TEXAS ALLIANCE OF GROUNDWATER DISTRICTS & HIGH PLAINS WATER

DISTRICT

Board Member Training Course

Bayer Museum of Agriculture | September 16-17, 2014

1121 Canyon Lake Dr.

Lubbock, TX 79403

Roles & Responsibilities of Volunteer and Public Policy Board

Leaders

Robert A. Floyd,

Legislative Consultant for Hance Scarborough, LLP Lobbied before the Texas Legislature and U.S. Congress 41

years. Served as President and CEO of the Texas Motor

Transportation Association and the Texas Society of Association Executives.

Served on the board of directors of state, local and national associations and non profit organizations.

Served as an elected member of the Eanes ISD Board of Trustees.

Provides advice and counsel to trade associations and non profit organizations in strategic planning, board leadership, organizational performance, communications and public affairs.

Author of The Courage to Lead: An Essential Guide for Volunteer Leaders, Board Trustees and Public Servants

Chairs the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument Committee, a non profit organization that organized and raised funds for the monument on the State Capitol Grounds to honor Texans who served in the Vietnam War. Dedicated on March 29, 2014.

1. Are you getting the results that you want as a board?

2. Is the board working efficiently?3. Is the board having difficulty resolving issues or

developing policy?4. Does the board have difficulty reaching consensus

on key issues?5. Do the same issues keep coming up meeting after

meeting, year after year, without the board being able to come to closure?

6. Does your constituency/stakeholders believe (perceptions are equal to reality) that the board/organization is not meeting its needs?

7. Do members feel they are contributing to the final decisions?

Seven Essential Questions

1. Establish Policy.Meet the needs of constituents you

represent.Address the needs of the public as well.Set policies that guide your organization to

run effectively, legally, and ethically.Recognize policy decisions as those that

affect the organization as a whole.Establish the framework within which the

staff executive can lead and manage.

2. Establish a Partnership with the Chief Staff Executive. •Set guidelines for authority, responsibility, and accountability of the chief staff executive and the board.•Provide support.

3. Nurture a Vision.

•Have a shared vision, sense of mission, and plan.•Take the long view; help put difficult decisions into perspective.

4. Provide Direction Through Strategic Planning.

•Stay in touch with your constituents and stakeholders and your professional environment.•Assess strategic implication of critical issues.•Identify opportunities and threats.

5. Assure the Financial Integrity of the Organization.

•Tie financial policies to programmatic goals•Maintain sound fiscal policy, practices, and controls.•Assist in developing and approving the budget. •Delegate implementation and administration.•Monitor financial outcomes and performance. •Think long-term, big-picture; not only annual income/expenses.

6. Participate Responsibly.• Commit the necessary time or step aside.• Regularly remind yourself of your role as a

leader/director.• Keep politics in perspective.• Review agenda materials sufficiently prior to

meetings.• Do your homework• Keep the board working on board-level

matters.• Employ committees and staff effectively. • Encourage potential board members leaders.• Follow both local, state and national trends;

other trends in business, public affairs, technology, society, and economics.

6. Participate Responsibly – Continued

• Take special assignments willingly and enthusiastically when asked.

• Bring a sense of humor to the board’s deliberations.

• Be a goodwill ambassador for the organization.

• Actively participate in membership recruitment and retention.

• Support the organization’s public advocacy.• Attend events and activities, including the

annual conference and educational seminars.• Express opinions consistent with your

conscience and convictions, but support the majority decisions made by the board.

• Speak for the board or the organization only when authorized to do so.

6. Participate Responsibly – Continued

• Maintain confidentiality of issues discussed in executive decision making sessions.

• Serve the whole organization, rather than any special interest group or constituency.

• Avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest.

• Disclose any possible conflicts in a timely fashion.

• Commit to continuous improvement.

7. Commit to Board Leadership as Team Leadership.

•Know the goal.•Know your role as a board member.•Provide feedback.•Respect and value diversity.•Develop trust and fight fair.•Pitch in to help.•Know how to solve problems. •Spread the credit; celebrate•Get results.

