Board engagement enables directors to fulfill their board role in a meaningful and satisfying way. When the board understands their role, is supported in their work, and feels connected to the organization’s core purpose, everyone wins.
But often, we take the concept of board engagement too far and we end up dedicating significant time and resources to cater to the egos and interests of individual board members. I call this overboard engagement. If you’re an ED or CEO who has dealt with boards, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Board engagement looks like:
✅ Defining board roles to create role clarity for board volunteers, so they know what to do, and how to do it well.
✅ Providing learning opportunities that help board directors fulfill their role, and hopefully also contribute to personal or professional development.
✅ Providing opportunities for meaningful leadership inside the scope of the board.
✅ Creating a collaborative space where board directors feel like part of a team.
✅ Connecting board directors to the real challenges and purpose of impact work.
✅ Demonstrating meaningful appreciation for board director contributions and stewarding the relationship over time.
Overboard engagement looks like:
❌Creating or maintaining unnecessary committees that align with a specific director’s skillset just so they feel useful.
❌ Allowing board directors to interfere with staff work.
❌ Writing an unnecessary report to satisfy a board director who is asking questions in bad faith.
❌ Spending significant amounts of staff time to answer calls or emails from board directors (or meeting 1-on-1 for no good reason!).
❌ Tiptoeing around a difficult board director because they are holding their access to wealth or resources hostage.
Board engagement benefits everyone but overboard engagement is inherently harmful. It leaves executive staff stressed and overwhelmed, and sucks up a great deal of time and energy that could be directed toward more impactful work. It also leaves board volunteers confused and dissatisfied because they feel disconnected from the real work of the board (nobody feels good about busy work). And, it robs the organization of the leadership it needs because governance becomes focused on short-term interpersonal dynamics instead of big picture strategic and administrative decisions.
Overboard engagement can perpetuate harmful power dynamics which can contribute to staff burnout and drive good people away from the organization. So, be intentional about board engagement but avoid overboard engagement at all costs!
Have you seen overboard engagement at play?
What other examples would you add to my list?
Nic Gagliardi is your go-to governance nerd with 18 years of experience creating impact and building capacity within the nonprofit sector. As a consultant, Nic provides strategy, governance and HR support to nonprofit organizations that want a new model for success. email: nicole@riseandrun.co
