Step 1: Understanding Your Role and That of Your Board

Overview:

The first step in transforming your board is understanding your role as a founder and the board’s role as trustees. This step addresses the Founder’s Paradox—shifting from doing everything to leading strategically. By recognizing your legal duties and operational roles, you’ll set the foundation for a high-performing board that drives your mission forward.

Instructions for Action:

Reflect on Your Leadership (30 Minutes)

Take time to complete the “Mirror Test” by asking yourself:

• What is my leadership style? Do I facilitate or dictate?
• Do I view board members as co-architects or volunteers?
• Does my approach inspire confidence?

Write down your answers in a notebook to identify areas for growth.

Action: Commit to one specific change in your leadership approach (e.g., asking more questions in meetings).
Understand Your Legal Duties (15 Minutes)

Review the three legal duties of a trustee:

1. Duty of Care: Act with prudence, stay informed, and participate actively.
2. Duty of Loyalty: Prioritize the organization’s interests over personal gain.
3. Duty of Obedience: Stay true to the mission and comply with laws.

Write a brief statement on how you’ll uphold each duty in your role.

Action: Share these duties with your board at the next meeting to align expectations.

Learn the Six Core Roles (20 Minutes)

• Study the six operational roles: Facilitator, Architect, Mobilizer, Evaluator, Reporter, Entrepreneur.
• For each role, reflect on how you currently embody it and where you can improve.

Example: For Facilitator, ask, “Do I encourage open discussion or push my own agenda?”

Action: For each role, complete the “first step” outlined below:

1. Facilitator: Add more questions than statements to your next board meeting agenda.
2. Architect: Start your next strategic discussion with a blank whiteboard.
3. Mobilizer: Delegate one strategic task to a board member this week.
4. Evaluator: Add a “Progress Towards Goals” section to every board meeting agenda.
5. Reporter: Celebrate one specific win at your next board meeting.
6. Entrepreneur: Ask a “What if…” question at your next meeting (e.g., “What if we could double our impact with half the budget?”).

Engage Your Board (15 Minutes)

• Share the six core roles with your board via email or at the next meeting.
• Ask board members to reflect on:
  • How do they see their role as trustees?
  • Which of the six roles excites them most, and why?

Action: Schedule a board discussion to align on these roles and clarify misconceptions (e.g., board members are not volunteers or employees).

Address the Founder’s Paradox (10 Minutes)

• Acknowledge the tendency to control everything as a founder.
• Write down one area where you can relinquish control to empower your board (e.g., letting a board member lead a discussion).

Action: Commit to one act of delegation this week to practice leading, not doing.

Next Steps:

• Complete the above actions within one week.
• Prepare to move to Step 2: Board Reactivation, by scheduling a board meeting to discuss roles and introduce the Board Audit process if your board members still show up for board meetings.

Mantra: “My job and that of my board is not to do the work, but to create the roadmap and build the team that does the work.”