8. Evaluate Performance at all Levels

•Policy•Finance •Staff•Board•Organization

§  Absence of clear definition of success between members of the board and /or between members of the board and staff § Personal bias of influential constituents/stakeholders§ Business environment of stakeholders in crisis §  Turf protection, creating divisiveness §  Only superficial issues discussed 

Knowing What’s Ahead

Knowing What’s Ahead §  Short-term expediency vs. long-term

benefits §  A lack of solid partnership among the

people or groups in power §  Unpredictable future creating anxiety §  Stakeholders having no sense of their

future §  Internal squabbling §  Continuous conflict and confrontation §  Energy internally directed and personally

driven §  Lack of trust

"Congressional job approval is at 14%, one of the lowest ratings in the

fall before any midterm election since Gallup began measuring

approval in 1974. Most who disapprove say this makes them more likely to vote this year. "- Gallup, September 8, 2014

Leadership and Ethics

•Ethics mean teamwork…accomplishing tasks through people working together.•Ethics is meaning. Meaning in your own work and in the work that you create for others.•Ethics is love, compassion, service and validation.•Ethics is seeing the world from the other person’s point of view.•Ethics is tied to core values. The ethical person is motivated by what is right; not by what feels good.

---Peter Koestenbaum

What Does Ethics Mean?

•An ethical leader creates an environment that nurtures excellence, risk, taking and credibility.•Ethical leaders are willing to surrender authority, share ownership and trust people’s judgment.•When people feel they are partners, they accept responsibility and take initiative; when they feel no real connection, they put in their hours and go home.

Ethics in Empowerment and Encouragement

“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else

matters.”--Former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson•If character is integrity based, people will put their faith in leaders who demonstrate that they place their own interests behind those of their followers.•Integrity is being true to your word and your commitments; it can not be faked.•Integrity and honesty are closely aligned; honesty is being true to self and others.

Ethics and Integrity are entwined

•A leader’s credibility is largely measured by the consistency between his words and deeds.•Credibility is developed over time. There are no shortcuts.•And as hard as credibility is to build, it can be broken by one inappropriate remark or action.•Credibility is derived from values.

Ethics and Credibility

Authenticity starts with self awareness.“Effective executives build on their strengths…on what they can do. They do not build on weaknesses. They do not start out with things they cannot do. (Peter Drucker)

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP•A lack of personal goals and a roadmap of how to meet them.•No clear understanding of one’s own strengths and weaknesses, plus a plan for improving.•Not understanding there is only one standard for ethics in both our personal and professional lives

Ethics and Authenticity

•Always stressing what others can’t do well rather than building on what they can do well.•Not taking charge of one’s own personal learning and development.•A lack of generosity, not sharing time, ideas, feedback, and compliments with others.•Leading from the rear, sitting on the fence, and never taking responsibility.

--Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the Girl Scouts of American

Authenticity (continued)

•As John Gardner writes, “Never confuse status with leadership.” Leadership is not a position or place of authority. As for personal accountability, the buck stops with each individual.

•Each individual must remain vigilant and when sensing the ship is veering off course, take the responsibility to take the appropriate action even though the con-sequences may be severe.

•We must always be motivated by what is best for our organization, not just for ourselves. We have an obligation to all crewmembers when encountering the rougher seas of our voyage.

Lessons Learned

1. Focus on change as an opportunity, not a threat.

2. Assure yourself there is a compelling reason for the change, which can lead to major innovation in the organization. 

3. Recognize from the beginning that you cannot “manage change;” by definition, change is unpredictable and often messy. You can, however, manage the process, but not without the help of others, patience, courage, endurance, and at least one case of Maalox.

Leading Change

•We don’t understand the reason for it.•We lack information.•We don’t perceive a need to change.•We feel we have already changed.•We don’t see what it means for us.•We don’t see a clear direction.

Why Do People Resist Change?

•We fear the loss of power, prestige, money, status, friends, and work.•We are reluctant to give up something that is comfort-able and familiar.•We were not asked for input about change.•We have been hurt or betrayed by previous changes.•We fear we may not be able to learn enough to be successful.•We are already overwhelmed.•We fear the loss of control.

Resistance to Change

1. The change initiative should be compelling, yield significant benefits, and capitalize on strengths and opportunities. 

2. Change is constant, unpredictable, and is always accelerating. 

3. Leverage technology as a key tool for organization, coordination, communication, research, marketing, and public relations. 

4. Expect to be surprised. 5. Everybody resists change—clarify,

communicate, consult, set the course—but never conceal.

6. The change initiative should be compelling, yield significant benefits, and capitalize on strengths and opportunities.

 

10 Steps for Leading Change

 

7. Take risks—prudent risks. 8. Enlist “Change Champions” to help support the change initiative.

9. Each change initiative should have a • Clear target or outcome.• Strategic Action Plan• Budget/management of resources.

10. Stay the course.

Leading Change