Board Service

I recently joined the board of Wabash County Habitat for Humanity. This is my first board seat. I read a book on governance beforehand because I wanted to understand the gap between showing up and being useful. Most board members mean well but do not prepare. They treat board service like attendance. They read the packet in the car and ask questions already answered in the financial statements. I have watched this destroy trust in small increments.

The board governs and the staff manages. Simple until you see a problem you know how to fix. The temptation to just do it yourself is strong. That is not the job. Doing the work yourself undermines the person you hired to do it. I am learning to ask: is this governance or management? If it is management, note it and move on.

Young people on boards overcompensate by talking too much. We want to prove we belong. The advice is simple and hard: listen more than you speak. When you do speak, be brief and specific. I prepare one substantive contribution per meeting. Not three. Just one. If the conversation moves past it, fine. There is power in not needing to fill silence.

Board service is not a credential. It is a responsibility. Sloppy governance has real consequences. I do not want to be the young person tolerated because of potential. I want to be the member people rely on because I prepared.