This past week I was both honored and humbled to be featured on a blog regarding my personal philosophy on success and failure (That blog post is below as it appeared on March 4, 2010). And, the fact that it was featured by Ky Ekinci, Co-Founder of Office Divvy makes it that much more special!

You see, Ky and his partners understand SUCCESS. In 2007, they created Office Divvy in Palm Coast, Florida. Office Divvy is a cost effective, comfortable, and professional work and meeting space for all profiles in the business community. They deliver a turnkey business operation, to work-from-home professionals; corporations; individuals or companies that are starting up or downsizing; allowing these companies to concentrate on their core business objectives instantly.

Ky and his partners are the true economic developers! Economic developers that are helping small business to grow and prosper. In addition, Ky and his partners have adopted social network tools such as Twitter to reach out to a larger audience and help small business and entrepreneurs to SUCCEED. And, they impart great wisdom to those that follow, unselfishly, one Tweet at a time!

You can check out Office Divvy at:

http://www.officedivvy.com/

Or you can follow their blog at:

http://blog.officedivvy.com/

Or you can folllow Ky Ekinci on Twitter at:

http://twitter.com/@kyekinci

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010
Randy Seitz's Powerful Quotes on "Failure"
by Ky Ekinci
Co-Founder,
Office Divvy

I've noticed Randy Seitz on twitter early on, and we made an immediate connection. He is a terrific and experienced Economic Development Executive with a diverse background and an impressive track record.

A couple days ago, Randy was on twitter, skillfully engaging others while machine-gunning a bunch of powerful quotes on "failure."

Last Summer I posted a short blog entry on "Success and Failure" based on a video interview of another Randy -- the Entrepreneur and Venture Capitalist, Randy Komisar. Mr. Komisar was arguing that it is the tolerance for failure that leads to innovation, and hence a solopreneur, a small business owner, a startup are more likely to be innovative (because they can tolerate failure) vis a vis a large corporation. That blog post, and the video interview can be found here: Biggest Success Breeds from Failure

There has been much said, and there is much to say about Success, Failure, and Innovation, but I will not say more. I will instead leave you with some of Randy Seitz's quotes through his wonderful tweets:

" What you call failure... I call practice! "

" I didn't fail... I was preparing for greatness! "

" Failure makes perfect! "

" I am one more failure away from greatness! "

...and when I made a comment to Randy about him being on a roll with his great quotes on failure, he responded with yet another gem:
" ...breaking past the fear of failure is where you will find true success! "

If you are on twitter, you can connect with Randy: @RPSeitz

Don't fail to plan... Follow the process!

This is an incredible time right now for my agency. I am leading my team through a strategic planning process. I always include senior management in this process because executive leadership sets the tone for the entire corporation and I want this tone to be one of excitement and enthusiasm about increasing the prosperity of the Oil Region.

We have begun our strategic planning process with a strategic vision or a description of what will be when we have achieved our goals and objectives. The vision is communicated in our strategic plan through our mission and vision statements. It is extremely important to me that the staff clearly understand and believe in our mission and can see the vision. This can only happen if it is communicated and modeled by the senior staff. A highly desirable characteristic of any successful CEO is their ability to clearly see the strategic vision along with an incredible passion for the agency and the ability to excite and influence those around them to dare to believe too!

The next few steps have included sharing of an overall corporate plan and asking our business units – economic development, tourism, heritage preservation, and finance and administration to propose strategic plans for themselves that fit into the overall corporate plan. This includes a complete SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of each unit. They must carefully look at the internal strengths and weaknesses of the unit to achieve the overall corporate mission and vision and external opportunities and threats for job creation and investment, tourist spending, and heritage preservation.

This is a long and time consuming process because it is the CEO’s responsibility alone to evaluate the unit plans and provide the appropriate feedback. Each unit must justify its proposed objectives, strategies, and programs in terms of how well they satisfy the agency’s overall objectives in light of the available resources. Please share with me your unique experience in strategic planning for your agency!

Is your agency having closed door meetings? Well, they should!

This week I want to discuss the concept of “executive sessions.” Executive sessions are not to be confused with executive committee meetings. An executive committee meeting is a standing committee of the board and an executive session is an exclusive meeting of the whole board behind closed doors. That’s right. It is an exclusive meeting behind closed doors. That means – no staff, no guests, and often no CEO.

Chief executives sometimes feel threatened by closed meetings from which they are excluded. There is no meeting that can create more anxiety, suspicion, and overall sense of secrecy than the executive session! But, every board should use executive sessions. Often, there arises, certain situations where the presence of staff, including the CEO may hinder open deliberations. Every board has the right to meet without outsiders in the room to discuss confidential matters that must be handled in privacy. And, that should not worry, offend, or cause anxiety with anyone, especially not the CEO.

