All comments discussing issues are informative, but occasionally, a comment is so outstanding, it deserves a special posting to make sure everyone see's it. I found this to be the case in this "anonymous" comment. I wish that I could communicate as clearly as this person does. This person obviously knows what they are talking about. It is this and many other comments that do exactly what this blog was designed to accomplish. Thank you for your comment that sets an example for all of us.
Anonymous said...
Whether you choose to believe me or not, I don't care, but as a newby to this communication, I would like to make a few observations. I serve on the Board of an organization netting some $200M per year. I say that just so you can get an idea of the size of the organization.
I moved here a number of years ago to slow down my life and to just to get away from the bigger cities and was able to continue my business through telecommunication. At that time, the Board here was somewhat dysfunctional but I didn't worry as I had no time to devote to it. To the crux of this entry though. As a Board we had the CEO, COO, CFO and executive vice presidents submit a statement addressing their specific annual goals. These were goals set by the individuals and assessed by the Board as to their viability and direction of the organization. As a member of the executive compensation committee
I was able to use the stated goals to measure against the individuals actual performance when setting compensation and rewards. Anything short of achieving the maximum attainable with reference to the goals resulted in a subsequent downgrade of achievable compensation. So too do we need an overview of this Board, specifically there needs to be an outside evaluation process to measure this group you call your Board of Trustees and the personnel reporting to them.
These goals that have been listed in the communique are general in nature, are merely a continuation, inferred or expressed, of the same items delineated over the last number of years. In other words, they are not challenging and do not expressly do anything good for the members.
I would also say that from #6 on down they are not really being given any modicum of attention. Perhaps this organization could benefit by utilizing the services of a real business expert. Find out why so many people are dissatisfied with the Board and why the Board seems to be incapable or at least unwilling to take the initiative on progress. They should not be, as it seems they are content with trying to only maintain the status quo or maybe even regress. The Tech Committee is a classic example. Practically all of the business transactions today are done via the internet.
Why does the Board show such bias against this? Part of the answer, I would presume, are the scare tactics employed by some individuals. Name calling and threats of retaliation are tools of a societal group who try to use fear mongering rather than negotiation (probably because they know they cannot win that way).
My best of luck to you all as this is my one and only association with this post, just felt compelled to speak out based on what I have seen with my association with other similar types of governance. The lesser civil of you may blast away at my comments, but I hope someone out there with common sense will try to organize a common sense alternative and bring these people back to their mission to support the community, not to pursue personal agendas as it seems the leadership has chosen to do.
