Leading Boards Mentor New Directors
Onboard and engage new board members
Who This Is For
Board buddies, mentors, and advocates*
The Aim
Instill confidence and clarify unwritten rules of the board to empower new board members to make their best contributions.
Take Action
- Make a good mentoring match
- Onboard the business and the board interpersonal dynamics
- Prep for meetings with them, so they are ready to contribute, and coach through challenges that may arise from entering a new environment
- Support informal engagement with other board members
Benefits
Mentoring new board members can accelerate their ability to make meaningful contributions to the board. This encourages the board to evolve their practices to support learning and development, consequently becoming more effective.
Why It Matters
Successful board work requires cohesion and difference*; yet automatic dynamics often favor the status quo which may especially exclude people from historically marginalized groups*. These steps can provide a strong foundation - and can be used for any new board member.
*Advocate: A person who proactively and intentionally seeks to support another’s participation in the group.
*Difference: For the purpose of this playbook, difference is used as a term to identify that all people in a boardroom have varying backgrounds and identities.
*Historically Marginalized Groups: These groups are defined by historic, systemic, and ongoing (current) discrimination and oppression to the “margins” of society.
Learn more about advocates in the glossary.