246. Is the way we do things working for my fellow board members?

This season, every episode of OMG focuses on a question that directors really need to answer. OMG is written, produced, narrated and scored by Matt Fullbrook.   TRANSCRIPT: Question #44: Is the way we do things working for my fellow board members? I did a session a few months ago with a group of board chairs of cool complex organizations. I made a case to them – similar to the one from the previous episode – that each person in the room has different needs and preferences, and that an important part of a board chair’s work is to understand those needs and preferences the best they can and be intentional about giving directors opportunities to thrive. One of the participants had a very sensible question: “aren’t directors supposed to do what they need to show up ready and willing to do the job well?” My response was that it HAS to be a both-and situation. As in, it’s true both that the directors need to be as ready as possible to do an awesome job AND that an important part of a chair’s job is to do what they can to empower board members to thrive. But why should it stop with the chair? Let’s say you notice that one of your fellow directors is always too cold or too hot. Or that someone is struggling to understand a particular technical topic. Or that someone rarely volunteers to participate even when they likely have awesome insights to share. Or whatever. What could possibly be the downside to taking steps to improve the situation for your peers and increase the probability that they might be the best directors they can be?