New Competencies for Agile Boards
Duty of Foresight
Cathi Hight
• President of Hight Performance Group
• Developer of The Member Retention Kit
and A New Approach to Tiered Membership
• National instructor for the U.S. Chamber
Institute for Organization Management since 2004
• Previous positions: SVP of Growth Strategy & Investor Relations for the Greater Austin Chamber, VP of Operations for the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Regional Manager of Dole Foods and for Dean Foods, FastTrac Entrepreneurship Program Manager for the Kauffman Foundation
• Is a member of the:
▪ Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE)
▪ American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)
▪ Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
2Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Patrick Sullivan
• President and CEO of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.
• Avid runner and marathon competitor.
• Over 30 years of marketing and general management experience.
• Previous positions: CEO of the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency, President of Workopolis.com, General Manager of Indigo.ca.
• Started his career at Proctor and Gamble in Toronto.
Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards 3
You will explore:
• Drivers of change and the need for chambers to practice foresight.
• How a Board Competency Matrix ensures the right mix of skills, knowledge and member representation.
• Traits of agile boards and how to develop a Duty of Foresight to navigate your Chamber’s future.
Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards 4
THE NEED FOR FORESIGHT
Drivers of Change
Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards 5
Associations Study the Impact of Change
• In 2015, ACCE (Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives) explored 9 influences shaping the roles of chambers of commerce
• In 2018, ASAE (American Society of Association Executives) released Foresight Works to help associations explore 41 drivers of change and their impact on members
6Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Drivers of Change Fall into 6 Trend Categories
7Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Social Demographics Trends
“The Rise of the Minority”
• Drivers of Change
– The Aging World
– Next Gen Professionals
– Immigration-Driven Demography
– Empowered Women (the Future is Female)
– Households of One
– Higher Education 3.0 (new modes of learning)
– Micro Learning
– Mentoring 2.0 (informal)
– Socializing Reshaped
(digital interactions,
online tribes)
8Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Workforce and Workplace Trends“Work Redefined”
• Drivers of Change– Automating Work (machine learning, robotics, spread of blockchain)
– Human-Machine Cooperation (jobs complementing technology)
– More Human Humans (the need for EQ)
– Bifurcated Workforce (employees/gig workers)
– Diversity & Inclusion (driven by demographic changes, values and YPs)
– 21st Century Guilds for gig workers
– Reputation by the Numbers
©Hight Performance Group 9Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Data and Technology Trends
“Anticipatory Intelligence”
• Drivers of Change
– Cyber-Security (digital security)
– Dark Data
– Big Data Analytics, Nichification
– Personalized AI (artificial intelligence)
– Predictive Analytics
– Blockchain Platforms (enable
trustless transactions)
– IOT (Internet of Things)
– Fast Data (real-time
decision-making)
10Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Economic Trends
“Power Shifts”
• Drivers of Change
– Cartel Capitalism (market domination
by a few large companies)
– Trade in Transition
– Global Power Shifts
– The Stagnation Economy
– The Sharing Economy (peer-to-peer
exchange of goods and services)
11Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Society & Political Trends
“Persuasive Eco-Systems”
• Drivers of Change– Algorithmic Politics
– Declining Trust in institutions
– Splintered Society (self-segregation along
divides politically, economically, socially)
– Ethical Consumption (values-driven
spending)
– American Inequality
– Philanthropy Reshaped
– Shifting Terrain for Advocacy (national
gridlock will drive policy efforts toward
state and city governments)
– Transparent Organizational Ethics
Duty of Foresight_New Competncies for Agile Boards 12
Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Drivers of Change Impact Communities
SocialDynamics
“The Rise of the Minority”
Workplace &
Workforce
“Work Redefined”
Society & Politics
Economy Data & Technology
• The Aging World• Next Gen
Professionals• Immigration-Driven
Demographics• Empowered Women• Households of One• Higher Education 3.0• Micro Learning• Socializing Reshaped
• Algorithmic Politics• Declining Trust in
Institutions• Splintered Society
(polarization)• Ethical Consumption• American Inequality• Philanthropy
Reshaped• Shifting Terrain for
Advocacy• Transparent
Organizational Ethics
• Cyber security• Dark Data• Big Data Analytics,
Nichification• Personalized AI• Blockchain Platforms• IOT (internet of
things)• Fast Data
• Cartel Capitalism (M&A)
• Trade in Transition• Global Power Shifts• The Stagnation
Economy (decline of rapid growth)
• The Sharing Economy
• Automating Work• Human-Machine
Cooperation• More Human
Humans• Bifurcated workforce• Diversity & inclusion• 21st Century Guilds• Reputation by the
Numbers
The Future of Membership
Models13Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Chambers of the Future Require Effective Leadership
• Keep awareness about drivers of change and how they could impact communities and businesses.
• Identify risks that could lead to policy and environmental changes.
• Anticipate how to serve members and the community.
• Move from Sense-Making (why we’ve done things in the past and currently) to Meaning-Making (consider how to meet future needs) and use Decision-Making to decide what to keep and how to capitalize on new or potential opportunities.
Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
MOVE FROM CONSTITUENCY TO COMPETENCIES
Board Competency Matrix
15Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Using a Board Competency Matrix
• Build a board of directors strategically to benefit the organization based on skills, experiences, acumen, behaviors and representation.
• Consider the ideal mix of resources, backgrounds, experiences, community connections and other characteristics your Board needs to navigate challenges and the direction of the organization.
