What the Board Signed Up For
Pretty sure this isn’t what they signed up for.
Whether it’s Hockey Canada facing allegations of covering up sexual assaults by national team players, churches learning that their trusted pastors betrayed trust and abused their power, gymnastics and soccer coaches mistreating young athletes, or any of the other all too common stories of abuse and exploitation that happen under the authority of charities and nonprofits. The volunteers who make up the board of directors of these organizations find themselves under scrutiny for anything and everything they did or did not do.
Behind closed doors they have to discern how to handle often complex and tragic situations in which they may have no training or experience, while people demand answers and insist that the way they see things is the objective truth. Media often pick up these stories, asking hard questions in the cause of both public interest and generating ad revenue. Those accused may be defiant, broken, silent, or aggressive. And the victims’ care has to be priority.
Somewhere in these complicated tragedies each director also has to process their own feelings.
What is a board to do?
Let’s be clear. Legal precedent and best practices remove any excuse for an organization dismissing any such allegations. As hesitant as charities often are to incur the costs of legal advice, reporting and independent third party investigation are the right way to go. Providing care for victims and removing the accused from active involvement are essential. And its better to have this established in policy before the tumult happens.
What I’m interested in considering here is the mindset of the board of directors.
In most cases these are volunteers who serve without payment or prestige because of a love for the cause, the leadership, or the organization. Most boards do minimal training and many directors have no other governance experience. They agree to serve with some of their free time and do their best, but they are not experts. They didn’t sign up for this; but they are responsible for it.
In general terms boards see their role as supporting the organization.
That’s mostly true and helpful.
But effective boards understand that part of supporting the organization is holding to high standards of ethics, accountability, and transparency. They ask hard questions regularly. They take an active interest in risk management. They refuse to always assume the best of even the most trustworthy staff, because they understand that human beings are capable of deception and of doing bad things.
They don’t protect the brand at the cost of truth and compassion.
In the next several months I expect to be joining two charity boards. One of my priorities will be to ensure that we ask tough questions and commit to best practices in all areas of trust. The people we serve, the donors who fund the work, the staff who show up day after day, and our communities as a whole deserve nothing less.
If you volunteer on a board of directors you should check out “The Imperfect Board Member” by Jim Brown and consider my 5 Questions for a Healthy Board workshop.