CreatingCulture
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Creating Culture
Creating Culture Assignment
Author Note
By submitting this assignment, I attest this submission represents my own work, and not that of another student, scholar, or internet source. I understand I am responsible for knowing and correctly utilizing referencing and bibliographical guidelines. I have not submitted this
work for any other class.
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Creating Culture
Abstract
A nonprofit board’s culture is very important to the success of the board and the organization that it serves. The culture of the board sets the tone for how the board conducts itself. At times the board may need to reevaluate the way that it is perceived and may need to take the proper steps to cultivate a cultural change. By making these changes the board will in turn produce a culture that is conducive to governance as leadership.
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Creating Culture
Creating Culture Assignment
A board’s culture is essential to how the board operates. The culture of the board can prove to be one the most important influences on how successful the board is. A board’s culture when left unbalanced and unchecked can cause the downfall of the board as well as the organization. The culture sets the tone for how efficiently the board is able to operate. By strategizing and using different tools you are able to correct what may hinder the board from functioning properly and producing a successful board and organization.
Nonprofit Board Culture
A board’s culture can be described as how the board practices unofficially. The culture of
a board “consists of a a combination of informal rules, agreements, and traditions that have developed slowly and unconsciously over time” (Trower, 2013, p. 126). This happens as some members get comfortable with the flexibility of doing things outside of what may be the standard
course of action. Mueller (2021) tells us that “every board has a culture-either by default or intention” (p. 5). Trower (2013) tells us that to “fully understand a culture it is necessary to examine its three layers,” which includes artifacts, espoused values, and basic underlying assumptions (p. 126). Artifacts can be described as “visible structures and processes,” such as the boardroom table, the seats and nameplates or the “observable processes” such as the order in which members are called to speak how they vote (p. 126). Espoused values are the values that are acted upon that achieve the desired outcome, these become a part of the group’s shared meaning and understanding. (p. 126-27). Underlying assumptions can be described as “the ultimate source
of values and actions” (p. 127).
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Creating Culture
When looking at a board’s culture, you will see that it can shape the way a board operates
and the functionality of it. The culture of a board can be seen as unhealthy or healthy. A board with an unhealthy culture, and its “underlying habits, assumptions and ineffective practices” (Mueller, 2021, p. 5) when left unchecked, can lead to the board being dysfunctional. A dysfunctional board is not a productive board, and the organization will have its issues because of it.
A board with a healthy culture is “inquisitive and invite diverse perspectives and debate. They embrace generative and strategic thinking. Innovation is valued. Board members work collaboratively and with humility to solve problems” (Mueller, 2021, p. 5). This type of board culture leads to productivity. Board members are able to work well with each other and produce outcomes that are positive and align with the organization’s mission. They get things done versus
arguing and missing out on opportunities.
Cultural Change
The first step to implementing cultural change within the board would be to notice that there an issue that needs to be addressed. It is said that most
“
nonprofit executives and their board chairs believe their organizations have strong and healthy board cultures” (
Board & Administrator
, 2021 p. 1). In order to convince them that there is a need you must “establish a sense of urgency” Trower, 2013, p. 131). The best, and probably the most efficient way to grab the attention of the leaders is to show them the financial impact that this will have if left unbothered. The next step would be to “form a powerful coalition,” of like-minded individuals who are willing to work toward bringing change to the organization. Next would be to reemphasize what we want to accomplish by creating a “change vision”. The change vision will help to produce clear values and those values will be used to create a new vision statement (p. 4
Creating Culture
131). After this the vision will need to be communicated by restating repetitively what the vison is. In order for this to work you must “empower others to act on the vision” (p.131). In this step you would “
find members for an advisory board or task force,” (
Nonprofit Business Advisor, 2023, p. 2) whose main purpose would be to help groom others toward the vision. It would be a great idea to put in place some sort of program that rewards the short-term wins, by doing this you will acknowledge the “improvements and produce more change” (p. 131). Recognition of the accomplishments of others is a great way to show progression and report progress. Taking all of the above-mentioned steps are instrumental in achieving change, however the last step may be one of the most important, and that is to “make change stick”. It is easy to go back to doing what seemed to work before, that is why leaders must be diligent and relentless in reminding others of what the desired outcome is and the plan to achieve it.
Governance-as-Leadership-Friendly Culture
In an effort to achieve the genetic markers of a culture that is conducive to governance as leadership, there are six tools that prove to be useful. The tools that I believe would be the most useful would be to “evaluate meetings and experiment” as well as creating dashboards to gauge organizational performance and board performance (Trower, 2013, p. 143). These two stand out because they involve reporting and introducing new ideas. These would also serve as a form of accountability.
If meetings are evaluated and experiments are done, you will gain better knowledge of what the meeting accomplished and what board members thought of the content. By getting quick feedback, you will be able to go back and change or add things of importance to the next meeting. Experimenting lets you feel out the members to see what works vs. what doesn’t. When
you take this initiative, it will help to produce more effective and relevant meetings in the future. 5
Creating Culture
This information can be collected in different forms, which include “ratings, open-ended written comment, or verbal feedback” (Trower, 2013, p. 150). You can choose to take the information at the meeting or after leaving the meeting. No matter, the choice, understand that it is of great importance to take time to discuss the findings (p. 150).
The use of dashboards during meeting can be used to keep board members focused on meetings. This will help to focus on critical factors at meetings (p. 159). Dashboards give users a
quick breakdown of the organization and board’s performance. It can serve as a map of the past, present and future projections of the organization’s performance. The organizational indicators of the dashboards should be easy to understand, relevant to the user, strategic, quantitative, up to date with current information, and not used in isolation (p. 161). Dashboards are also a great way
of showing transparency of the organization.
Integration - Biblical Principles
Having the position of the board’s secretary is very critical to the functionality of the board. The secretary is responsible for recordkeeping, reporting and introducing new issues as they arise and are presented. Sometimes what the secretary has to report may not be welcomed by other board members. It is at this time that she or he must actively sublimate their own ego to divert the outcome from turning negative. The bible says “let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (King James Bible, 1769/2017, Colossians 3 15-16). Remove your personal feelings and allow God take full control of the situation. Suppress your anger and your desire to lash out and let your words be in line with what God would desire of you.
Conclusion
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Creating Culture
The culture of a nonprofit board is a key player in how effective the board is. The culture of the board can produce negative and positive outcomes. It all depends on if you are dealing with a board that is unhealthy or healthy. But, no matter what type of culture the board is experiencing, there’s still hope. By implementing cultural change and applying key changes, you
have the possibility to foster in change. Once you have achieved the much-needed change, you must continue to work to keep the vision clear and attainable.
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Creating Culture
References
Honest assessment of board culture is key first step in diversifying your board. (2023).
Nonprofit
Business Advisor.
,
2023
(407), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1002/nba.31509
King James Bible
. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
(Original work published 1769)
Mueller, J. (2021). Nonprofit board culture: Intentional or dysfunctional? Board & Administrator
for Administrators Only
. 37, 5-7.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ban.31271
Poll of nonprofit executives, board chairs report strong, healthy board culture. (2021).
Board & Administrator for Administrators Only.
,
38
(S3), 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1002/ban.31309
Trower, C. A. (2013). The practitioner’s guide to governance and leadership. Jossey-Bass.
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