Governance Excellence of the Heart
One week we were finalizing the details of how the governance self-assessment session could help his association’s leadership discover opportunities for strategic growth and vision that could shape the organization’s direction in preparation for their next chapter. Just a week later, through tragic, unexpected circumstance, my colleague, CEO of his organization, suddenly passed.
In the wake of such loss, after pausing to reflect and remember an amazing colleague and what he brought to our community, there was still a facilitation contract in place with a date quickly approaching. I reached out to the association’s leadership that had been put in place – did they want to proceed? Would they like to delay? Would they like to rescind, without recourse, and we could find another opportunity if it was still best fit for the organization? After taking time to reflect and assess, the organization decided they wanted to proceed with the session as planned.
And so, I found myself a few weeks later standing at the door of their building, hesitating for a moment to ring the buzzer for entry. There was a strong sense of something missing – like I was about to enter an echo chamber. This exploration of governance that I always find to be exhilarating – asking hard questions, hearing the passion of leaders through varied voices, eliciting moments of connection and discovery as they craft how they can lead better together – this time it felt like I was about to lead an exploration, a journey, without a partner who had designed the map with me.
The governance self-assessment session typically covers many of the topics that you would expect:
What choices can a Board make to use their time creating the future instead of fixing the past?
How can we create listening mastery as a Board skill set?
What does ‘strategic’ actually mean to your Board?
Yet, walking into the room, what I realized is that for this conversation, just weeks after tragedy, governance excellence might have a different definition:
What is the role of the voice of leadership in comforting a grieving community and leading through loss?
How does the leadership stay focused on the future, continue to inspire hope in the possibility of tomorrow while not ignoring that the absence of the leader they had in that journey also means that the journey may look somewhat different (not less than, just different)?
What role does the leadership play in the impact of this loss on the staff – those who saw and worked with the CEO everyday? What is the right level of interface there?
Through this focus and care (of finance, of strategy, of operations, of culture, of reaction) of so many others, has the Board given itself the space to recognize the loss, and incorporate space to process what this means for leadership?
So often we focus on the challenge of leadership where Board service transitions every year, requiring an effort of training so that those holding the top positions in our organizations are able to execute their responsibilities from a place of depth of knowledge with a breadth of tools and resources available to aid them in their work. Governance excellence requires so many qualities: commitment, patience, prioritization of the organization above personal interest, the desire to listen to others – even if they do not share your perspective, the willingness to support a single voice/decision outside the Board room, even if the vote didn’t follow your personal vision.
Yet, this experience keeps bringing me back to governance excellence of the heart: the ability to articulate the emotional reaction that the community may feel to tragic or shocking events, the emotional intelligence to serve as empathetic listeners – listening to member perspectives to understand and not reply (thank you, Stephen Covey), the strength to bring a community together to honor that which has been lost AND focus on the bright future ahead.
Ultimately, governance excellence means leadership not only provides fiscal oversight and growth direction, they not only ensure that legal risk is mitigated, they are not only focused on strategic vision, direction, and measures. It also means in moments when an organization experiences disruption, experiences loss, that their leaders can serve as a meaningful voice – speaking the words that their members might be feeling – and then articulating what must always be the north star – a hope and a path to a brighter tomorrow, honoring those who led us to today.
Excellence in vision. Excellence in inspiration. Excellence in execution.
Excellence in care.
