The Imperfect Board Member
By Jim Brown; 224 pages; published by Jossey-Bass
We've all heard it before: nobody's perfect. But few of us like to admit it, whether it's in the office, with our family, or sitting around the boardroom table. Nonprofit boards, even when stacked with high profile, successful individuals, can be woefully ill-prepared to handle the challenges that come their way. And while most books on the subject offer lots of expert advice, helpful tips and all kinds of 'best practices', few authors actually address how flawed many boards actually are. And nonprofits themselves gloss over failures, ethical missteps, and personality clashes because in the real world most people just don't want to share those experiences with their peers.
That's why Jim Brown's leadership parable, The Imperfect Board Member is so, well...perfect. In it he introduces us to David, a very driven and successful businessman who joins a nonprofit board in his community. He can be manipulative, self-centred and demanding. But with the help of an unassuming but surprisingly helpful fellow board member, David learns valuable lessons that help him to not only be a better board member, but also improve relations with the board of his own company, as well as his own family. The story combines contexts of business, nonprofit, and faith-based organizations in an engaging and easy to read story that readers can truly relate to.
The book concludes by reviewing the Governance Excellence Model (GEM) that David and his friends develop in the story, and also offers other helpful tools, tips, and a list of additional resources. You'll be able to read it in just a few hours, but the characters that Jim Brown brings to life will stay with you much longer, as will the lessons they learn along their journey. It's a refreshing change from typical governance texts and the model that Brown presents will be a valuable addition to your own governance practices, no matter how imperfect you might be!
Buy the book:
Canada: buy through Amazon.ca
