Serving on a board is a privilege. As board members, we’re carefully selected because we have a particular set of skills that an organization believes can serve as a multiplier in pursuit of their mission. That organization expects you to show up prepared, enthusiastic, and fully focused.
For years, researchers have been examining the routines of high-performing leaders. Obviously, it should come as no surprise that best-in-class leaders do a lot of things right.
These days, it’s not uncommon to wonder if your attention span is getting worse.
If you feel this way, you aren’t wrong. And you aren’t alone.
If you’ve served on a board post-pandemic, you’ve maybe experienced some version of the following:
It’s 6:05. The meeting was supposed to start at 6, but only three of your board members have showed up.
Not to worry: There’s a virtual option, and four people are on Zoom in the waiting room. At least you have a quorum.
As the Zoomers join the meeting, their faces fill the screen and you’re hit with a mix of sounds — kids screaming, dishes clanking, horns honking. Yes, one of your board members has, in fact, joined the meeting from their car.
One of them is completely MIA — an avatar in the corner — and as you turn back to the small crowd gathered in person around the table, each person’s head is buried in either their phone or computer.
If you’re thinking I’m here to rail on virtual board meetings, I’m not.
As a Leader of LIGHT, you have an important challenge ahead of you: You have to grow yourself, and at the same time, you have to grow everyone around you. Balancing these two tasks can be very difficult.
With Giving Hearts Day 2025 now in the rearview mirror, you’ve hopefully taken some time to reflect on what went well this year and where you’d like to make some improvements for next year.
One area that many organizations report wanting to improve is how they engage their board both for GHD and year-round. Spring is a time of optimism and new beginnings, and we hope that extends to the way you approach your board this year.
One of the core tenets of being a leader of light is practicing forgiveness. In fact, it’s part of our fifth principle: Talk, Walk, and Teach Civility, Kindness, Forgiveness, and a Love for All.
When it comes to forgiveness, every leader of light needs to have a powerful exercise that can be employed at a moment’s notice to help those in your charge.
Author C.S. Lewis relates, “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.”
Anyone who’s in a leadership position understands that it’s a lot easier to talk about forgiveness than it is to actually do it.