Life Change Consulting

The third layer of approval process for weary proposals and leaders

You have been asked to put together a team to launch a new ministry. The idea has been on the agenda for some time and there is even money set aside in the budget for this new initiative.  Everyone you talk to about the idea is  enthusiastic and wants to be part of the project.  As the time to launch approaches you get a call from the board chair suggesting that you postpone the launch until the Board has had a chance to review and approve this new
ministry.

“Hold on a minute”, you respond, “It was at the boards suggestion we began this process, and besides they approved the money needed in the budget.  The next Board meeting isn’t for another month what am I going to tell the volunteers who are ready to go now?”

If you have been in ministry any length of time it’s likely you have had this kind of experience – everything is ready to go, but your hands are tied because the board has to have final approval.

When boards take the position that they have to be the clearing house for everything the church does, they in fact become the bottle neck to growth. This need for final approval is driven by fear. Fear that if allowed to run unshackled, the pastor and/or lay leaders will create mayhem in the church. This approach, at best, reveals a lack of understanding of the role of governance, and at its worst becomes a road block to the physical and spiritual growth of a church.

Best Practice Governance, on the other hand, understands that the key to a healthy church lies in establishing parameters for ministry through policy and then inviting leaders to flex their creative muscles so to speak, unhindered by an arduous approval process.

In this model,  the board’s role becomes one of overseeing, ensuring the ministry continues to run on the rails of policy and vision, and not the gate keeper for every new initiative in the church. When the board operates in this fashion leaders are empowered, and empowered leaders make for a healthy church.

Over the years, I have attended, as a pastor, member of multiple not for profit organizations and more recently as a consultant, more board meetings than I care to think about. This experience unfortunately has led me to conclude that more often than not they don’t understand their role. These ineffective boards generally fall into one of two categories; either they end up micro managing the organization, or they disengage.

The micro managers somehow feel they can do a better job running the organization than those who have been hired to do so. Instead of dealing with issues of policy and organizational direction they end up discussing the colour  of the new chairs in the office, or what brand of coffee should be purchased. Boards migrate to this approach because often this is easier and more natural to board members. Operational issue are concrete and making decisions in these areas produce tangible results. You can purchase a computer or paint a room and see the results.

It is much more difficult, on the other hand, for most of us to wrestle with the abstract, to think at that higher level where the vision and longer term direction of the church or organization is hammered out.  Place this along side of the idea of policy setting and most people’s eyes glaze over. They assume they’re in for a boring experience, not understanding that the establishment of policy is critical to the operation of the church or organization.  Policy is the rails on which an organization runs on. Policies define the parameters for the operational staff and at the same time protect the organization from a runaway leader and a disengaged board.

Disengagement is sometime characterized as a “yes” board. Whatever the senior leader wants the senior leader gets . Where the micromanagement type board takes away the authority and responsibility from the senior leader, the disengaged board abdicates its responsibility to direct and protect the organization.

There is however, a better way, a way in which the board is both empowered to direct and protect the organization or church while at the same time makes room for the senior leader to run the organization.

It’s called “Governance that Transforms”.

Stay tuned!!

You have just been elected to the board of your church and the question is, “What does that mean?” My guess is, if your church is like most churches, there is little by way of preparation provided for new board members.  What there is a lot of is confusion around what exactly is expected of you.  And because of this confusion, I can almost guarantee that you will be approached by a number of congregants with requests to get the board to do everything from buying new towel dispensers, to making sure the worship team sings more hymns, to disciplining the pastor for something he said from the pulpit.

So how does a board bring clarity to this minefield of expectations? It starts with a few simple principles:

• Remember whatever the organization, as a board, you are first and foremost about mission.
• A board that does not own the mission/purpose of the enterprise is missing the key element of governance.
• Always have S.M.A.R.T ENDS in mind and move most of the MEANS to leadership and expect them to tend those (within empowering limits you set).  Defining the ENDS is the most critical board function.
• Establish the key result areas and monitor outcomes.

Inattention to results is the primary cause of organizational failure, which is ultimately the board’s responsibility.