An Open Letter to Board Chairs: Packing the Right Toolbox

By Miranda Lam
Past Chair of Volunteer Vancouver

Since my term as Chair of the Board at Volunteer Vancouver ended some months ago, I have been asked on a few occasions what lessons in leadership I have learned along the way to share with other board chairs, and I must admit that I have struggled to respond.  Leadership comes in many forms, and much has been said, studied, and written on the topic by historians, psychologists, business executives, coaches, and academics alike.  Yet, after eight years with Volunteer Vancouver, I cannot say whether I subscribe to the “transformational” or “trait” theories of leadership (among others) or what model of board governance is best.  Every organization is in a different stage of evolution, and depending on where it is in its “life cycle”, may require different forms of leadership.  The great paradox in leadership studies is the focus on the nominal leader when leadership is, in my view – no matter what the situation - ultimately about the people that make up the team.

When I was in university, I was part of an organization in which a new executive council would take office every year.  As a result, the organization developed a practice of creating “continuity reports” wherein the incumbent executive would write a short letter to the incoming officer in his or her position to highlight action taken and lessons learned from the previous year.  The lessons in leadership that I take away with me from my time at Volunteer Vancouver are deep, impactful, and enduring, and while complicated, may best be distilled into the following five lessons I share in this “continuity report” to all board chairs:

To the incoming chair:
Welcome to and congratulations on your new role!  As you begin your journey as board chair, I can promise you only moments of exhilaration, frustration, joy and laughter; the sign-posts, detours and directions, however, are up to you.  Whether you take the “tried and true” or the “road less travelled”, I hope that you will remember the following five factors:

1.  You are not saving the world – alone.
As you struggle with understanding the organization’s mission, vision, and values, its operations, market forces, and the staff’s needs, review the strategic plan, and attempt to come to grips with the relevancy of your organization, it is easy to become overwhelmed.  However, you must remember that your role as board chair is to be responsible for a board and CEO who are collectively responsible for the organization which is, in turn, accountable to the community it serves.  You are responsible for a team, but the team is responsible for the rest.  Understand your board and the people that comprise your organization.  Understand the place your organization occupies in the community, and the place it wishes to occupy.  And understand that you are responsible for one part only: the organization’s people.   It is these people who will help you shape the organization’s mission, vision, and values, and ultimately fulfil the mission of the organization.  As someone once said to me, “You can have it all.  You just can’t do it all.” 

2.  The right people doing the wrong thing is worse than the wrong people doing the wrong thing.
Since the people are your main responsibility, assess not only the skill set of your individual directors serving on your board, but also the collective force of your board.  If your board is a tool box and the organization the project, consider the tools you need, and how the parts fit together.   Consider your own personal skill set and identify gaps that require bridging.  Once you have inventory of the individual and collective skill set, consider the additional skills and attributes required for your board, and the culture that you wish to preserve, create and/or inspire when adding new individuals to the mix.

However, collecting the right set of “tools” in your toolbox is not enough.  Just as you would not use a machete when a scalpel will do, ensure that the tools are right for the job.  Have the courage to change the roles individuals are currently serving (or not serving).  A long-standing board member who attends meetings perfunctorily may enjoy a new role in an advisory capacity.  A struggling treasurer may be desirous of learning a new skill set.  Assessing the individual and collective skill sets and goals of your board will ensure that you have the best tools for the task at hand.

3.  Maintain a mutual lifeline with your Executive Director.
You will come to rely on your Executive Director as much as she/he relies on you.  While the board is responsible for the overall direction of the organization, the board likely does not possess the depth of understanding with respect to the environment in which the organization operates to the same degree as the Executive Director whose insight and knowledge is invaluable to informing any board discussion.  At the same time, whether she/he has a staff of two hundred or none at all, the Executive Director is tirelessly performing the Herculean feat of two or three individuals while attempting to meet the competing demands of staff, clients, board, and funders.  As Board Chair, you are his/her last resort, voice of reason, mentor and evaluator.  You are each other’s lifeline.

4.  You do not have all the answers.
This is why the proper toolbox matters and the mutual lifeline is critical.  This is why you should never feel like you are saving the world on your own.  With the right team around you, you will divine the right answers.  Your role, however, is to ensure that you are always asking the right questions.  As Board Chair, you have the unique position of hearing first-hand the challenges your Executive Director faces in leading your organization, and you also understand deeply the direction your organization wishes to progress.  You are the sole repository collecting both sets of information.  You are, therefore, responsible for ensuring the board has all the right information to divine the right answers and, more importantly, you are responsible for ensuring they have considered all the right questions – even the hard ones.  In this way, you are a catalyst for change. 

5.  There is no instant gratification.
Finding the proper tools, learning to use them, developing a mutual lifeline, and ultimately effecting organizational change takes time.  In the process of your organization’s evolution, be willing not only to tolerate the ambiguity, but also embrace it, since it is the struggle through ambiguity that engenders clarity and, in the end, the deepest sense of satisfaction of all.

I wish you the best of luck as you begin your journey as board chair.  As with all travels, it is often the road, not the destination, that makes the journey memorable.  Just pack the right toolbox and there is no place you cannot go. 

Respectfully,

Miranda

About Miranda Lam
Miranda is a past chair of Volunteer Vancouver and has volunteered as an instructor and facilitator with Volunteer Vancouver. She sits on the nominations committee for the YWCA Woman of Distinction awards and was a past recipient herself in 2001. She is also an active volunteer with the Canadian Bar Association and the UBC Alumni Governance and Chancellor Nominations Committee. In her work life, she is an associate with McCarthy Tétrault law firm. She graduated from UBC Law School in 2002 and received the Honourable Ray Herbert Award as the All-round Graduating Student and the Alumni Association Achievement Award as Outstanding Student of the Year.

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