In two previous articles on collaborative leadership (see August 26 and October 21, 2011 issues,) we explored the importance of boards and associations collaborating and sharing resources to create innovation and meet member needs.
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In a series of national ‘Futures’ discussions, leaders are exploring today’s landscape for real estate professionals and their clients, and the direction in which the profession may be heading. Many say the profession is just ‘treading water’ rather than thriving. Boards and associations across Canada are talking about the impact our current style of governance has on our ability to make the quantum leap of change needed to do more than just survive.
Volunteers ask how they might fit into a changing governance structure.
REALTORS® and Brokers, as members of Boards of Directors, set direction and evaluate how well staff achieves results. A Director’s most important job is good governance. How do you make this a better world for all REALTORS®?
Boards of Directors are volunteer leaders who must be involved in visioning and oversight, but not directly in operations which affect the design, development and delivery of programs. That’s the model at REBGV and it has worked well for members over the past 15 years or more.
Directors establish a vision and set goals for three to seven years out – not just for tomorrow. Looking ahead, they need to explore how we work with regulators, brokers, franchisors, and other boards and associations differently to achieve a better reality for all members.
Directors explore whether our current model of electing people serves us well. Has it served us well over the past 50 years? How did we get to treading water? Across Canada, some say we got here through the governance models that exist at most boards and associations today. Through not sharing resources. Through each organization spending the same money on the same bodies of work – separately. Through not working together across boards and associations.
Volunteer structures must face constant turnover, with busy professionals volunteering to participate on Boards of Directors for one- and two-year terms. Inherited over time, Boards of Directors still function with the belief that they’re elected by their members and therefore only think of their members in decision-making instead of the profession as a whole. We need to consider the impact of our decisions on all REALTORS® – provincially, regionally and nationally. Local thinking in a global world leads to inefficient use of costly resources.
Volunteer leaders need opportunities to learn other skills, new ways of thinking, and leadership innovations from other industries and professions that are thriving today. This takes time, commitment, and money.
Today’s governance structure, for many real estate boards and associations, also involves committees through which members are formally involved in board operations. While member input is fundamentally important, the formality of the committee structure can impede agility of decision-making. It can also lead to operational decisions being made without the input of subject experts.
Member input will always be paramount. An organization cannot provide excellent service unless it knows what its members need and want. It is critical to continue to get feedback from REALTORS® on the street as well as the REALTOR® leader who governs the organization.
However, a governance structure that involves members through task forces and focus groups is both more agile – you don’t have to wait for scheduled committee meetings with formal agendas and subsequent Director approvals on operational matters – and more responsive to members today who want to be involved but are not willing to attend monthly half-day committee meetings at the board.
Volunteers are fundamentally important to the health of a professional association. They contribute via peer-to-peer review in business practices. They’re ambassadors for the profession. They’re spokespeople for the profession. We’ve been fortunate to benefit from visionary leaders, and mavens who advocate for all things good in real estate.
REALTORS® and staff partner to build the future. There are some fundamental questions for all of us. Do we want our staff spending large portions of their time preparing for and attending committee meetings or do we want them participating in building the future? And do we want volunteer input restricted by committee structures or are we willing to explore alternatives?
