I love boards. Not sawed lumber, though I imagine that comes in handy if you need to build shelter from the rain. But those management structures that are designed to provide guidance, oversight, and strategic direction to an organization.
I believe that all solopreneurs and small business owners should get some kind of board experience. I’ve served on (and ran) both my 270-unit condominium association board and that of the rather-large IABC chapter in the Baltimore-Washington region. I’m now serving on a business advisory board for a student-run group that initiates and implements micro-development projects in Washington, D.C.
The best boards are run like businesses; and, like any business, they offer an opportunity to gain valuable skills. Boards also challenge us to test our limits and reach beyond our comfort zones.
So here are six big benefits I gained from serving on boards:
- Financial management skills, including building and managing million-dollar-plus annual budgets.
- Contracting, including bidding out large projects.
- Personnel management, including hiring and firing, and dealing with a sexual harassment claim.
- Project management (large-scale construction and renovation projects).
- Teamwork, including learning how to build consensus.
- Leadership.
Next post I’ll talk about my secret board desires. But now I’d like to ask you: What have I left out? What skills and insights have you gained from serving on a board?
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Great post on board service from a business perspective and how serving on boards can benefit your business management skills. I have found these to be side bars, though, to the benefit I receive from helping my community. The relationships I’ve built with others on board have also helped my business but it’s all overshadowed by the change we can make in our areas because we give of ourselves. I know you were focusing on business skills but just had to mention this because it’s so often what we all forget in our commitment to improve our community.
Mary — Great point, and thanks for adding this to the list of benefits of board service. Indeed, the #1 reason I agreed to serve on the GW SIFE Business Advisory Board was the opportunity to help nurture programs, including financial literacy and start-up basics, that would provide value to help people right here in my local community.
I started serving on boards when I was 18, as a youth member of the Board of Directors for a GLBT youth program in the area. Since then, I’ve chaired boards and committees ranging from CBOs to statewide planning groups for state agencies. While it’s all been for the love of my community, it’s also been a major element in my development as a nonprofit consultant, helped me build social collateral, and introduced me to some amazing folks.
So… to your list, I’d add:
1. Strategic Planning. Most boards for CBOs and NPOs lead the charge for strategic planning for the organization.
2. Event Coordination: While the board might not be in charge of the actual event in a larger organization, they’re likely to be asked to sit on the planning committee, raise funds/sell tickets/sponsorships and the like.
3. Development: My first experience doing an ask was as a part of a board… it led to my working in the development department for a large AIDS Service Organization (which led to my learning how to make a website, which led to my current employ.) That first one was a little painful, but I stood next to some amazing community leaders who helped me learn how to tell my story of why I’d invested in the organization and how to leverage that into why *you* should…
I’m sure there are more… I’ll be interested to see what others have to offer.