Board Members and their Role

I have served on many boards both for profit and not for profit and I have served board members as president, ceo and executive vice president for a not for profit and for profit board.  My belief is simply this.  No matter the type of board you serve on you will always encounter a multitude of personalites and egos that will cause great distress when there is no need for it to ever happen.

You see, all it takes is one Board Member who believes his or her idea is the "only idea" and you create a level of organized chaos that can tear down the goals and objectives of a board.  Board Members are people who have real lives and responsibilites too, so they will only allow themselves to take so much and if the negativity of one board member persists you can be sure two things will occur:

1.  A Board Member will withdraw and not contribute in that they will feel their opinion would not be well received

2.  A Board Member will stop being helpful and may even stop attending scheduled meetings which will result in a gradual way of saying goodbye farwell!

Don't let one of two negative Board Members ruin your Board.  Confront them - educate them on what you see and feel and begin an open dialouge where you professionally confront them when they are going to far with their issues especially if the majority of the board is not willing to vote or accept what is being debated.  Do not allow negative board members to take control of your issues - let them know you are watching and keenly observing them and if they continue you will call for their removal from a committee or board position.

Boards of all venues are in a critical way with the economy being what it is.  Spend your time on planning the future not debating the past issues.

Move forward and keep your Board Members on notice that you will not tolerate insubbordination or negativtity - a Board member is an ambassador of the organization and they need to act and demonstrate that they care first about their organization and do so by being proactive!