As election season approaches for many boards and associations, a recurring challenge often emerges: alarmingly low member participation. This lack of engagement isn’t just a sign of apathy; it frequently stems from a deeper issue. Members often perceive their selection of directors as inconsequential, believing their choices do little to shape the organization’s trajectory or significantly benefit their own businesses. Furthermore, there’s a prevailing sentiment that the board itself isn’t actively leading the industry or, at the very least, empowering its members to adapt and thrive within it. Regrettably, in far too many instances, this perception accurately reflects reality.
Having served for over 40 years in various elected and appointed capacities – including director, member, trustee, president, treasurer, and secretary – on a multitude of boards ranging from real estate and school boards to associations, charities, and non-profit organizations, I’ve gained extensive insight into organizational dynamics. This profound experience has led me to a firm conviction: the root cause of this disengagement and perceived ineffectiveness often lies in the very fabric of how these organizations are governed.
Effective governance is the bedrock of any successful organization. It mandates that a board of directors possesses the capacity to clearly articulate a compelling mission, formulate robust strategies, and establish measurable targets and goals. Once these foundational elements are firmly in place, the board’s crucial role is to then refer them to the organization’s management team. Management, in turn, is entrusted with the responsibility of devising and executing the most efficient and effective methods to implement and achieve these objectives on behalf of the organization and its membership. Conceptually, this high-level governance model provides a clear, prescriptive framework for how a high-functioning board should steer its organization toward sustained success and value creation for its stakeholders.
Under this optimal model, the board acts as the strategic architect, setting the overarching objectives and charting the course. It then directs and empowers its sole direct employee, typically the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Executive Director, to take all necessary operational steps to realize these strategic ends. The CEO is expected to expertly harness the collective resources of the organization – encompassing staff talent, financial capital, institutional knowledge, and essential equipment – orchestrating them harmoniously to work towards the predefined, desired outcomes. This clear delineation of responsibilities ensures that while the board maintains its strategic oversight, management is fully enabled to execute efficiently.
For members and stakeholders, discerning whether your board – both the collective board of directors and your broader real estate board or association – is truly effective requires looking beyond superficial metrics. While the seamless functioning and constant availability of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a core expectation for real estate professionals, and its effective management by staff is undeniably crucial, it should not be the sole yardstick by which to evaluate your directors and CEO. This, along with most other essential daily operational functions, is typically handled with competence by the association’s dedicated staff. These vital services would, in all likelihood, continue to operate effectively even without direct, day-to-day involvement from the board of directors or the CEO. Their true impact lies elsewhere.
The truly essential questions that demand answers are whether your board is proactively adopting forward-thinking policies and meticulously formulating strategies that will not only prepare your association for future challenges and opportunities but also genuinely enhance the overall suite of services and support it provides to its members. Consider your own experience: are you, as a member, tangibly better off as a direct result of your association’s actions today than you were one, two, five, or even ten years ago? Do you feel an unwavering confidence that the association is actively leading the industry, thereby safeguarding and ensuring our collective success in an ever-evolving market? These profound indicators are the true hallmarks of effective boards and visionary CEOs, reflecting their capacity to deliver lasting value and strategic direction.
To gain a comprehensive understanding of your association’s strategic direction, it is imperative to obtain a copy of its multi-year strategic plan. Meticulously examine this document to verify that the outlined goals are genuinely strategic in nature and that the associated indicators or targets are clearly measurable. If the plan features such measurable objectives, take the crucial next step of inquiring about the progress made against these set targets. Were they achieved? If not, why were they missed, and what invaluable lessons have been learned along the way? This diligent investigation provides critical insight into the board’s commitment to accountability and its ability to adapt and learn.
Far too frequently, we find ourselves deeply engrossed in the daily exigencies of our businesses, inadvertently overlooking the immense and transformative value that a truly galvanized and strategically focused association can bring. Such an organization has the power to not only enhance our individual business operations but also significantly boost our collective profitability and market resilience. Taking the proactive step of thoroughly researching your board’s strategic plan can illuminate its true effectiveness, yielding one of three distinct outcomes, each with profound implications for your future.
