Finding the keeping the most productive board members possible is not just a matter of luck or connections.
During the 2104 Association of Healthcare Professionals (AHP) international conference, Theresa Pesch, president of the Children’s Foundation of the Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, presented a list of sample questions to ask during interviews for chair or vice chair of a board. The questions provide a model by which to refine the interview and personalize it for each board member.
The questions are:
- How and why did you initially become involved in the organization and choose to become involved in the board?
- As you look ahead in the next several years in which the board gains its footing, what do you see as its priorities?
- How do you see deepening board member engagement?
- How do you plan to engage other board members?
- What do you see as the board’s challenges?
- What is needed to ensure its success?
- As you are introducing people to the organization, what types of concerns, objections or questions are you hearing?
- What is needed from staff to ensure the organization’s success?
- What is the impact of philanthropy on our organization?
- What is the vision for the organization board?
- How do you envision the organization’s foundation board intersecting with the organization’s corporate board?
- When thinking about the board, what will success look like to you?
- More specifically, what do you see as the components of a successful board meeting?
- Do you have a particular area or passion when it comes to either the industry your organization serves or the organization?
