focus mostly on important governance matters, many answer "no". Recently, I spoke with two persons who said they would never serve on a board again because their boards seemed so wrapped up in trivial matters that they felt frustrated and that their board service wasn't worth anything. Board service, to many board members, just doesn't seem that meaningful.
So, how to infuse a sense of purpose and meaning into boardroom deliberations? How to focus on really important governance matters? The Policy Governance® model contends that the most important things that boards should be focused on are organizational purpose and organizational relevance into the future.
According to this model, boards should engage in ongoing conversation with the key organizational stakeholders on whose behalf they govern and they should continually educate themselves about relevant trends and the changing environments within which their organizations operate so that they can make informed decisions about their organizations' purpose. What differences should their organizations be making in people's lives now and in the future? That's not so much what activities or programs should their organization be providing but how are people they are serving to be benefited. And which people should be benefited. And when the people to be served and the benefits to be provided are clear, these benefits need to be quantified and impacts measured and monitored over time. Boards need to ensure that their board-intended recipients are being served by their organizations, their board-intended positive impacts are being produced in people's lives and enough people are being served and enough benefits are being produced to justify the costs incurred. Hence, in the Policy Governance® model, a major portion of board meeting time is spent on gathering and processing input from key stakeholders, ongoing board education, definition and refinement of organizational purpose, and ongoing review of data measuring achievement of organizational purpose.
For more information about the Policy Governance® system, please go to www.BoardsOnCourse.com/policy-governance.