• How do you ensure diversity that breeds varying opinions, approaches, attitudes, and strategies?
16Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
• Halifax, Nova Scotia is a city of 430,000 people and growing at a rate of +2.0% fueled by international immigration, interprovincial migration and rural to urban migration
• The Halifax Chamber of Commerce can trace our roots back to 1750, one year after the founding of Halifax by the British
• In 1995 four chambers combined to create the greater Halifax Chamber of Commerce
• In 2008 we recognized our constituency based Board model was not providing us with the insight and strategic guidance we required
Halifax Chamber of Commerce
Our Board of Directors
• Until 2008 we had a constituency based board:
o Members who represented specific interest groups and particular regions( 4 cities)
• Suggestion to change to competency based board with members based on skills or expertise required to support the organization for the future.
• What else did we need to consider?
o Diversity/Inclusion
o Gender
o Immigration
Was this a welcome change?
• Many board members felt the previous board selection process was the way to provide the best representation for members.
• Board delegated research to Human Resources and Governance committee
• Committee came back with recommendation to adopt competency based model as best solution to address change in workforce, economy, technology ( Think ACCE Horizon)
• Doing the same old thing would not provide new thinking!
• We needed people with more vision to the future – we needed leaders
How do we do this now?
Tools for evaluation
• Board of directors background and experience survey o Tracks experience and knowledge of directors on a simple 3 point
scale
❑ No experience
❑ Some experience
❑ Lot’s of experience
Sector No Experience Some Experience Lots of Experience
CEO/Owner of Business X
Corporate Governance X
Entrepreneurial Experience X
Finance X
Human Resources X
Information Technology XManagement Experience X
Marketing & Communications X
Government Relations X
Investment X
Law X
Executive Compensation X
Regulatory Issues X
Stakeholder Relations X
Service on Other Boards X
Others Boards – As Chair X
Other Volunteer Organizations X
Tools for evaluation
• Create summary document of entire board Board of directors background and experience survey.
• From this document we can optimize the board competencies.
• Select new board members each year.
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Director Skills Summary
What do we do to confirm this works?
• Review on annual basis:o Board Survey
o CEO Survey
• Results of our Chamber over last 4 years:o Up 23% in membership
o Revenue is up 10%
Does Board Competency serve us?
• Provides us with insight .
• Provides us with access and influence based on strategic view of organizational objectives; needs identified in detail allows meaningful roles to be identified for individual directors.
• Board members proactively reach out in community to build awareness and excitement about the organization; board members seen to be very effective ambassadors for the organization.
Navigating to be real thinkers
• In the past our board was focused on stewardship, civic duty and often fundraising.
• Today we need people who are focused on Financial Management, Management Oversight and Community Response.
• Community response includes recognizing the value of diversity; current diversity on the board.
CREATING FUTURE-FOCUSED BOARDS
Going Beyond the 3 D’s
30Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
The Standard 3 Ds of Board Service
31Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
The Fourth D: Duty of Foresight
32Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Foresight = Future-Focused
• Preparing the organization and its stakeholders for “What’s Next?”
• Looking continuously forward
• Three core foundational concepts:
– Strategic Legitimacy for stakeholders
– Board Stewardship to grow tangible and intangible value of the organization
– Readiness to learn and making sense of the environment’s unfolding dynamics and creating insights to guide action
33Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Chambers Need to be Agile Organizations
• Learning organizations that thrive in unpredictable, rapidly changing environment
• Stable organizations with tried and true practices, yet dynamic and can fluidly adapt to market changes, innovative technology and government regulation.
• Organizations that open, inclusive, non-hierarchical, evolving continually, and equipped for the future.
34Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Leadership TransformationOld New
Serving as a catalyst for collaboration
Board Roles: Visionary, Architect, Catalyst
Future-Focused and Charting the Unknown
Acting as the authority, holder of knowledge
Directors hold top C-level positions
Board Roles: Planners, Directors, Controllers
Building on and Preserving the Past
Reactive to disruption, environmental changes Creative, becoming the disruptor
Directors meet strategic competencies
Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards 35
36Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Agile Board Competency Matrix
An integral part of PPAI’s strategic plan
37Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
• Strategic Foresight content for
events, education, and publications
• Strategic Foresight Readiness
Profile
• Strategic Foresight Playbook
• Strategic Foresight Training
PPAI Helps its Members Develop Foresight
38Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
WHAT’S ON YOUR MIND?
Questions and Answers
39Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Additional Resources
• Leading Agile Transformation: The new capabilities leaders Need to build 21st century organizations (McKinsey Report)
• Promotional Products Association International, Strategic Foresight Playbook
• American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Foresight Works
• Smith Bucklin’s 20 for 2019
• IOD Competency Framework
40Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
Summary
41Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
• Drivers of change impact chambers of commerce, their communities and their stakeholders.
• Learning organizations thrive in unpredictable, rapidly changing environment by practicing foresight.
• Board Competency Matrix ensures the right mix of skills, knowledge, experiences and member representation.
• Agile boards embrace the Duty of Foresight to navigate your Chamber’s future and require new competencies.
42Duty of Foresight: New Competencies for Agile Boards
• Cathi Hight
Hight Performance Group
(512) [email protected]
• Patrick Sullivan
Halifax Chamber of Commerce
(902) [email protected] ickSullivan