Download - Achieve Multi-Generational Boards
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A Place for All Ages: Why and How to Achieve Multi-Generational Boards
Sherri Petro
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Today’s Speaker
Sherri Petro President and Chief Strategy Officer,
VPI Strategies Hosting:
Sam Frank, Synthesis PartnershipAssisting with chat questions:
April Hunt, Nonprofit Webinars
Sherri Petro
A Place for All AgesWhy and How to Achieve Multi-Generational Boards
2011
5
Our Objectives
♦ Define the generational mix
♦ Discover the reasons behind board
age disparity
♦ Learn what you can do to recruit,
orient and leverage the talents and
styles of board members of each
generation.
6
The Generation Mix In 2011
♦ Traditionalists
– Born 1925-45
– 66-86 years
♦ Baby Boomers
– Born 1946-64
– 47-65 years
♦ Generation X
– Born 1965-80
– 31-46 years
♦ Generation Y
– Born 1981-?
– Under 31
The Norm – BoardSource
Nonprofit Governance Index 2010
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Under 300%
30-397%
40-4920%
50-6450%
65+23%
Age
Traditionalists
Baby Boomers
Gen Y
Gen X (sort of)
Board Behaviors
Related to Diversity and InclusionReached consensus about value/benefits of
expanding board diversity
8
Great extent20%
Some extent33%
Small extent21%
Not done26%
2010 BoardSource NP Governance Index
Board Behaviors
Related to Diversity and Inclusion
Developed an inclusive culture and board dynamics
9
Great extent15%
Some extent34%Small extent
25%
Not done26%
2010 BoardSource NP Governance Index
5 Reasons You Might Want
Multiple Generations On The Board
1. Energy - They can assist you in becoming the “anti-
bored board”
2. New perspective and ideas - Questioning the value
of the old way of doing things
3. You create the opportunity for more voices to be
heard and develop a lively dialogue
4. They can teach you how to value and be more
efficient with technology like BoardEffect®
5. Your board may be the only one they are on!
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Why Are We Not Recruiting
Younger Board Members?
♦ Tendency to recruit others like ourselves
♦ Skepticism as to whether you need
generational diversity
♦ Preference for professional experience
♦ The “one-and-only” concern
♦ Misperception about their commitment
♦ Not making the value proposition clear
♦ We don’t understand them
11
Why Are Younger Board
Members Not Joining?
♦ Perceive that board service is not
accessible
♦ They think they are not qualified
♦ They are not being scouted, recruited like
any other board member would be and
asked to join
♦ “Hands-on” is not included in the board
member job description
12
And It All Comes Down to This….
13
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Traditionalists’ Values
♦ Respect for authority
♦ Loyal
♦ Practicality
♦ Experience
Their goal is to build a legacy
15
Baby Boomers’ Values
♦ Process
♦ Team work and collaboration
♦ Strong work ethic
♦ Optimism and idealism
♦ Work/life balance (which they struggle with
mightily)
Their goal is to put their stamp on things
16
Generation X Values
♦ Results and outcomes
♦ Solve their own problems
♦ Multi-tasking
♦ Direct communication
♦ Healthy skepticism
♦ Informality
♦ Work smart
Their goal is maintaining independence
17
Generation Y Values
♦ Technology
♦ Working on their
own terms
♦ Happiness
♦ Interactivity
♦ Experience
♦ Mutual respect
♦ Collaboration
♦ Community
♦ Meaningful work
♦ Acknowledgement
♦ Expression
Their goal is to create a happy life that has meaning
18
Generational Similarities
♦ We have
– A desire to learn
– A desire to be acknowledged
– A desire to be rewarded
♦ We want
– To be trusted, valued and respected
– To succeed
The Shadow
The ED/Board generational challenge
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What We Can Expect From
Younger Board Members
♦ More movement in and out of boards by
younger board members
♦ More questions that we need to take
seriously
♦ More efficient meetings
♦ More evidence of good work
♦ More requests for hands-on work
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Solutions: Mind Set
♦ Expand your mental model. Stop thinking that
everyone thinks like you
♦ Educate on the value of each generation from
research -- not opinion
♦ Make a commitment to age diversity
♦ Get out of your own way when thinking about
candidates. Look for those that think and are
different!
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Solutions: Recruiting
√ Have a plan
√ Be clear on what each generation values
√ Use generations/age on your board recruiting matrix
√ Match generational motivation to the recruiting message,
use the language each generation resonates with
√ Go to organizations where the younger generations are
√ Look for businesses that encourage volunteering on
company time, leadership development and Corporate
Social Responsibility
√ Have a board job description & clear expectations
√ Be the board ambassador/evangelist
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Solutions: Orientation
♦ Provide a “board buddy” for better board
onboarding (say that 3 times!)
♦ Be prepared so the new board member can
hit the ground running
♦ Have a board manual
♦ Don’t limit participation when new board
members are choosing their committees
♦ Don’t use a boring PPT like this one…
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Solutions: On the Board
♦ Recognize there may be conflicts due to
differences in generational motivation
– Traditionalists - legacy
– BB – process
– Gen X – results
– Gen Y – experience
♦ Treat each board member as equal
♦ Do NOT diminish an opinion based on age
♦ Value all kinds of experience
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Questions to Ponder for the Board
♦ How does the size of your board fit in?
♦ Should you create a junior board to groom
future board members?
♦ What will you do since the younger
generations are serial daters?
♦ How are you going to educate your board
on this subject?
– Hint: See the last slide!
25
Questions to Ask
Younger Candidates
♦ What excites you most about joining us?
♦ What would a successful experience on this
board look like for you?
♦ How would you like to offer your talents/skills?
♦ What will it take to engage you?
♦ What is the tomorrow problem you see for us
that we should start thinking about today?
♦ What do you think motivates our current board
members?26
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Thank You!
Download VPI’s From Jitterbug to Twitter
generational white paper for NPs at www.vpistrategies.com
Contact Sherri Petro for more information
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