Boards Set the Direction

I got a call last week to be a reference for an Executive Director stepping into a new role at a Housing Authority. In our industry, that's not unusual. But the board asked me: "𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞?"

I paused. Not because I didn't have an answer.
I had so many things to say.

I realized the board asked me the wrong question.

The right question is "𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐅𝐎𝐑?"

Most boards never have that conversation.
They have a budget, a set of compliance rules and they manage to those things. They operate a system. A shared strategy underneath it is missing.

A new Executive Director can survive in those conditions, but she certainly won’t thrive in it.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐈 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 “𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞” 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 “𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 “𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭” 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 ”𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭."

When a board picks a strategy like this, the governance comes naturally.
The ED is set up for success because she now knows which way the board is going.

This is the conversation I'll be having at two gatherings next month:
📍 PHADA · June 10–13
📍 National Leased Housing Association · June 16–18

If you serve on a housing board, or advise one, come find me.

I want to know what you believe your strategy and governance is setting.