Bringing Personal Accountability on Board

Increasing personal accountability is probably the most effective way to enhance the performance of board members. Here are a few suggestions.
by James E. Klusman | Foundation News and Commentary

"Life's a lot more fun when you're not responsible for your actions." So says Calvin, in the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes, as he explains to Hobbes why he believes our destinies are determined by the stars. In that comic strip, cartoonist Bill Watterson reminds us of one side of human nature: Life can be much more fun when we believe we're accountable to no one.

If there's a little bit of Calvin in all of us, serving on a board—especially a large one—presents opportunities to appear to be governing while avoiding accountability. In their 1996 Harvard Business Review article, "The New Work of the Nonprofit Board," Barbara E. Taylor, Richard P. Chait and Thomas P. Holland wrote, "Board membership generally carries little personal accountability." As a result, the authors claim that "individual board members may not bring themselves fully to the task of governance."