Now, there are very specific rules for how a board should use executive sessions and the organizational by-laws and policies will determine how to proceed. The chair is usually responsible for calling these sessions, but any board member can request one. Executive sessions should always be scheduled appropriately. Executive sessions should not be used for any of the following reasons: to avoid discussing tough issues in an open meeting; to dodge responsibility; to restrict any board member’s access to information or to purposefully create a secret society like atmosphere. The agenda should clearly state the purpose of the session and a regular meeting should always be scheduled immediately following an executive session. The minutes of the regular board meeting should indicate that the board went into executive session; the time they went in and the time they came out. There should also be a record of who was present, and a description of any action that was taken.

Executive sessions should NOT be a source of anxiety for the CEO. Executive sessions are a necessary tool for board governance and should be embraced by the chief executive. A wonderful way to eliminate fear and anxiety is for the chair to meet with the CEO prior to and after an executive session to get professional advice from the CEO about what is going to be discussed and why certain action is going to be taken. This allows the chief executive to be involved without actually attending the meeting. Please share with me your experience with executive sessions and how they made you feel?

Is Your Boardroom Civil?

This week I want to talk about UNDERSTANDING and ACCEPTANCE of others’ opinions. I am not suggesting that you abandon your point of view, but rather that you understand, accept, and respect that other people have their own unique perspective too. In fact, I want to encourage you to adopt the philosophy that differing opinions are something to be treasured, valued, and encouraged.

I know that this can often be hard when you are passionate about your point of view, but you must try to let your peers express their opinions, no matter how different they may seem from yours. I can relate to this personally because I am so passionate about the work that I do that I often allow my emotions to take over and block out others’ opinions which are also equally very important to the mission of the agency.

Spirited debate is healthy because it is a way to ensure that decisions are being made through the evaluation of ALL the information available to help make that decision. However, it becomes unhealthy for an organization when the emotions are directed at a person rather than an issue. This type of private wrangling can divert the focus away from the mission. The chair should be very careful to look for signs that the discussion may be getting out of hand and take the proper steps to regain control. Improper language and verbal insults should be stopped immediately. Disagreeing with someone’s comments is perfectly normal, but inappropriate behavior should not be accepted.

Lastly, I have never experienced this, but racist and other comments, intolerance of others’ personal convictions, and impugning the motives of others is also unacceptable. Whether the comments are intentional or out of ignorance they should be addressed immediately and the board, at this point, may want to consider diversity training.

Here are some suggested tips on keeping the meetings civil:
1. Arrive on time
2. Come prepared
3. Know the ground rules of the meeting
4. Don’t be judgmental
5. Talk about issues, not people
6. Allow other people to speak too
7. Ask questions
8. Talk about issues at the meeting not in the parking lot after
9. Disclose any conflict of interest

Remember these tips and be respectful of others and you will become a valuable resource for a nonprofit organization in need of your expertise. Please share with me your thoughts on boardroom civility?

Are you making your volunteer board work too hard?

This week’s blog is a salute to the superstar volunteers of the board that serve as committee members or members of a special task force.

The real work of the board is done through committees and/or through special task forces. Committees and task forces are made up of talented people that collect, analyze, and study data and information on issues and opportunities and then report their findings along with their recommendations to the board for a specific action. This process could be quite detailed and rather daunting and time consuming. But, without committees and task forces board meetings would take many hours and volunteers would be severely overworked. The truth of the matter is that every board meeting needs to be carefully conducted to where every minute is spent on the approval of actions that advance the mission of the organization and if committee work had to be done in the board room no action would ever be taken!

Therefore, do your board a favor and help them govern better by empowering committees and task forces to perform all of the legwork required for a board to be truly effective. Your board meetings will be more productive because more decisions will be made and less time will be spent sitting at the board table because the committees and task forces will have done the homework and provided the board with all of the necessary information to make the right decisions.

So, how do you get started? First, it is important to know the difference between a committee and a task force. So, here they are:

• Committees, sometimes called standing committees, are a permanent part of the board structure and generally are stipulated and formed through the authority of the agency’s bylaws (i.e. Executive Committee, Budget & Finance Committee, etc.).

• A task force is usually temporary and is only formed on an as-needed basis often to research a particular issue for later recommendation and possible debate by the board. This allows greater flexibility in the work that the board must do to govern.

Just like full board meetings, committees and task force groups work best if the chair or facilitator is experienced. There are no legal requirements to determine how a committee or task force should function so the chair will often decide how formal these meetings need to be. Obviously the chair should be well trained and experienced enough to ensure that there is enough involvement by all members so that they can produce positive results. In addition, these meetings don’t necessarily require that any formal minutes be taken but at the very least someone should make note of the agenda topics and important group decisions made along the way.

