March 2, 2015

“Let’s face it, many boards don’t fire their board members simply because that word ‘fire’ sounds too harsh for their delicate mission-driven ears!”

So said Susan Schaefer in our email exchange.

Delicate mission-driven ears… I love love love that phrase!

What else won’t the board and its members NOT do because of their delicate ears? Ask cage-rattling questions that should be asked? Actually disagree at a board meeting with each – and even argue!!

Dysfunctional politeness…Avoiding tough conversations…Fleeing from the true questions that should be asked and probed and answered… All because of delicate mission-driven ears?

Always remember: Delicate mission-driven ears kill organizations…mostly gradually. And those delicate mission-driven ears, coupled with delicate eyes and tongues don’t even notice that you’re slowly going out of business.

Thank you, Susan!

P.S. Check out Susan’s books at CharityChannel Press. And speaking of boards – as this blog is – check out Nonprofit Board Service for the GENIUS by Susan Schaefer and Bob Wittig. Just published!

CharityChannel Press is a great publisher with great books and great authors. If you’re working or volunteering in the nonprofit sector, check out the “In the Trenches” series focused on fundraising and boards and and! And check out the “For the Genius” series for regular people like all of us… about caregiving and wine and online poker and joining a board and more!

About Simone Joyaux

A consultant specializing in fund development, strategic planning, and board development, Simone P. Joyaux works with all types and sizes of nonprofits, speaks at conferences worldwide, and teaches in the graduate program for philanthropy at Saint Mary’s University, MN. Her books, Keep Your Donors and Strategic Fund Development, are standards in the field.

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