What success looks like for Board Governance: Dancing on Mission

Dancing on Mission

Last month we wrote about the WHO of board governance. In this third of our five-part series, we take up the question of WHAT boards are responsible for in their work – or to extend our metaphor, what does successful dancing as a board look like?

Reflect for a moment on the latest board meeting in which you participated.  What was on the agenda? How much time did you spend reviewing staff reports, looking over budget figures, or discussing operational issues?  Excellent boards are clear on their responsibilities and success factors regarding oversight for the mission, vision, and values of the organization. From a process perspective, everything that a successful board does maps back to those three essential things. 

This may seem basic, even elementary. Yet in our experience, boards find ways to lose this perspective, and sometimes without much notice or fanfare, as they pursue grand goals for a new capital campaign, deal with an existential crisis of leadership, or the myriad of other responsibilities and challenges that come towards the board.

While these are certainly important matters, and they most often do support or are directed toward fulfilling the mission, they are not in and of themselves the mission. And it is essential not to lose sight of this in the “shuffle of the dance” in which boards often find themselves.

To remain centered on mission and vision, a highly functioning and successful board possesses several things.

First – Clarity – Are we clear on who we are, who we serve, and what we do best?

Second – Unity – Are we unified around our mission, vision, and values?  If we sense that we are not, what should we be doing to ensure that unity is secured?

Third – Commitment – Specifically, commitment to the mission, and to one another. There is a very close set of relationships between clarity, unity and commitment. If the board lacks clarity, it will likely lack unity, and therefore commitment to the work of the board and to one another will certainly suffer. Perhaps you have witnessed this on boards where you have served, or see it in organizations that you once admired, but now seem to have “lost their way.” 

Ironically, if you do a quick search on the biggest mistakes boards most often make, there is virtually no mention of board oversight of mission, vision, and values. Plenty of attention is given to lack of executive oversight, failing to exercise fiduciary responsibilities, and not keeping confidences within the board.

Yet before we can get to best practices of excellent governance, do we truly understand why we are in the room (or on the zoom call)? Why should others care about our university, school, or non-profit agency, if we as a board aren’t taking the time to regularly ask ourselves: Are we on mission? 

What happens when an organization drifts away from its mission? Like a ship that drifts at sea, or a car that has lost its GPS satellite navigation, the consequences can be catastrophic. But the challenge for most boards is that they rarely, if ever, realize that the internal navigation system, the compass of their mission, vision, and core values has been shut down or lost focus until there is a major crisis. No board sets out to purposefully get lost, but it does happen. 

So, what about your organization? Can you say with great confidence that you are on mission, that your board is unified around your mission, vision, and values, and that together you are committed to doing the work necessary to see that mission fulfilled and your organization thrive?

We would love to hear from you about your mission alignment experiences.  Reach out to us and tell us about your organization and mission. Are you aligned? You can reach us by email at ronm@designgroupintl.com or phone at 202.740.6344 or lons@designgroupintl.com and 616.516.9870 

Walking alongside you,

	Lon L. Swartzentruber CEO and Managing Partner, Design Group International		Ron Mahurin Design Group International Senior Consultant