Thinking through commitment
I’m on the Board of the regional chapter of an international non-profit group. The group is SIM (Society for Information Management), a networking and thought leadership organization for technology leaders. This is the time of year where we start putting together the ballot for next year’s officers. As part of that process our Board President asks all of us whether we’d like to continue on the Board or not.
I’ve been on this Board for over five years and had seriously been thinking of not continuing on it. It had nothing to do with not feeling like we hadn’t accomplished anything. During my Board tenure, we increased chapter membership well over 300%, raised participation in monthly member meetings to around 40% from a dismal 20% or so, and I was personally responsible for bringing a highly successful CIO Forum to our region (attended by close to 200 practitioners in it’s first year). We’ve also begun some important educational outreach initiatives into our inner-city communities. All in all, I’m very proud of our achievements and feel fortunate to have been part of such a highly functioning team.
My reasons for possibly leaving were more tied to two reasons. First, the organization is for technology leaders, and now that it’s been close to two years since I was a Director of IT, I felt like I wasn’t tied as closely to our subject matter as in the past. Another reason was simple time demands. As I get more and more involved in entrepreneurial activities, I have sometimes felt like there has often not been enough time to devote to all my pursuits. There is also another couple organizations I would like to get involved with, and when I added it all up, I really questioned whether it would leave me any personal time for my own pursuits. So freeing up some time from the SIM Board seemed like a reasonable approach.
As SIM is focused on technology leadership, I’ve served on the Board with several prominent area executives, many of whom I consider a mentor. To help me think through my decision, I reached out to one of them for his thoughts on how he evaluates his Board involvements, as I know he is involved in several Boards in addition to a demanding job.
I was expecting a talk centered around the time cost of involvement weighed against networking and career issues. What I got was refreshingly honest and personable that I wanted to share it with you here. I wouldn’t have expected any less from this person, that’s why I reached out to him in the first place. But his response really made me feel good that there are still leaders out there that are values-based in their approach to business. Here is how this person approaches becoming (and staying) involved with a Board:
- Do I believe in their mission?
- What needs accomplished? Is it achievable and can I contribute?
- Is the group making a difference?
- Do I like the majority of people on the Board and can I get along with them?
Two things jumped out at me immediately. First, no thought was given to time commitment. Obviously, we all have that equation in the back of our head, but what I’ve found from working with a number of successful executives is that they tend not to think of the time involved so much as the results. Which leads me to my second observation. Results are not only more of a measure of whether to get involved or not, but also more tied to the group’s ability to work together than any one individual’s ability to make things happen.
So what did I decide?
Based on my conversation with my mentor, I have decided to stay on the Board. I believe in our mission, we are getting great things done, and we have a good team that enjoys working together. What I communicated to our Board President though is that I need to switch roles. For the past four years I have been functioning as our Board’s 1st VP responsible for all member meeting programming. If you’ve ever put together a speaker schedule you know it’s a lot of work. While it has been very gratifying as the programming I’ve pulled together has largely been credited as one of the reasons for our chapter’s growth, given other priorities at the moment, I’m not sure I have the time to devote to take it to the next level. Plus, frankly I need a break.
I’ve tagged this post under both “Growth Leadership” and “Leadership Development” as I think there are lessons here for both. As leaders, the issue of personal time and life/work balance are different I think than for others. We have long accepted that large, gray space between life and work, and realize work is not a 9-5 occupation. As a leader we push ourselves to do more, hoping that inspires others to do more along with us. We, hopefully, focus less on the time we are committing than the results we are generating. That is the growth lesson that I learned out of this decision.
What do you think of my mentor’s guidance? Are you on a Board, or Board(s)? What criteria do you use to decide where and how deeply to get involved?
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