Organizing our ideas and actions in terms of organizational obligations

 We view the world through a cultural lens. One of the challenges that we are faced with in European social culture is the tendency to segregate, separate, individualize experiences and ideas that, as a result, decontextualizes them. This results in social disaffection and spiritual disconnection from our actual interdependence. One place we see this is with community members, in particular, serving on boards. This is not exclusive to or true of all board members who are community members. It can be true of board members from corporate backgrounds also.

Organizational management theory suggests that board members have three duties to the organization they serve. They are the duty of care, the duty of loyalty and the duty of obedience. These requirements are in relation to the organization's mission.  This does not require us to abandon or neglect other organizational commitments that we may have with other groups due to these duties. But it does mean that we are obligated to understand and identify the interests that we are called upon to serve. Once it is clear that there is a conflict or there may be an appearance of a conflict, the board member is obligated to declare or disclose the situation.  

The duty of care requires us to use our best thinking and best effort to care for and to ensure the organizations health. This includes the fiduciary responsibility of board members to ensure the financial health of the organization by fundraising, personally donating or just using your best judgment in financial matters. It also asks that we use our relationships and resources to the benefit of the organization.

The duty of loyalty speaks to our serving the interests of the organization when we are functioning in our role as a board member. This includes the concept of "conflict of interest." We often are required to choose between different options by weighing the impact or consequences resulting from the potential or projected/expected outcomes of our choices. The duty of loyalty requires you as a board member to make those choices with the intent to benefit the organization on whose board you serve and on whose behalf you are acting. When, inevitably, you are faced with making choices where you have more than one interest or relationship represented and impacted by your choice, you as a board member are required, based on your duty of loyalty, to disclose the actual or apparent conflict. Your role may or may not be restricted due to this situation but disclosure and transparency is required to make others aware of the situation.

The duty of obedience reaffirms that the voice and brain of the organization is the collective will and collective decisions of the board. While individual board members are called upon to bring their talent, spend their time and share their treasure to promote the mission of the organization, it is within the context of individual board members contributing to the collective board process for decision making. Once the board makes a decision it becomes the will of the organization and board members have them duty of obedience to abide by that collective will. If you feel you  cannot submit to and comply with the decision of the board, you should step down and step aside from the board. If you are not willing to abide by and be obedient to the will of the board express by their collective decision, they should/could remove you.

While this is nonprofit management principles and practices it is based on a core of ideas, ethics and values that are relevant to a much wider range of life circumstances.

 

 
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