The Ontarget Board Member

A book review.

The Ontarget Board Member

8 Indisputable Behaviors

by by Michael Conduff, Carol Gabanna, Catherine Raso

published: 2008.02.28

ISBN: 9780979487514

genre: Business (Management)

reviewed:2016.05.08

This book sets out to explain the necessary behaviors of a board member through a fictional account of someone joining a board with a set of problems and a certain way of dealing with things. Unfortunately, in the telling it falls into the problem of things being already too pat and unrealistically smooth once the newbie learns the ropes. I found this so distracting that I couldn't really absorb the lessons. It didn't help that the two non-profit boards I was on at the time were a) largely dysfunctional and b) doing hands-on work but not governing. I found it impossible to connect my experience and the severe challenges those boards faced with what the book was attempting to convey.

At the time I was involved in an organization with many senior parties with a lot to teach about governance and a lot to share about their experience. They directed me to other sources - primary article-sized pieces on the Internet. As an example there is a series of articles titles "20 Questions Directors Should Ask..."