06/21/2021

How to Build a Competency-based Board

Many associations still neglect basic vetting of their volunteer leaders

Radically controversial opinions are rare in the association world, so the ones that emerge tend to be memorable. Ten years ago, consultants Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers, CAE, kicked off a heated discussion among association leaders when they published their book, Race for Relevance, which argued that the optimal size of a board is five members.

Five-member boards are still hard to come by, but in years since the book’s publication more associations are recognizing the need to be efficient and nimble—adjectives that don’t mesh well with a 20-person board or 100-member house of delegates. “Associations board are composed for consensus, not speed or competitive advantage,” said Byers. “And the latter two things have increased in importance over the past decade.”

So, for the new revised edition of Race for Relevance, Coerver and Byers are sticking with their advice. But they note that a smarter, speedier board also requires board members who are smarter about governance in general and the needs of their association in particular. As they write in the book, selection of board members “should be guided by an understanding of what competencies will be needed to govern the association and direct it effectively into the future.”

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.