Post by George Everding

July 1 marked the start of CSI’s fiscal year. I hope my colleagues read and reflect upon William Sundquist’s valedictory address upon the conclusion of his eventful term of office as board chair, and Jarrod Mann’s inaugural message as board chair, posted the next day, which laid out in broad strokes his plan for his term. They deserve our thanks for their past and continuing service to CSI. Jarrod’s message was carefully crafted, well-intentioned, and sincere. Undoubtedly, he believes he struck the right rhetorical tone and produced satisfactory responses that addressed the major issues raised by membership. Unfortunately the language used, while creating the appearance of engagement, did not substantively address CSI’s existential crisis. If you compare the board chair’s message with the dialog by members in this forum and others, the disconnect is startling. It is as if the board and the members are talking past each other, instead of communicating with each other. That massive disconnect between what the membership is saying and what the board is hearing proves, per se, that there has been a fundamental failure in policy governance at CSI. I sent an email to each board member prior to their June 27 meeting. Here’s a summary of the key points and there is a link to the complete text of the email at the bottom for those who want to read further. ·      Under Carver Policy Governance, members of nonprofits are the moral owners of the organization. The board derives authority from membership and governs on membership’s behalf, translating the wishes of the members into organizational performance. ·      When members express widespread surprise, confusion, anger, distrust, and disillusionment over major strategic initiatives, that indicates the board has failed to maintain a trustworthy linkage (effective communication) with membership. ·      Members raised legitimate questions about the development of Crosswalk, Dynamic Standards, and CIN: whether risk assessments and market studies were realistic; whether stakeholder sentiment and market demand were properly assessed; whether executive leadership has been practicing effective management and prudent stewardship of CSI assets. ·      I urged the board members to begin the new fiscal year first by undertaking an honest, transparent, and comprehensive inquiry into the decisions, assumptions, expenditures, communications, and governance processes that led to the present controversy, then by making the appropriate changes to get us back on course. Membership’s wholesale loss of confidence in executive management is a critical governance matter requiring immediate and decisive board action to return CSI to a member-centered professional institute whose board understands that its authority flows from the membership and whose accountability flows back to that membership.    [Full letter: https://lnkd.in/gvdG7SaS ]