The main goal and objective of a committee or task force is to research, analyze, and study a topic or issue with the intent to make a full recommendation to the board of directors. This process should be taken seriously and the committee or task force should be given adequate time to come to a conclusion. This may require the use of professionals or other organizations specially trained to help. Once complete, the committee or task force will provide the board, normally through a written or oral report, enough relevant information to make an intelligent decision and to take action that will bind the agency. The board must, therefore, trust that the committee or task force has studied all of the necessary details and their report is a comprehensive account of the results.

So, to all of you volunteer committee and task force members out there… Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to the mission of the nonprofit agency you so faithfully serve. It is your hard work and due diligence that allows the agency, through its board of directors to make the necessary decisions that help them to govern so well.

Are you using your committees and task forces? Or, are you overworking your board? Please share with me your experience with committee and task force work and how you use them to advance your mission?

Who is really running your board meetings?

This week I want to focus on the role of the board chair and the importance of this position, particularly in relation to productive and successful board meetings. Obviously, the board chair plays a major role in leading the strategic direction and governance of a nonprofit agency. However, I am going to limit my discussion to the role that the board chair plays as the designated facilitator or leader of board meetings.

The board chair has a great burden to carry because the rest of the board expects the chair to be articulate, decisive, and in total control of board meetings at all times. The role of the board chair is to make sure that the agenda fits the meeting and that the meeting runs smoothly. This includes making sure, ahead of time, that board members come to meetings prepared and that they take their role, as board member, very seriously. The chair is also expected to have completed the necessary preparations for addressing the big issues of the meeting and has the skill to engage every member in the discussion. This may include taming the “wild ones” or encouraging the "quiet ones." The chair facilitates the proceedings, discussions, and is very careful to guard each person’s dignity should a debate arise. This skill demands a basic understanding of parliamentary procedure, even if the board does not always adhere to this structure strictly.

The chair’s primary function is to ensure that the objectives of the agenda are achieved. The chair is a master of flexibility and a great judge of whether discussion should continue or if it is best to keep to the schedule and send complex issues to committee for further study. In the event that all of the information has been presented and discussed the chair must be able to decide when it is time to vote. Or, if it is impossible to reach a consensus, the chair must decide to table an issue until additional data becomes available. In this case, the chair’s decisiveness and good judgment allows the meeting to proceed.

In conclusion, board meetings can be more productive if the board chair followed some basic principles:

• Own the agenda
• Get to know the personal attributes of individual board members
• Explain the personal philosophy of how meetings will be run
• Engage every board member during board meetings
• Control the domineering characters and bring the best out of difficult colleagues
• Remain objective and fair
• Become familiar with parliamentary procedures
• Earn the respect of peers
• Lighten up and use humor in the board room

The board meeting is a continuous cycle that keeps the board chair quite busy. The job of the board chair does not end with the adjournment of the meeting. It involves regular follow-up and planning with the CEO and a special commitment to the other members of the board and the job itself. Please share with me extraordinary stories about your dynamic board chair?

Are you hosting board meetings alone? Where are your board members?

This week we will continue to explore the dynamics of productive and successful board meetings.

A situation that plagues nonprofit boards from time to time is absenteeism. This is a troublesome problem that needs the CEO’s attention because if not addressed it could disrupt the business of governing the agency. The business of the agency requires a majority vote. If board members are constantly and consistently absent, you can see how this would cause quite a problem.

In order to be a contributing board member, it is important that you come to meetings prepared, but it is equally important that you also attend as many board meetings as humanly possible. The ideal situation is to not miss a single meeting. However; in a perfect world, business and life obligations make this nearly impossible, and that is definitely understandable! That is why most agency by-laws address absenteeism and allow for a certain number of excused absences. But; what do you do when a board member consistently exceeds the allowable number of excused absences?

Well, the first thing to do is determine whether you are dealing with a personal dilemma or whether a change in the meeting structure or logistics can help. The latter is difficult because a change in structure or meeting logistics may cause others to develop a problem with absenteeism too. Remember that every board member has value and it would be counterproductive to lump all excessively absent board members into the same proverbial basket. So; by addressing the origin of each individual situation, you can try to bring change. This is often best done by the Chair of the board.

Here are some ideas for eliminating absenteeism at your board meetings:

1. Address absenteeism during the new board member orientation and explain that attendance is obligatory
2. Spend board meeting time on issues that matter!
3. Give board members roles that are important
4. Listen to board members when obstacles for attendance appear
5. Have a formal policy outlining removal if absenteeism becomes a problem

Each board member has value and as the CEO of the agency it is your responsibility to see that you are maximizing each board member’s talents. If a board member is absent from more than three meetings it is important to listen to your board member’s reasons for missing those meetings and to help that board member remove obstacles that keep them from attending. Please share with me the unique ways that you have dealt with excessive board absenteeism?