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Zen and The Rogue Board Member

Zen and The Rogue Board Member

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Aug 16, 2022 | Board Culture

“Is That So?” – a Zen Parable A girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who the father was. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone revered for living such a...
The Pitfalls of a Startup Association/ Nonprofit

The Pitfalls of a Startup Association/ Nonprofit

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Aug 12, 2021 | Board Culture, Governance

The founding or startup phase can be one of the most exciting times to be a part of an organization – for those who thrive on chaos, have an entrepreneurial spirit and a dream. For those who like stability. process and clear direction, not so much. Startup operations...
Six Stages of Board Evolution

Six Stages of Board Evolution

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Jul 30, 2021 | Governance

The beginning of governance improvement is to start where you are by identifying where your board stands on an evolutionary continuum. In our work, we’ve identified six stages of board evolution. Every board, regardless of how long the organization has been...
Building Volunteer Bench Strength

Building Volunteer Bench Strength

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Jun 5, 2021 | Board Culture, Governance

Building Volunteer Bench Strength One of the biggest challenges all associations face is building volunteer bench strength. An item included on the Leading Associations Board Health Assessment is: “We have a deep volunteer leadership pool to draw from for future...
Is Your Board Stuck in Operations?  That May be Okay.

Is Your Board Stuck in Operations? That May be Okay.

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Dec 16, 2020 | Board Culture

As many as half of all associations at the local, state, national, and international level – don’t fit the standard governance model that is treated as “gospel” by governance experts. Some of the so-called “best practices” in governance are not practiced by a...
The rEvolutionary Governance™ System

The rEvolutionary Governance™ System

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Jan 11, 2020 | Governance

A common theme we’ve observed in leadership literature in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors is an “institutional” focus. In the for-profit sector, most management and leadership best practice frameworks are built on the study of large...
The Boilerplate Theory: Why Governance Restructure Should Be Easy

The Boilerplate Theory: Why Governance Restructure Should Be Easy

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Dec 5, 2019 | Board Culture, Strategy

There are great books on governance that tell big boards to downsize; shift to competency-based, rather than constituency or geography-based selection system; be nimble, responsive and strategic; and select the best people for the job, not just those who “worked their...
Why Strategy Doesn’t Make it to The Front Line

Why Strategy Doesn’t Make it to The Front Line

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Nov 6, 2019 | Strategic Planning, Strategy

The Challenge of the Traditional Strategic Planning Model Perhaps the greatest strategic challenge most association/nonprofit organizational leaders face is translating strategy from the boardroom to the receptionist’s desk (or to the committee chair’s agenda)....
Root Cause Analysis of Dysfunction in Your Board of Directors

Root Cause Analysis of Dysfunction in Your Board of Directors

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Oct 3, 2019 | Board Culture

In part three of my series on Board of Director’s dysfunction, I want to discuss identifying the root cause of the issues within a board. The first thing to recognize is that the health of your Board of Directors is systemic and every domain affects the others. (What...
Leadership in its Truest Form More Likely Found in Non-Profits

Leadership in its Truest Form More Likely Found in Non-Profits

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Sep 12, 2019 | Board Culture, Board Training

There’s a perception among some that association/non-profit CEOs are less sophisticated than their corporate sector counterparts because they aren’t as highly paid.  The belief is rooted in the idea that the true rock stars only go for the big bucks. I believe the...
Why Your Association’s Strategic Plan Can’t Fix Your Culture

Why Your Association’s Strategic Plan Can’t Fix Your Culture

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Aug 6, 2019 | Board Culture, Board Training

Strategic planning is a standard exercise at many, if not most, associations/nonprofit organizations. So much so that many smart people mindlessly use it as a prescription for all organizational ills: “Having problems, eh? Do you have a strategic plan? If you do, when...
Lead from the Widest Circle First

Lead from the Widest Circle First

by Jeff Arnold | President, Leading Associations | Jun 3, 2019 | Board Culture, Strategy

I am going out on a limb, as I’m delving into a leadership topic that, outside of religious or spiritually-centered leadership, is generally avoided: namely, love. Certainly it’s nothing new from a human resources perspective to state that sincere praise, recognition,...
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  • Six Stages of Board Evolution
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