Professional Development is for Staff, Not Boards.

NOT!

Imagine you have an ailment that takes you to the doctor. On the wall is her diploma from 20 years ago. “Ah!” you think. “She has a lot of experience. Hmm, I wonder if she’s kept up with the latest thinking in caring for my ailment.” In 20 years, there have been ag lot of medical advances.

Keeping up in your field is important.

Companies invest in training and development for their managers and staff. Bar associations require Continuing Legal Education credits; American Medical Association requires Continuing Medical Education; school systems require Continuing Education credits for teachers.

With so many examples of professions requiring continuing education, why do board members say they don’t need to keep up with trends in board service?

I already know what I’m doing!

They give a lot of reasons:

  • Hubris – “I don’t need any training. I’ve been on boards for 20 years, and I already know what I need to know.”
  • Cost – “Why are we spending money on our board when our programs need the money?”
  • Disdain – “I’ve been through board training so many times, and it’s never been useful.”
  • Time – “We have to spend our time taking care of business; we don’t have time to waste on training.”
  • Assumption – “I’d like to get some training, but I don’t think anyone else on the board would.”

Underlying all of these is a basic misunderstanding. They believe board service is simple, static, and hasn’t changed in 20 years;  there’s nothing new to learn. Even if there is something new, it’s not going to make a difference.

Actually, the field of board service is changing.

The fields of sociology, organizational dynamics and neuroscience have upended some longstanding ‘best practices’ and received wisdom. Organizations that put the new ideas into practice are more successful than those that do not.

Last year, I gave a series of seminars around board relations and governance. As I set the curriculum for this year’s cohort of attendees, I’ve been spending almost as  much time updating the materials as I did creating it in the first place. Articles from Nonprofit Quarterly; BoardSource; Standards for Excellence; Harvard Business Review and more have supplied fodder for high level discussion around governance and building a board into a team. In many cases, the new research have been a complete surprise; in others, they’ve demonstrated nuance where absolutes have reigned.

The bottom line is that these discoveries have made board service richer, more robust, more enjoyable, and, perhaps most importantly, more effective.

Boards with contemporary training spend less time on the past and more time focused on the future. Boards built into teams spend less time infighting, and more time figuring out how to better deliver their mission. Boards with good relationships amongst members have rich discussions around substantive issues. Boards that have developed an inclusive mentality have the advantage of diverse viewpoints and experiences around the table, with all the creativity that inspires.

All of these have been the result of continuous professional board education.

And their organizations are stronger for it.

Get in touch for a conversation about board education and how facilitating professional board development can make your work easier. Or sign-up here for more ideas about managing boards and planning.