The first, and perhaps most alarming, outcome is discovering that your board lacks a formal strategic plan altogether. This absence represents a significant problem, strongly suggesting that your board of directors and CEO are not operating effectively. Without a clear strategic roadmap, the organization’s members are left acutely vulnerable to the unpredictable shifts of industry trends, the relentless pressures of external market forces, and the emergence of disruptive technologies. A board without a plan is a rudderless ship, leaving its passengers adrift.
The second scenario you might encounter is a board that indeed possesses a strategic plan, but upon closer inspection, the major items outlined within it are either largely irrelevant to your needs as a member or consist of inconsequential “motherhood statements.” These are often beautifully articulated but ultimately hollow declarations that sound pleasant but lack any actual meaning, concrete objectives, or planned, measurable outcomes. If this is the case, you can be equally certain that your board of directors and CEO are not effective. Such an approach, much like having no plan at all, exposes its members to the very same vulnerabilities: external forces, market volatility, and potential disruptors that can undermine their success.
The third, and most desirable, outcome is finding that your board has developed a robust and meaningful strategic plan. This plan should clearly articulate objectives that resonate with you as a member, stating them in terms of tangible, real-world goals. Furthermore, it should clearly delineate the specific means by which these goals are to be achieved and establish a realistic timeframe for their accomplishment. If your board’s plan meets these rigorous criteria, then you likely have an effective board of directors and CEO at the helm. Beyond the plan itself, you should also have accessible reports that transparently demonstrate whether the set targets have been met. Take the time to review your board’s strategic plans from the past couple of years and critically assess whether those objectives have been achieved or are demonstrably well underway. If you find satisfaction on these crucial fronts, you can rest assured that your association is serving you well. Conversely, if these critical elements are lacking, it strongly indicates that your board and CEO are not operating effectively in their governance roles.
So, why do strategic plans often fall short of their potential, becoming mere documents rather than dynamic roadmaps? Frequently, this inadequacy stems from the plans themselves lacking truly worthwhile goals, or failing to articulate these goals in meaningful, measurable terms. Without clear metrics, it becomes impossible to properly assess progress, conduct thorough analysis, and make informed adjustments. However, it’s important to recognize that this isn’t an insurmountable challenge. The market is rich with experts specializing in strategic planning who can powerfully assist associations in formulating and achieving a robust strategic plan – one whose tangible value makes a genuine, measurable difference to your bottom line and the collective success of your members.
Even the most meticulously crafted strategic plan cannot function in isolation; it requires a robust support system to truly come alive. This system is typically comprised of an operational work plan, a comprehensive CEO performance management system, and an intuitive dashboard for tracking key metrics. These interconnected components are usually meticulously outlined within the association’s broader governance plan, ensuring a cohesive and integrated approach to organizational leadership and execution.
When the board of directors employs its governance model with precision and integrity, it embarks on a powerful process. First, it establishes a meaningful and impactful strategic plan. Next, it meticulously defines clear performance objectives for the CEO, directly derived from the overarching goals articulated in the strategic plan. Finally, the board rigorously evaluates the CEO’s performance in light of the goals achieved, always considering the specified time frame for outcomes. In turn, the CEO’s performance plan thoughtfully cascades down to every level of the staff, ensuring that the entire association is seamlessly aligned and diligently driving toward the exact same desired outcomes. Members are not just hopeful; they are entitled to expect this exceptional level of performance from their association. Anything less guarantees that the association will fall short of its potential and fail to be truly effective for those it serves.
Despite the clarity of an effective governance model, failures often occur, preventing meaningful outcomes for members. This breakdown can stem from one or more critical reasons, each undermining the association’s ability to deliver on its promises and truly serve its constituents:
1. Absence of a Meaningful Strategic Plan
The fundamental flaw here is a strategic plan that either lacks objectives truly important to members, or if it does contain them, fails to articulate these objectives in terms of what specific outcomes are to be achieved and by what precise date. Without this clarity, the plan remains an academic exercise, detached from real-world impact and accountability.
2. CEO Co-optation of the System through Vague Goals
A critical symptom of governance failure is when the board allows the CEO to effectively co-opt the system by failing to establish meaningful goals that are measurable and can be robustly evaluated against desired outcomes. A classic manifestation of this issue is the prevalence of objectives such as, “Prepare a report about XYZ.” While seemingly productive, this type of objective focuses on an activity rather than recognizing if that activity constitutes a genuine, measurable step towards achieving an actual strategic goal. Such vagueness allows for an illusion of progress without substantive achievement.
