I led a short training last night for a small nonprofit Board facing some pretty serious yet pretty common problems. Less than half the Board members showed up for the training. They have a history of attendance issues, lack of participation, apathy, and so on. Their leadership isn’t the greatest. But their mission is very compelling and there’s a small group of committed Board members who want to change things and make them better.
So, I spent some time helping them understand basic roles and responsibilities of Board members. Then we focused on one problem they’re having programmatically and developed a structure for a plan.
By the time I left, they were excitedly talking about how they were going to change the culture of their Board and they had already set a date to flesh out the rest of the plan for the solution to the program problem. The Executive Director had a smile on her face I hadn’t seen in a while and I could feel the new energy in the room.
So what caused the change?
They bought into the belief that they CAN change if they want to. Individually they believed it and collectively they believed it. Basically, I helped them shift their thinking. Now, instead of being held back by the status quo, they are dreaming about what they want their Board to be. And the sky’s the limit!
I’ll be meeting with them again in a few weeks to see how they’re doing and to help them take the next steps in developing their Board. I love seeing Boards make this kind of dramatic change! It has an impact on the entire nonprofit and ultimately helps them serve more people.
I love my job! 
Excellent site, keep up the good work