My client was seeking to add five new Board members and had a list of twice that number. The discussion began with the personal qualities and financial resources of each candidate. I then asked, “What type of new resources does your Strategic Plan require?” When they relooked at their strategic initiatives that they will be addressing in the next two years, several areas became clear; community organizing, familiarity with green jobs, voting registration knowledge. I then asked them to identify the skills needed to successfully accomplish each of these initiatives. They began to make a list; volunteer organization, green industry innovation, voting procedures.
With this new insight, they reexamined the list of candidates and realized that with these criteria in mind, a whole new list had to be created. A brainstorming session produced an even longer list, and committee members began to choose candidates to reach out to. We then addressed the need for diversity, which added some new names and brought others to the top of the list. Now the Board member recruitment could begin in earnest.
What did we learn from this exercise?
Always keep your Strategic Plan in front of you. This must be a living document, not to be completed and then filed away until next year. In this case, by revisiting the Strategic Plan, the agency would be able to attract the leadership it needed to move ahead.
There was an additional side benefit, though it was quite subtle. What seemed to be a tedious task of choosing new Board members, all of a sudden became exciting. You could feel the new energy in the room. Why? Instead of looking to fill in the blanks on a Board slate, they were actually working to enhance the Mission of the agency by bringing in critical new resources. So much more fun, rewarding and productive!
Tags: Barrie, Board Development, journal, Strategic Plan