4 minutes
In general I don’t recommend supporting any candidate for your board who you don’t believe could be chair. That’s a tall order, but also a helpful screen.
Board officer leadership is a foundation for effective governance, yet one of the least-attended-to governance development domains. In the for-profit sector, the topic is gaining greater attention. In the not-for-profit sector, development offerings for specific board officers are rare. In the credit union space, officer development has been mostly barren until CUES’ Board Chair Development Seminar was introduced. (The next installment will be held in March in New Orleans.)
Because many CU board members do not have prior board experience, they haven’t had good officer role models. Serving as the chair of a board (or vice-chair or secretary and so on) is not a “natural” leadership role like being a credit union manager or CEO. Serving as a board officer demands a servant leadership approach, a quiet influencing hand and a strong will when confronting aberrant board behavior.
Chairs must be able to adeptly navigate some specific governance processes if they are to help the board be both efficient and effective. Here is just a sample of the domains of responsibility a board chair might be accountable for: driving high-performance governance; keeping track of board duties and putting them on the calendar; agenda setting; committee accountability; CEO partnership; meeting management/facilitation; government relations/advocacy; governance assessment; and handling feedback to board members from members at large.
How might a board help develop its future officers? First, have conversations with each board member once a year to determine interest in serving as an officer sometime during their board tenure. The chair should work with those who express an interest to develop a learning agenda about governance and officer duties. A good board officer must be literate in the latest governance thinking and recommended processes.
In addition, every board should have a bibliography of the three to five key books on governance with which board members should be familiar. That’s simply good governance and critical for officers. If you want to check out my books, the titles are A Legacy of 21st Century Leadership and Principles of 21st Century Governance. But there are many options.
Workshops and skill training on facilitation, effective listening, dealing with difficult people, interpersonal communication, influence, self-awareness, negotiation and conflict management provide core skills every officer and certainly every board chair will utilize. These are readily available in most regions of the country.
Certainly specialized competency development about strategic thinking, leading change, and coaching/mentoring will offer the chair an advantage in leading the board. Some additional learning about performance assessment and goal setting will help with CEO oversight and partnership. Training on advocacy and political savvy will help support the chairperson frequently called upon to represent the credit union with elected officials and community leaders.
I suggest that those who want to be officers seek training on these topics from the many leadership workshops and seminars offered regionally and nationally. I always suggest anyone wishing to serve as an officer go to some governance and leadership meetings outside the credit union domain to gain perspective on how others are delivering on their governance promise. In addition to credit union-industry offerings on governance and leadership, I recommend current and potential board officers become familiar with the offerings of the National Association of Corporate Directors, BoardSource and even some of the courses sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives.
Many credit union boards are securing the services of a “governance coach.” This engagement helps boards deal with governance assessment and development, and can be a valuable coaching resource for officers. In general this is a reasonable financial investment that won’t break the budget.
This year, begin the journey to improved governance officers. Help every board member assess their own readiness and develop a learning plan. Spend some time as an executive committee discussing how you can specifically improve your skills. Finally, for those with the will to handle feedback, the chairperson might ask the board to evaluate their own chairperson leadership and recommend areas for improvement. This would be a confidential assessment so board members will feel comfortable giving candid feedback.
Les Wallace, Ph.D., the 9Minute Mentor, is president of Signature Resources Inc. He is a frequent speaker and consultant on leadership and governance.
