A respectful approach to director assessment: can individual board member development be conducted without awkwardness, tension, and the potential for upsetting boardroom decorum? Yes.

• Author: Spanberger, Peter
• Position: DIRECTOR ASSESSMENT

BOARDS ARE HESITANT to venture into individual board member assessment and development. They are more inclined to use "safe" developmental activities, such as board schools, guest speakers, subscriptions to magazines, etc. While beneficial, these activities do not get to a personal or individual board member level of analysis, even though many board deficiencies are the direct result of individual behavior. This hesitancy is understandable, but may prevent a board from solving particular problems or reaching higher levels of performance. Dysfunctional or ineffective board member behavior can wind up being tolerated or ignored even when the costs of such behavior are high.

There are a number of reasons behind this hesitancy. Board members are typically quite accomplished in their professional achievements. They are correct in concluding how accomplished they are, but this often leads to the belief that further development is not needed. This inches into arrogance and is very much at odds with the development of the sophisticated and complicated behavioral requirements of board service. Opportunities to become better at being a board member can go unrealized when such attitudes are present.

Social awkwardness also causes hesitancy. Dysfunctional behavior is often tolerated because of the social awkwardness of describing or confronting it. Both the provider and receiver of feedback experience significant tension and are thus inclined to avoid the whole issue.

Even when a board conducts an assessment of individual board members, the resulting behavioral feedback often elicits defensiveness or denial. Because of these challenges boards conclude that the chances of altering the behavior are small and not worth the associated risks.

Another hesitancy has to do with the risks of upsetting boardroom decorum when individual board member behaviors and attributes are discussed. The potential for upset certainly exists.

A fundamental question involves whether such individual board member development can be conducted without upsetting boardroom decorum.

'I'm doing you a favor'

Individual board members sometimes have the attitude that they are doing the organization a favor by serving on the board. A typical response to suggestions about individual board member development involves resistance based on the assumption that when someone signed up for board service they didn't sign up for self-analysis. Thus, self-reflection and development doesn't occur...