Question: We have so many problems in our organization I don't even know where to begin. I have tried until I'm blue in the face to convince our board that we need outside help to get us through this mess. We are the blind leading the blind. How can I convince our board that we need professional consulting and that the money it will cost is worth it, because we can't fix this ourselves and the longer we wait the more our own pride will cost us? Sorry to vent, but I'm at my wits end. I'm thinking of resigning.
Answer: I wish I had an answer at least long enough to fill the page, but I'm afraid the answer is so simple there's no way to lengthen it.
Your question obviously is borne of desperation and extreme frustration. You deserve an answer that offers some help. I don't take your situation lightly.
The sad truth is that boards like yours won't accept any help until enough of the board members believe they need it. I can't count the times that I have seen groups get into the most awful situations - and sometimes too late to doing anything about it - before they decide to act.
There are many, many problems that befall boards, but they always seem to involve either abusive power or incompetence or both. These two causes seem to have the same effect. What makes things worse is that both could be overcome - or prevented altogether - by normal and regular accountability processes.
I have been in board rooms to try to help, but I learned long ago from a community development worker that, "Help is only helpful if it is perceived as being helpful by the person(s) being helped."
Since your board - from what you say - doesn't appear to want help or to be ready for it, there is little more that you can do than what you have been doing.
But that may be enough, if you keep it up. Most board members - in my experience - allow abusive power to go on and on. Most seem to be too timid to tackle it. In the case of incompetence, most board members are too courteous to initiate what they know will turn things around. It's accountability that's lacking in both cases.
But I have also observed that as board members rotate (the wrong ones often leave in frustration) gradually one, and then another, and then another, gather the courage to do what is necessary.
You may not even need a consultant, and even if you manage to talk your board into inviting one to visit you, it won't help if the majority is against learning from such a person.
This may not be very helpful to you in your present situation, but you just may be the tip of the arrow that hits the bullseye. Don't resign. Keep up the pressure that is borne of your commitment to the organization. Eventually others will join you.
Les Stahlke, President
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