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Archives for May 2020

Do you want to be a board director?

May 25, 2020 by Alicia Curtis

 

I’ve spent so many years helping aspiring directors get onto their first community board and I can tell you, the feeling never gets old! There are now so many success stories from my course Board Ignition, it’s wonderful to follow their journeys onto the boards of their dreams!

 

Do you want to be a board director? | Alyceum

Meet Samantha

Sam is a passionate health advocate. She was worried that she didn’t have a lot of experience with Not-For-Profit organisations or governance and also wanted to know where to go to find a board position. She participated in my signature Board Ignition course and answered a few questions with me PLUS shared her insights through a video interview below too.

 

Why did you join the Board Ignition course?

I joined the Board Ignition course because it gave me an opportunity to explore my desire to serve my community, build good governance skills and understand what leadership prospects I was interested in pursuing. This program has provided me with far more than I could have anticipated the course, activities and networks has provided me with clarity of my skills, ambitions, confidence in my abilities and direction on the areas that I am lacking.

What surprised you most about the course?

It has been the flexibility of the course which allows participants to learn and action tasks at your own pace. I found this to be the most surprising and supportive aspect of the course.

What did you enjoy the most about the Board Ignition course?

The most valuable part of the course was the practical tasks that built confidence to build networks and ultimately to secure a NFP position

The modules are very comprehensive and action oriented. The course is designed to provide you with the core competencies and background of NFP’s. Then the confidence to network and get to action in gaining a board position.

In what ways did it really help you with your goal to become a board director?

This course has been so well thought out by Alicia. It provides a great mix of course work and practical experience, along with an active and supportive group online that can be contacted anytime. I would highly recommend this course to anyone considering NFP Boards or a desire to work in leadership roles.

And the results? What’s happened since you completed the course?

I have now been appointed to a NFP. I have joined the Health Consumers Council of WA as the Treasurer as of November 2018. Finally, this course provided me with personalised and supportive mentorship of Alicia Curtis and communities of leaders in the program. The confidence that this has instilled within me is immeasurable.

 

Check out my interview with Samantha

 

About Board Ignition

Board Ignition is a dynamic online course that helps you fast track your board journey to get your first board position and serve a community organisation. There are 8 modules to the course which you can complete at your own pace (while you also receive an 8 week email series to help you discover the modules). Check out the course here.

Join before 18th June and attend our next Board Ignition live Online Summit with current participants and alumni!

 

Ready to step into your full leadership potential?

GET THE FREE GUIDE:
15 WAYS TO FIND AN NFP BOARD POSITION
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Filed Under: Boards, NFP Boards Tagged With: board ignition, confidence, interview, mentorship

What boards are really looking for in a board director

May 11, 2020 by Alicia Curtis

I’m always curious – what makes someone a really exceptional board director?

In today’s environment, board knowledge and understanding is a given.

Knowing governance, strategy, the financials? Yes, you should. This is a given.

So what makes someone exceptional? I think it’s mostly about the boardroom behaviours that you display.

Here are the simplest boardroom behaviours that boards are looking for from a board director.

Board Attendance Matters

Can you make EVERY board meeting? Can you commit to this? An exceptional board director is in the room. They have done their reading, thought about the decisions and ready to contribute to the decision making. They are not late or leaving early. It is made a priority by them to be in the room with perfect or near perfect attendance.

Board attendance really matters. If you are bringing a unique perspective into the boardroom and you’re not there to help with the decision making, the board is weaker for it.

Serve your term. Be there and make your attendance count.

A highly engaged and involved board director

An exceptional board director needs little management. They are leaders. They take responsibility for their actions they have committed to and they get the role done. Furthermore, they are involved in board meeting conversations and decision making. And they serve on at least one sub committee. They are engaged in between board meetings too, always on the lookout in their external environment for opportunities, trends and connections that might be useful.

If you’re going to be involved – be involved! Don’t just turn up and keep the seat warm. Be a supporter of the organisation, show you care, and step up.

Show humility

I’ve been fortunate to come across so many exceptional board directors in my life. And the one common thread amongst them all? They show a great deal of humility.

Exceptional board directors are intensely respectful of others, whether it’s over written communication, in conversation or in the boardroom. They tend to listen more than they talk, making sure they have a thorough understanding of the context and environment.

Furthermore, they believe in the power of the collective over any one individual. They are lifelong learners. And they are focused on adding value.

These people are an absolute pleasure to work with in the boardroom. This humility breeds trust, respect, and candor in the boardroom which is a sign of a high performing board. Humility also brings about the need and want for regular and rigorous board director evaluation processes.

Curiosity reigns

Curiosity can be a foundational skill for exceptional board directors and feed into their humility and engagement.

The Stanford Social Innovation Review article “How to Succeed on a Nonprofit Board” shares five ways a board director can be curious:
• Curious about impact – Is our nonprofit making a difference to solve a problem in the community? How can the nonprofit increase its social impact?
• Curious about context – How does our nonprofit compare to competing nonprofits? What is our nonprofit’s unique value proposition that would make our beneficiaries choose us instead?
• Curious about money – Where does our nonprofit funding come from and where does it go each year? Why do donors and grantors give money to our nonprofit?
• Curious about people – Who are our nonprofit’s stakeholders? How can we best address their needs, hopes, and aspirations?
• Curious about the board – What diverse perspectives are present in the board? Does our board have all the perspectives of the beneficiaries we serve?

There is an openness to challenge the traditional wisdom and explore the options. Good board directors understand they are there to challenge each other’s assumptions and beliefs as well as those of the executive.

Create value & impact

An exceptional board director uses their skills, knowledge, networks and strengths to create value and impact. They make things happen.

They are strategic in the value they offer (they know the board/management line of separation). Whether it’s using their technical knowledge in a strategic way for the organisation, creating opportunities for partnerships or funding, supporting the executive through tough times, or sharing their wisdom at the perfect time – they make their contribution count. And because of it, the board is successful.  They are value focused.

And they are constantly asking themselves, “How are my contributions, questions, and connections adding value to the board?”

Now over to you: Do you have any other important board director values and behaviours that you can share? Head to the Alyceum Leaders group to share your thoughts!

Ready to step into your full leadership potential?

GET THE FREE GUIDE:
15 WAYS TO FIND AN NFP BOARD POSITION
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Filed Under: NFP Boards Tagged With: boards, director, values

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