How to Trim Your Board of ‘Dead Weight’

I coach nonprofit CEOs and work with thousands of leaders of small nonprofits. Regardless of a group’s size, folks almost always want my advice on one thing: how to dump “dead weight” from their boards. From groups with $70,000 budgets to those with $70 million, all face the same issue. They say things like, “If I could just get my board chair to terminate these folks, our organization would be firing on all cylinders.”

It’s time for board and staff leaders to face this reality: You can fire on all cylinders even when your board has serious dead weight because you can have a high-functioning, engaged group of ambassadors and folks who don’t carry their weight. It’s not ideal, but it works, all the time.

Before I go further, let me clarify the difference between “dead weight” and “toxic.” A toxic board member wreaks havoc, abuses her power, undermines staff, bad-mouths the organization when decisions don’t go her way, and, in short, participates on the board for the wrong reasons. Her own ideas and self-interest trump the mission.

A board member who is dead weight, on the other hand, does not cause trouble. Actually, he doesn’t cause anything: He’d have to show up first. Possibly well-intentioned when he joined, he may now be overcommitted or perhaps only wanted to add board membership to his resume.

Dead-weight board members should get off your “board bus” at the next stop. Then you can fill their slots with qualified, passionate, and high-performing trustees. But that won’t happen by itself.

There’s No Such Thing as a Perfect Board

Maybe you think board members who collectively contribute 10 percent of the annual budget and then let you run the joint deserve an A+ rating. That’s flat-out wrong. Don’t be tempted by such scenarios.

So what is reasonable to expect? Well, many groups have a Grade B board. I’ll outline what that looks like and share tips for edging them closer to an A rating. Keep a list of your board members handy and see which group each member falls into.

Grade B boards usually can be separated into three groups. Imagine a board composed of 18 board members with an equal number of members in each group.

Group 1: Initiators or “rock stars.” They show up, offer to help, suggest a new prospect , chair an event, and so forth. They lead strategy. Most important, they are wildly enthusiastic about the mission. This enthusiasm motivates them to carve out the time board service demands.

Group 2: Responders. They will do something if you ask them. Passionate about the mission, perhaps insecure about their ability to contribute, they are well- meaning but not self-starters.

Group 3: Dead Wood. They may write a check, but they could do that without being a trustee. Often, they don’t do much of anything; something always seems to come up just before a board meeting to prevent them from attending.

In this scenario, when we do the math, six of the board members are dead weight, just taking up space.

Did you evaluate your board members? I bet you probably have fewer in the dead-weight group than you thought. You may have overestimated their number because dead-weight board members suck up a lot of emotional energy.

I hear you saying: “Great Joan. I really appreciate this. You’re telling me to be satisfied with a third of my board being dead weight? Why should I even keep reading?”

Three Ways to Improve a B-Rated Board

You can improve your board without having to vote any members “off the island.” Here’s how.

1. Treat your top performers like gold. Hold them up as stars so it’s clear to everyone what excellence looks like. Appreciate and acknowledge them in public settings. Bring them close as thought partners. Solicit their opinions as you untangle strategic knots. If you are a board chair, empower them to lead along with you so your meetings stay focused and trustees fulfill their obligations.

2. Separate Group 2 board members into two subgroups. Some trustees in this group probably perform better than others. Let’s call those folks Group 2A. They want to participate and contribute, but they are not sure how. They’ll agree to do something if asked so long as the request is finite, and their success will be clear when the project is completed.

Those who are not engaged we’ll call 2B. Pay attention because this is where you can tip the board into a higher performance mode.

The 2A board members should be your primary targets. Board chairs and chief executives should work together to identify 2A trustees and then select a well-defined project for them to undertake — something with a clear beginning, middle, and end so that when it’s completed, something will have been accomplished. At that stage, everyone will be thrilled, and praise will be heaped upon those responsible. Those involved will feel the excitement of making a real contribution, and then, guess what?

A few 2A board members will join the ranks of Group 1, and you have more fully engaged board members!

3. Give the remaining members of Group 2 a choice: Tell them to they can move up or down. Board members in group 2B can step up to Group 1 or join the dead-weight board members.

After these steps are taken, the outcome is often the same, and it’s quite interesting. The high-performing group grows, and so does the dead-weight group. It becomes more apparent that disengaged trustees are not in step with the board; they can’t keep up. Before you know it, some of the unmotivated members will step off the board. You may even be able to avoid the need for tough conversations.

Four Ways to Keep Underperforming Board Members at Bay

Now that you have assessed your board and have a strategy for ridding it of dead wood, consider these strategies to prevent this from happening again.

Consider amending the by-laws. When I was the CEO of Glaad, our by-laws stated that any board member who missed two meetings in a row would be automatically removed from the board and would have to be voted on at the next board meeting if he or she wanted to return. This would necessitate a conversation between the board chair and that member that would prompt the question: Should that individual return and become more involved or opt out altogether?

Evaluate your trustees annually. I am clear that this idea fills board chairs and governance committees with dread. “Oh no! We worked so hard to get these people. I’ll save my concerns about this for a future article. In the meantime, consider a nice and easy, informal process. In fact, don’t call it an evaluation. Just regard it as an annual opportunity to touch base about how board service is going.

Jump-start a conversation, using job descriptions. If you have no board-member job descriptions, grab a sample online that matches each trustee’s role. The board chair and a few designees should have coffee with each board member and use these questions to foster a discussion:

• How are you feeling about board service? What were your expectations? Has reality matched those expectations?
• How do you feel about your contributions this year? What do you feel great about?
• Has anything thwarted your ability to be a productive board member?
• When you leave the board, what kind of legacy would make you feel great? What do you hope to have accomplished?

Find the root of the problem. Did your interview unearth a red flag you missed? Was the process clear enough to unearth challenges and motivations ?

You will learn a lot about how to engage and enrich your board and how to help them become better ambassadors. Some board members will leave the conversation recognizing that board service is just not for them. And you will have a clearer sense of what successful board service looks like, especially to your more engaged members.

I’ve just suggested to you that one-third of your board is probably dead weight, but I’m not suggesting that you “fire” them. (Do fire toxic board members, by the way). Instead, the goal is to make them feel like dead weight. Don’t let them off the hook.

Have you successfully fired dead weight? I’d love to hear how you did it. Do you think I’m setting the bar too low? Tell me that, too. Please share your thoughts below.

I don’t pretend to know all the answers. I just stir the pot to get you thinking, promote some good discussion, and inspire you to act. Ready, set, go!

Joan Garry leads a nonprofit consulting firm, is the author of Joan Garry’s Guide to Nonprofit Leadership, and was executive director of Glaad.