#36 - One or two. One is better.

Admittedly, these thoughts are cynical. But then again, these are the waters where leaders swim. -mlv

The ratio of the number of organizations to the number of well-developed board members is....(insert a favorite synonym for "pitiful").

Let's add to these out-of-balance proportions by noting that best-practices board members focus on 1-2 organizations rather than watering down their efforts by sitting on many boards.

If you find someone who is truly effective on five or more boards, you've found a professional board member.

A truism: Those organizations that want high-fliers on their boards usually try harder to build their influence than to grow good governance. And those who seek seats to pad their resumes don't help. The mutual mission of this type of organization and this type of board member is to populate board seats with big names or to become a big name. Mutually trading off each other's reputations does not equate to good governance!

Another truism: When not well-developed as a board member, CEOs and Executive Directors who join boards tend to wear their CEO and Executive Director hats. They end up duplicating the executive role, thinking that asking CEO-type questions and making CEO-type pronouncements equates to governance. They govern from a limited and limiting perspective—that of the accountable executive rather than as a steward for the organization's governance. The roles of executive and board members are not identical!

Going Deeper

Episode 55 of the Third Turn Podcast with Award Winning Board Member and Governance Thinker, Jodi Hubler.

And yet one more truism: Many boards treat continuity as continuing with the current board. Rather than developing a group of advisors from whom future board members are recruited, these boards wait until a seat opens up before beginning the process of finding someone new. That, or they leave the seat open, letting governance deteriorate further. Neglect of governance is what drives so many stakeholder and shareholder lawsuits!

I love the rules my first wife, Lorie (now deceased), had for herself when asked to join boards and task forces:

1. I will serve only on one or two boards—no more. One is best.
2. A board member's job description and terms of service, including length, must be part of their recruiting efforts, or I won't serve.
3. The chair must have a good reputation for facilitation skills, or there is no point in saying yes.

In the wake of boards not growing their members, we need people like Lorie to serve—people who develop themselves.

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In My Backpack

Beethoven: The Music and the Life, by Lewis Lockwood.

I'm currently at work on my next book, a look at Maestro-level leadership. I'm drawing on Beethoven's 9th Symphony as a thread throughout, an illustration of all one's parts potentially coming together to make something beautiful and lasting toward the end of one's leadership career. Lockwood's book is proving to be a valuable resource.

Lewis Lockwood, a Harvard professor and renowned Beethoven scholar, combines the person with the music, digging well below the surface of both.

Executive Thinking is a?source for being and thinking as an executive who links the world's future to their enterprise mission and its profitable operations. Here, you will find some of the soul-searching, middle-of-the-night, honest reflections at the core of who we are becoming as leaders.

A Systems Convener and Executive Advisor walking alongside accomplished executives in the third turn of their careers, Mark L. Vincent, Ph.D., EPC, loves leaders who love leaders.

In his own third turn, Mark continues to grow his capacity for wise advising, artful facilitation, and public presentation.

Mark has founded?Maestro-level leaders,?Design Group International,?and the?Society for Process Consulting and authored a number of books, including Listening Helping Learning. He now partners with Mygrow to build an emotionally intelligent world.