When Volunteers Roll Up Their Sleeves…

And are also board members – trouble lurks.

That seems counter-intuitive, right?

After all, what we want most of all is board members who deliver, who get really involved, who put their money where their mouth is (at least in terms of bringing home the bacon…)

What could be wrong with that?

Nothing – as long as a far-reaching, strategically-based vision is still driving the whole.

And that’s hard to maintain.

Theoretically, board members are supposed to hold the long-term vision, and help the day-to-day management drive towards this overarching goal(s). That’s one of the primary points of a board – to provide a perspective that’s not locked in the day to day interactions of the agency.

But when board members get involved at that level, it’s very hard, almost impossible, to maintain this “lofty” perspective. They get committed to making sure the event comes off, the meeting gets set up, the mailing gets out.

And the board’s key role of questioning – Is this the most effective strategy? Is this the right event? Should we be headed in this direction? – fades into the background. If it’s still around at all.

I’m not saying that we should turn away our board members offering to help – far from it.

I am saying that we need to make sure that board meetings don’t devolve into task lists and tactics – that they still have high-level discussions making sure that we’re in the right business and we’re getting results. Because if these conversations don’t happen at a board level, with folks who care deeply and are committed to making it happen – where will they happen?

It’s a good kind of trouble … a trouble worth negotiating.