Words Matter. If you want to achieve extraordinary impact as a nonprofit board member, it comes down to eight words. Eight. When taken together, these eight words are so powerful that they’ve fed the hungry, housed the homeless, and healed the sick. They’ve given us better and brighter tomorrows.
As Leaders of LIGHT, we get paid to make sure that all the trains run on time. Some days, it’s easy. Some days, it’s not. And some days, despite our best efforts, we just need a little help. And that’s where caffeine comes in.
It’s a fact.
As a board member, you bring a lot to the table.
Your experience, your reputation in the community, and your ability to connect with others all create a unique opportunity for you to be an important part of group that takes an organization from good to great.
And while routine board duties like developing the annual budget, monitoring the financials, and overseeing the external audit are important activities (insert yawn here), what your CEO really wants from you is for you to help them dream BIG.
That’s right.
Your charity’s CEO wants you—as their trusted board partner—to be a co-creator in envisioning a better, brighter, bigger, and more impactful tomorrow for your nonprofit.
They want you to come to meetings energized.
They want you to come to meetings with an eye on the future. They want you to be looking around corners. They want you to press the limits on what’s really possible.
In a nutshell, they want you to dream BIG.
This is what your charity’s CEO really wants from you.
Not convinced?
In a fascinating study entitled “What Nonprofit Executives Really Want and What They Actually Get from their Board Members,” researchers found that the vast majority of board members believe the CEO wants assistance in overseeing the mandatory red tape that goes along with operating a nonprofit.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong.
While these are all important activities, researchers found that what nonprofit CEOs really want from their board members is help with creating a better tomorrow.
They want help with envisioning a breathtaking future—one that changes lives and transforms organizations.
They want help with envisioning a future where the charity grows by leaps and bounds.
They want help with envisioning a future where the nonprofit achieves “best-in-class” status.
The quality of your leadership will be reflected in the standards you set for yourself.
If you want to achieve extraordinary impact, your board needs to be fully-engaged. This is a no-brainer. Indeed, when your board is fully-committed and actively involved in your nonprofit’s mission, great things are going to happen. Your directors have to be all-in.
For decades, researchers have been obsessed with finding out what separates great leaders from just good ones. And now we may have the answer.
This just in. Despite the best of intentions, most nonprofit boards fail to live up to their potential. Alarmingly, a recent study conducted by McKinsey & Company uncovered that only 17% of nonprofit CEOs feel that their boards are as effective as they can be. Seventeen percent. Ouch. But there’s more.
Here’s a great quote for today: “When your diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When your diet is correct, medicine is of no need.”
Breaking News from the Center for Creative Leadership This just in: Exercise and physical activity are linked to leadership effectiveness.
This just in: Exercise and physical activity are linked to leadership effectiveness. And get this: According to the Center for Creative Leadership, leaders who are physically fit are considered by their boards, bosses, peers, and direct reports to be more effective leaders than those who aren’t.