3. Objectives Too Vague to Allow for Measurement
A common and insidious problem arises when objectives are so nebulous that they defy any form of concrete measurement or evaluation. Examples abound, such as “Serve the ongoing needs of members” or “Establish relationships to enhance access to data.” While these statements might sound appealing and often populate the colorful boxes and intricate diagrams of many so-called strategic plans, they do absolutely nothing to propel the organization forward in achieving anything tangible. Even worse, such vague objectives utterly preclude any effective evaluation of the CEO’s performance, as there is no discernible way to objectively determine if these broad goals have actually been met. This lack of accountability makes them the preferred type of statement for those CEOs often categorized as “survivors”—individuals who skillfully navigate from year to year, doing little beyond managing the routine, day-to-day functions of the organization. By deliberately avoiding meaningful, measurable goals, these CEOs effectively guarantee their own “success,” precisely because there are no clear targets against which their performance can be judged as a miss.
4. Boards Prioritizing “Ticking Boxes” Over Meaningful Action
Another profound failure occurs when boards become more preoccupied with merely “ticking the boxes” in their governance plan than with ensuring that the various and necessary strategic steps are being articulated and performed in a truly meaningful and impactful way. For instance, even if the goals set are fundamentally irrelevant, poorly defined, or otherwise hollow, directors can still complacently check off the box that states, “establish goals.” When this happens, all subsequent steps in the governance process – such as setting specific targets, monitoring progress, and measuring CEO performance – automatically become entirely useless. Despite this systemic breakdown, the CEO often continues to “prosper,” receiving bonuses because, technically, no goals remain “unmet” in the superficial sense. If such a scenario is unfolding within your board, it raises a critical question: are the members genuinely being served, or does the entire system continue to function primarily for the self-perpetuating benefit of the board and the CEO?
5. Board Reluctance to Hold the CEO Accountable
A particularly damaging dynamic emerges when boards are unwilling or hesitant to hold the CEO accountable for performance. This often stems from directors having worked closely with the individual, developing personal rapport, empathy, or even friendship. As a result, concerns about performance are frequently deferred, addressed with platitudes like “we’ll tackle it next year.” Even formal CEO evaluation systems often fall short, rarely allowing for anything less than an “acceptable” performance rating. More frequently, these systems are subtly geared towards obtaining higher scores that justify bonuses, even when little or nothing of substance has been achieved in terms of critical strategic objectives. If your board consistently engages a series of consultants to attend meetings and repeatedly revise governance plans, it is a strong indicator that your board is not operating effectively. Bringing in a new consultant typically provides a non-performing CEO with a reprieve, allowing them to remain in their position for at least another two or three years while the system undergoes revision, often with outcomes no better than before. This cycle not only wastes resources but also perpetuates a culture of non-accountability.
Given these pervasive challenges, what then is the definitive solution to revitalizing board effectiveness and ensuring genuine member value? The answer, at its core, distills down to one fundamental, non-negotiable element: accountability. It is the unwavering commitment to accountability that can transform stagnant organizations into dynamic, member-centric forces.
This accountability must manifest on multiple critical levels. There must be an inherent accountability of the directors themselves to diligently establish and set genuinely meaningful strategic plans that directly address the future needs and opportunities of the membership. Furthermore, the board, as a collective body, bears the crucial accountability to constantly and rigorously evaluate whether these strategic goals are indeed being met, ensuring that the organization stays on track. Finally, and perhaps most vitally, there must be an unwavering accountability in terms of being both capable and willing to hold the CEO fully responsible for achieving the clearly defined objectives. Without this multifaceted commitment to accountability, even the most well-intentioned efforts will ultimately falter.
As dues-paying members, you are not merely passive participants; you are stakeholders with a right to expect and receive a high-performing board. You are unequivocally entitled to reap the tangible benefits and positive impacts that emanate from having a high-functioning board and a truly effective CEO diligently working at your service. In fact, the very future, relevance, and prosperity of organized real estate may very well hinge on this commitment to excellence. Our collective role now is to actively engage in the election process, ensuring that we choose an effective board of directors – individuals who are not only willing but also demonstrably able to undertake the rigorous and necessary work required to achieve this paramount level of organizational performance and member value.