{"id":2216,"date":"2014-03-26T10:09:59","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T14:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/?p=2216"},"modified":"2022-06-27T10:30:12","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T14:30:12","slug":"stories-bad-board-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/","title":{"rendered":"You Might Have A Dysfunctional Board If…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Little did I know that my blog post, True Tales of a Dysfunctional Board<\/em><\/a> would strike such a chord with my readers. Or with my colleagues in various LinkedIn groups.<\/p>\n

I should have known. Organizational leadership on both the staff and board sides consider it sport to criticize the lack of engagement of their boards.<\/p>\n

But that’s in private. With people you know and trust. Surely people wouldn’t be willing to share their stories publicly, right? I mean, when it comes to sharing stories of bad board behavior, it seems to me there’s a pretty big leap between kvetching to your spouse over a martini versus sharing publicly with the world.<\/p>\n

So when I offered the following fill-in-the-blank question in varying LinkedIn groups, I figured no one would respond.<\/p>\n

“You might have a dysfunctional board if…?”<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh no!<\/em><\/p>\n

Turns out, not only are people willing to share stories of bad board behavior, most of them are perfectly willing to do it out in the open.<\/p>\n

And some of them even gave me permission to post them here. This ought to be fun!<\/p>\n

STORIES OF BAD BOARD BEHAVIOR<\/h2>\n

You might have a dysfunctional board if…<\/strong>  board members are told that fundraising is not part of their engagement.<\/em><\/p>\n

– Frank Pasquini, Professional Fundraising Counsel<\/p>\n

You might have a dysfunctional board if…<\/strong><\/strong> <\/strong>the board approves every single thing the Executive Director plans. <\/em><\/p>\n

– Susan Detwiler, Nonprofit Consultant<\/p>\n

You might have a dysfunctional board if…<\/strong> your Board President says “the only people I have ever led is my family.”<\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

– Anonymous (OK, not EVERYONE was willing to say who he\/she was)<\/p>\n

You might have a dysfunctional board if<\/strong>… <\/strong>the board chair is the executive director’s best friend.<\/em><\/p>\n

– Bonnie Osinski, Fundraising consultant and coach<\/p>\n

You might have a dysfunctional board if<\/strong>… you ask the board to make a significant fundraising effort for a milestone anniversary and they vote to plant flowers.  <\/em><\/p>\n

– Paula Brown, Executive Director at Reading Works<\/p>\n

You might have a dysfunctional board if<\/strong>… the board doesn’t respond to a motion to adjourn.<\/em><\/p>\n

– Nancy Alexander, Consultant<\/p>\n

You might have a dysfunctional board if<\/strong>… the board president sends their executive director flowers on secretary’s day and isn’t being ironic.<\/em><\/p>\n

– Carol Weisman, President of Board Builders<\/p>\n

You might have a dysfunctional board if<\/strong>…  your board chairs says,<\/em> “Bylaws schmylaws. I don’t even know what they mean, or why we need them.” <\/em><\/p>\n

– Marchelle Sellers, Executive Director, Mending Kids International<\/p>\n

You might have a dysfunctional board if<\/strong>… your board chair, in a discussion about trimming costs, asks how old your assistant is.<\/em><\/p>\n

– Margot Knight, Executive Director of Djerassi Resident Artists Program<\/p>\n

You might have a dysfunctional board if<\/strong>… they show up at the wrong location for a standing monthly board meeting. They are always held at the same location.<\/em><\/p>\n

– Anonymous<\/p>\n

WHY ALL THE DYSFUNCTION?<\/h2>\n

OK, so it’s plenty easy to criticize the board. They never can do enough, they are never engaged enough, and they never provide sufficient support.<\/p>\n

But let’s not forget whose board this is.<\/p>\n

It’s yours. You as the executive director. You as the board chair. If your board is dysfunctional, who is to blame?<\/p>\n

Short answer:  you.<\/p>\n

Remember one thing every time you kvetch about your board:  The board you have is the board you build.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

So while you may have had a good chuckle or a big gasp, do keep in mind that your fingerprints can be traced to this dysfunction. And they can also be traced to a rebuilding that creates a board your organization needs and deserves.<\/p>\n

WHAT TO DO NOW<\/h2>\n

All these folks were willing to share their stories. Now it’s your turn. In the comments,  join the conversation and add your own stories of bad board behavior.<\/p>\n

And then, if you haven’t already done so, consider subscribing<\/a> to my email list. I only send one email each week when new content is ready. If you’re a leader at a nonprofit (board or staff), I write just for you!<\/p>\n

