Badass Your Board

The road to revitalization apathy is paved with good intentions. Anyone involved in an effort to revitalize their community should be commended for lending their time and talents to the cause, but because of the importance of this work, we must demand more than good intentions. All the good intentions in the world don’t mean a damn thing if not coupled with effort. Good intentions never fixed anything, so we must stop accepting them as enough. We must demand significantly more, and we need not be shy about our reasons. When a community organization is born, we set out with grand visions of how it will operate and all of the impacts it will bring about in the community, but then the realities of overseeing a non-profit organization set in. The work to revitalize then often becomes secondary to the challenge of managing a complex organization. Too many communities remain marginal, at best, because board members aren’t carrying their weight.

Where we typically fall short is adopting the opinion that any service is valuable service. Just because your neighbor is free on Mondays at 6pm, does not mean they are a suitable board member. Just because your softball teammate also likes to shop downtown, does not mean they are a suitable board member. It is through good intentions we lower our standards when seeking out board members. We don’t want to be a burden, we want to limit burnout, and we don’t want to appear to be a major commitment so we can expand the potential pool of board members. Unfortunately, by taking this approach, we set our expectations extremely low at the outset, and we know people tend to meet the expectations we provide for them. The work is too important to approach with low standards. When you consider all the impacts a successful revitalization organization has on a community, you realize only a badass board will do.

When we take the Tinder approach to board recruitment (swipe right, swipe right) we end up populating our board with people that were attracted to low expectations. These board members are under the impression that from the outset, very little will be asked of them or expected of them. They then have very little pride in their commitment or the organization as a whole. And why should they? What would you think of an employer that hired anyone that was able to get out of bed on a semi-regular basis? Here is the other thing we forget, burn-out doesn’t come from being asked to do too much, it comes from not accomplishing enough. I repeat burnout does not come from being asked to do too much, it comes from not accomplishing enough. Would you rather dedicate some of your free time and talent to improving your community or sit in monthly hour-long meetings discussing the problems with parking? Badass board members give a lot because they get a lot in return. They understand that their commitment and effort will be rewarded with the satisfaction that comes from making an impact. The boards I have worked with that give the most of themselves, are also the most rewarded by their board member experience. The work is too important to take a low-expectation approach to board member recruitment.

We need to take more of a match.com approach to board recruitment. We must start by setting our standards high and deciding what we want, not just what we will accept. We need to treat the recruitment process like it’s a job and not a volunteer post. If you want an amazing downtown, it has to start with getting a badass board to lead the way. Consider who your ideal board member would be. Set your expectations high. Be bold. Consider the job you are tasked with, consider your town’s needs, and your wants for your town. If you are successful in meeting your mission, your entire community will grow and change and every person in it will benefit. With that in mind, seek out the badasses. The best teams, companies, and universities set their expectations high because they are seeking out the best people and expecting to get the most out of them. If you want to have an organization befitting of your mission and your community, you should begin to do the same.