Last week i was in an institution retreat managed by an outside moderator ( which is the best for an effective discussion btw ) and he mentioned a very interesting legal excerpt at the start of the discussion.
Under state statutory and common law, officers and board members are fiduciaries and must act in accordance with the fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, and obedience.
Care. Loyalty. Obedience! These three duties that this moderator identified as fiduciary ( complex word for obliged ) gave me the framework to diagnose a lot of boards that i am part of. I can easily say that obedience is the hardest – because at this level, people around the table have their ego, opinions ( and personal interests )… Sometimes accepting the bigger picture result than can be against their own personal opinion or interest requires clarity of mind and maturity of practice and leadership.
In some writeups online – the definition of obedience refer to a legal compliance but within the context of our discussion around effective boards it also referred to conflict resolution and executing after a board conclusion.
I loved the mental framework that these three elements gave me for effective board! From my experience, they really sum up needed board members duties.