What Role Do You Play in Board Conversations?

• Published date: 01 November 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/bl.30090
• Date: 01 November 2017

4 BOARD LEADERSHIP

“In preparing for battle

I have always found that

plans are useless, but

planning is indispensable.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower quoted in

Six Crises (1962) by Richard Nixon,

and Quotation number 18611 in The

Columbia World of Quotations

What Role Do You Play

in Board Conversations?

by Athens Kolias

Most, if not all Board Leadership readers will have participated in or observed

a board meeting, and witnessed directors following an agenda, talking at each

other for a while and then calling and seconding motions before voting and nally

adjourning their meeting, feeling satised that they’ve “got something done.”

Sounds pretty normal. But here, Athens Kolias, governance consultant and adjunct

professor at San Francisco State University Center for Extended Learning, asks, “Is

normal the best they can do?”

Whether you are on a board of

directors, a board committee, or

administering the work of the board,

you will inevitably be a part of group

discussions and their resulting deci-

sions. Yet we take for granted the

answers to a question so basic that it’s

hidden in plain sight. How do we com-

municate with each other?

We’re talking about not only individ-

ual conversations but conversations as

a larger group: conversations that facili-

tate the flow of the decision-making

process, delegation and accountability,

report review and compliance, role

clarity, and linkage with the organiza-

tion’s ownership—conversations that

can have far-reaching impacts on large

populations of beneficiaries, consum-

ers, and staff.

So What’s the Big Deal?

Here’s the thing. As with any skill or

knowledge area, the more we under-

stand it, the better we become at it.

As in any subject area of expertise

(governance, management, advo-

cacy, etc.), our expertise in actually

using our knowledge and tools often

evolves from ad hoc, informal, or even

accidental use of our skills. As we add

foundational knowledge and seek to

continuously improve, we evolve into

a more studied, rigorous, productive,

and efficient use of our skills. Little

do we realize that there is much more

going on in any group conversation

besides just “talking.” Well, let’s take

a look at what goes on “under the

hood” of our conversations.

What’s in a Word?

We often take for granted that the

words we choose to communicate with

have consequences for the understand-

ing of our intent. Just as chips in the

United Kingdom are closer to steak

frites in France or French fries in the

United States, our choice of terminology

impacts the clarity of understanding of

our message. For example, look at the

differences between these words:

•Conversation:

•Informalinterchange of

thoughts, information, etc., by

spoken words.

•Oral communication between

persons.1

•Discussion:

•“Discussion,” a word whose

roots mean “to break apart.”

•Discussions are conversations

where people hold onto and

defend their differences.2

•Dialogue:

•“The essence of dialogue is

an inquiry that surfaces ideas,

perceptions, and understanding

that people do not already

have.”

•“You begin to think together—

not simply report out old

thoughts.”3

•Dialogic leadership:

•“A way of leading that

consistently uncovers, through

conversation, the hidden

creative potential in any

situation.”

•“The promise of dialogue is that

a small group of people might

do something that impacts the

world.”4

•Group think:

•“The process in which bad

decisions are made by a group

because its members do not

want to express opinions,

suggest new ideas, etc. that

others may disagree with.”5

Amazing, isn’t it? And all this time

we thought we were just talking! Let’s

dive a little deeper. …

The Kantor Four-Player Model

William Isaacs, a lecturer at MIT’s

Sloan School of Management, and

author of the book Dialog and the

Art of Thinking Together, cites David

Kantor’s Four-Player model (1995),6

which provides the basis for dialogic

leadership.

The Kantor model says that in

any conversation, people organically

reflect the unspoken needs of the

group and situation, through filling at

least one of four player roles, as shown

in Table 1 and Figure 1.7 What’s inter-

esting is that all four roles are needed

for an effective dialogue, and, in fact,

FOOD FOR THOUGHT