Board Duties Reflection: Andrew Wharton

I felt that I had multiple takeaways from our discussions with Cheryl and Dr. Gilbride-Brown. I felt that their introspective approach to their involvement on their respective boards allowed the class to get a firm grasp on the intangible details that are too often lost in the fine print. The thing I was most surprised to discover was the legal duties board members have to each other, their boards, and the state. I know the last thing I thought about when joining the board was what legal risk I could be exposing myself to by signing up for the BIP. I couldn’t help but chuckle when I heard there was such a thing as “board insurance” as there is for every other facet of our lives but you would rather be with than without I guess. The duties part did not surprise me too much but I thought it was nice that they were explicit rather than implicit for our sake:

Duty of Care: You have to have a certain level of engagement in the organization and its mission. If you are not a contributor of time, talents, and wealth, a seat on the board is probably not for you. It was very interesting to note how devoted both Cheryl and Dr. Gilbride-Brown have been with their organizations and how much outside effort they put back into their organizations. Like everything else in life, if its not worth doing right, its not worth doing at all.

Duty of Loyalty: In today’s world trust is everything. Everywhere you go people are looking for pristine levels of trust that are accrued through long bouts of loyalty. As a board member, it is your duty to the organization to promote honest financial objectives, not slander the organization, and to uphold what most would consider a natural level of faithfulness in any duty your perform on behalf of, or outside the board.

Duty of Obedience/Compliance: It is your duty to understand all rules and regulations and abide by them. Just like sports, life is difficult when you don’t follow the rules and loops back to a degradation of duty of loyalty as well.

The key point in all of these duties is that being a member of any board is a serious and revered position that should be managed with care. You are holding people’s dreams, visions, and typically lives in the balance through your decisions and actions on the board. This is why being a board member, while it is an exciting opportunity, must be regarded with all seriousness as well.