I consult with CEOs who want to form advisory boards and nonprofit executive directors looking to improve their organization’s board. Based on my experience here are ten tips for forming or optimizing a board:
- Be clear on the vision of your organization.
- Be clear on the organizational strengths & weaknesses.
- Develop a profile of the type of advisor/director needed from the information in #1 & 2.
- Use the profile to inform contacts of what you are looking for.
- Don’t recruit friends and family. Let me repeat, don’t recruit friends & family…it’s a recipe for disaster on multiple levels!
- Implement the recommendations of the board.
- Keep the advisors informed between meetings.
- Orient the advisors when they first start and educate the advisors as your business changes.
- Don’t always look to another CEO to be the one to join your board. Often times the next layer down is equally as qualified and may even have more time to devote.
- Understand why someone would want to serve on your board.
These points are just as applicable to private and public company boards. What else would you recommend?
