How Active Are Your Board Members Beyond Official Meetings?

A story is told of two neighbours. One of them was a gentleman par excellence. He diligently left for work early in the morning, perfectly did the grind and returned home in time to do homework with the kids. His wife actively dissuaded him from being anything close to their next-door neighbour.

The disliked guy was the ever late-type at getting home. He often passed by the locals or the members club for meetings that aided his side business. He hardly made it home to help with the children's homework.

The two men had sons in the same school and both were candidates for the final primary school exams.

The results exonerated the guy who hardly left his wife's side. Their son had passed very well and had scored better than the boy whose father crept in when all were asleep. Everyone caught feelings as they pitied the boy with fewer marks and blamed it squarely on the father's absence.

Then quite unexpectedly, the boy with fewer marks got invited to join a prestigious national school and the better scoring boy was invited to join some nondescript provincial school.

The late-night father had used his contacts to secure his boy a fitting school while the punctual dad left it all to the forces of blind supply and demand to determine his son's fate.

The wife to the early bird now began to scold her husband for being home unnecessarily early instead of staying out there, fetching good connections for the family.

So, with just one meeting with someone he had always kept in touch with, the latecomer turned the depression away from his family through what obviously was a welcome rapid results initiative — thanks to him for seeing the future importance of the school board member.

And needless to say that the connections-loving dad often took his family on annual holidays to different parts of the country on account of the proceeds from his side hustle.

Another story is told of a man, Mr. Maina, a government employee. He hired a young lady just before he was transferred from the ministry. She was diligent at her job but was fired by the new boss who was under instructions from the parent ministry because all the recently employed staff were affected by an ongoing restructuring exercise.

The young girl's godfather, Mr. Maina, took up the matter with the terminating officer, and a back-and-forth walk between the offices of the terminating officer and his boss ensued for a very determined Mr. Maina. Eventually, nothing could happen and the poor girl remained jobless.

A few years down the road, Mr. Maina, while out socialising, came across the man who had terminated the young girl. He reminded him of their earlier encounter and proceeded to buy him a drink. The terminator had moved on to a better paying job and he had vacancies to fill. Mr. Maina handed him the same girl's CV and she was hired. At the time of being told this story, the girl was progressing well and had earned herself several promotions.

These two stories bring to the fore the compensating opportunities available to people who go the extra mile to grow their network as they strive to cement their social capital. Several teetotallers fit in here too for one can remain social without imbibing.

The stories, though about individual beneficiaries, nonetheless help to demonstrate the importance of interventions in situations beyond the collective strength of management's well-practised muscles.

Are your board members individually and collectively your committee of ways and means? They must be in that position to rise to the occasion when it matters. Their clout must be harvested prudently.

But this must not serve to shield a weak management team from their poor performance, for their's is the delegated day-to-day efficient and effective running of the organisation. A good industrial machine bearing needs greasing occasionally to remain effective and efficient. The same applies to management. Otherwise, why have a dog and bark at the same time?

But the board member who often calls in with business leads is a social type and will be loved for being considerate.

The board member who only calls in during official meetings and proceeds to ask all the tough questions will always attract a nickname or two and will be avoided as much as possible. There is nothing wrong with asking tough questions when the situation demands it. And if that is your role, please don't play out of position as you might become a clown. Do not switch to impress.

Is your board well blended with sanguines in it or are they all melancholics?

It is very ok to be sticklers of logic but it is even better when that logic can be supported by the master keys of socialising widely.

So, qualifications on paper aside, allow the real person to step out before deciding on their suitability for a position on your board.

Do they gym or have a regular sport? This shows that they make time for themselves and others regularly.

Do they have dependable social skills?

Are they likeable and easy to work with despite being serious about their duty?

Are they already serving on other boards or comparable setups?

Are they spread out too thin to be effective?

When they lack this kind of attributes, the learning curve will be quite a steep one at your expense, and during which time, their amateurish actions negatively affect your business.

When your board members are heavily restricted from supporting management out of their good intentions, then perhaps the philosophy of the organization is one of a cover-up jigsaw puzzle rather than one with a business supporting jigsaw puzzle. Are you finding fitting pieces to look good or the correct pieces to steady the ship?

I have witnessed an organisation where the board members address the CEO as "Sir" and agree with his every utterance. These are a flower-girl type board retained by the CEO for his own ends.