Weekend Edition: Special Guest Heavens to Betsy

Happy Saturday, everyone. I'm down with some sort of disgusting upper respiratory plague (really a sinus infection but I feel so wretched that I'm prone to fits of hyperbole whilst taking mass quantities of Sudafed and antibiotics and binge watching "Miss Marple" on Amazon Prime) so I've enlisted a colleague of mine to pen today's column.

Give a warm welcome to Heavens to Betsy!

Oh Board Members, Where Art Thou?

I'm not sure if this is a Dear Murgatroyd or just a rant but my board is so detached that they are pretty much on life support. It's great that they leave me alone but I haven't had a review since I started a decade ago. I haven't had a raise either except when I write it into grant budgets. Should I do something to reengage them or just be happy that they are leaving me to do the work? 

Thoughts from Heavens to Betsy:

Murgatroyd’s out sick so you’re getting a #HeavenstoBetsy response instead- but I believe that we’d both start with a, “Bless their hearts!”

What you’ve got there is a board who doesn’t understand what it means to be on a board! Start with your bylaws and pull job descriptions. If there aren’t good job descriptions there, invite your board chair over and create some. They have fiduciary responsibly (read: their ass is on the line if something goes wrong) and responsibility to hire and evaluate the ED at the very least.

Now, I certainly understand the temptation to just leave it alone because there’s a fine line between a BOD that’s MIA and one that’s all-up-in-your-grill, but think of all the additional things you can accomplish with just a little buy-in! So here’s the plan:

1. Get those job descriptions- make sure “evaluating the ED and recommending raises” is on there.
2. Involve your chair. Let her/him know that you’re long overdue for an evaluation and that you know that he/she is a super talented professional who would never let that duty get away from him/her. Pro-tip: look like you mean it! 
3. Right after that compliment you slide a piece of paper over the table to your chair. “I know evaluating can be tough when you’re not here every day, so I’ve made a list of my accomplishments as well as a salary history that shows that I haven’t been evaluated since the first damn iPhone came out. I’ve also researched industry standard annual raises which are 2, 3 and 4% for fair, good and excellent work.” 
4. Make a plan for Board On-Boarding. Take them each to lunch, or better, let them interact with you and your mission for an hour or two. They must have had a connection to this org at some point and it’s time they remember what that connection was. Take them each out within the span of a couple of weeks before your next meeting. 
5. Then board chair can pass out those job descriptions at the next meeting. They need to understand that they have duties to the org. And maybe you’ll find one or two members that really step up to the plate and engage. And one or two members is sometimes all it takes to change a culture that’s just gotten plain lazy! 

Getting a lazy board engaged isn’t easy, but it can be worth it. They should be opening fundraising doors and thinking about how better to accomplish your mission. If they can’t do it, it’s okay, but they don’t need to just take up space around a table. If you can’t gain buy-in after a reasonable attempt and clarification of duties, it’ll be time to gently open the door and let them walk out of it. “It seems like you’re really busy with [life] and may not be able to take on [challenge at the org] right now. If you like, I can move you to a committee that meets less frequently and ask someone else to do the duties for now.” If they walk out that door (and believe me, they will) offer profuse and public thanks for their service. Then immediately forget they exist and help your chair recruit the kind of professionals that fill your needs and will show up for you! And get that raise. A big one.

Three cheers for Betsy and her wise words. I'm going back to my sickbed (recliner) and I'll see you all next week. As always, send your conundrums to DearMurgatroyd@gmail.com.