So click here<\/a>, enter your email address, and then make sure to hit the “subscribe” button in the confirmation email you’ll get.<\/p>\n

See you soon!<\/p>\n

SUBSCRIBE NOW!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do you know you have a dysfunctional board? Here are the stories 11 different people shared with me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-board","category-ceo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStories of Bad Board Behavior at Nonprofits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do you know you have a dysfunctional board? Here are the stories 11 different people shared with me.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You Might Have A Dysfunctional Board If...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How do you know you have a dysfunctional board? Here are the stories 11 different people shared with me.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Joan Garry Consulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JoanGarryConsulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-26T14:09:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-27T14:30:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/truth.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"325\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joan Garry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@scott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@joangarry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joan Garry\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joan Garry\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa2f3fe71a6e1b94f996aa9891f124e\"},\"headline\":\"You Might Have A Dysfunctional Board If…\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-26T14:09:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-27T14:30:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/\"},\"wordCount\":751,\"commentCount\":17,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/truth.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Board of Directors\",\"Executive Directors\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/\",\"name\":\"Stories of Bad Board Behavior at Nonprofits\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/truth.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-26T14:09:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-27T14:30:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"How do you know you have a dysfunctional board? Here are the stories 11 different people shared with me.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/truth.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/truth.jpg\",\"width\":325,\"height\":360,\"caption\":\"You can't make this stuff up.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Board of Directors\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/category\/board\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"You Might Have A Dysfunctional Board If…\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/\",\"name\":\"Joan Garry Consulting\",\"description\":\"Helping the Helpers\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Joan Garry Consulting\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-jg-new-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-jg-new-logo.png\",\"width\":391,\"height\":71,\"caption\":\"Joan Garry Consulting\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JoanGarryConsulting\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/joangarry\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UChWi62_DfQYSlsZjmUkFiaA\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/joangarryconsulting\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/joangarry\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa2f3fe71a6e1b94f996aa9891f124e\",\"name\":\"Joan Garry\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/e097dc8d1b00636dd36d25c91cf5c25c.jpg?ver=1745110630\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/e097dc8d1b00636dd36d25c91cf5c25c.jpg?ver=1745110630\",\"caption\":\"Joan Garry\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/scott\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/author\/joangarry\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stories of Bad Board Behavior at Nonprofits","description":"How do you know you have a dysfunctional board? Here are the stories 11 different people shared with me.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"You Might Have A Dysfunctional Board If...","og_description":"How do you know you have a dysfunctional board? Here are the stories 11 different people shared with me.","og_url":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/","og_site_name":"Joan Garry Consulting","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JoanGarryConsulting","article_published_time":"2014-03-26T14:09:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-06-27T14:30:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":325,"height":360,"url":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/truth.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joan Garry","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@scott","twitter_site":"@joangarry","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joan Garry","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/"},"author":{"name":"Joan Garry","@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa2f3fe71a6e1b94f996aa9891f124e"},"headline":"You Might Have A Dysfunctional Board If…","datePublished":"2014-03-26T14:09:59+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-27T14:30:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/"},"wordCount":751,"commentCount":17,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/truth.jpg","articleSection":["Board of Directors","Executive Directors"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/","url":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/","name":"Stories of Bad Board Behavior at Nonprofits","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/truth.jpg","datePublished":"2014-03-26T14:09:59+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-27T14:30:12+00:00","description":"How do you know you have a dysfunctional board? Here are the stories 11 different people shared with me.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/truth.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/truth.jpg","width":325,"height":360,"caption":"You can't make this stuff up."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/stories-bad-board-behavior\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Board of Directors","item":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/category\/board\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"You Might Have A Dysfunctional Board If…"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/","name":"Joan Garry Consulting","description":"Helping the Helpers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#organization","name":"Joan Garry Consulting","url":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-jg-new-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-jg-new-logo.png","width":391,"height":71,"caption":"Joan Garry Consulting"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JoanGarryConsulting","https:\/\/x.com\/joangarry","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UChWi62_DfQYSlsZjmUkFiaA","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/joangarryconsulting\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/joangarry\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa2f3fe71a6e1b94f996aa9891f124e","name":"Joan Garry","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/e097dc8d1b00636dd36d25c91cf5c25c.jpg?ver=1745110630","contentUrl":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/e097dc8d1b00636dd36d25c91cf5c25c.jpg?ver=1745110630","caption":"Joan Garry"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/scott"],"url":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/author\/joangarry\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}