“Bylaws, Schmylaws!”If you thumbed through my well-worn copy of
The Culturally Conscious Board, you’d likely comment,
“John! You’ve underlined something on almost every page!”That’s right. The publisher should have packaged a highlighter and a pen with each book. With just 134 pages (no filler!),
this book absolutely changed my thinking about board governance.
Really. If you serve on a board, or plan to, this is a must-read:
Leveraging the story of Crystal, a new board member at her first meeting of the fictitious City Farm board, the authors invite us inside this dysfunctional boardroom. (
What? There are dysfunctional boards?) Every chapter begins with this continuing story of boardroom confusion, chaos, and a commonplace culture.
Along the way, the authors poke, prod, and coach using real-life boardroom conflicts. • “How dare she? Doesn’t she know you aren’t supposed to speak at your first board meeting?”
• The City Farm board’s cardinal rule was even more rigid:
“Thou shalt not speak as a new board member for at least six meetings.” • “When your table culture can be reduced to the sum of all the minutes, roll calls, old business and seconded motions, then that is the only level of consciousness your board expects of itself.”
• “Routine lulls into inattention. The trivial and critical get equal time.”
At one disastrous board meeting, Phil, the board chair, shockingly orders Crystal: “Calm down!” The authors add, “Phil had picked the wrong night to go parental on her. As he continued to mansplain the merits of the deal and what so-and-so said and to whom, Crystal retreated internally to have a meeting with both her tongue and her temper.”
The storytelling and the writing is superb—exceeded only by the depth of this important topic: the culturally conscious board.
Jukanovich and West, both experienced leaders and board coaches, write, “We think of
consciousness as a
heightened focus provoked by our surroundings and experiences, enabling us to predict and participate with integrity in the world around us.”
This week, I emailed several experienced nonprofit leaders and consultants—and confessed that had I read this book years ago, my standard response on questions about “boardroom diversity” would have been dramatically different.
This book changed my thinking. It’s never too late to change, right?Bruce McNicol recommended I read
The Culturally Conscious Board. I trust his judgment, but I wondered if this was just one more book on all things DEI. (
Companies are now rethinking diversity, equity, and inclusion.) But then I was reminded about
my favorite quote from Charlie Munger (1924-2023),
“I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything unless I know the other side’s argument better than they do.” The authors—gently and persuasively—enriched my thinking and my worldview on what they call “Conscious Culture,”
what’s ON the table (agenda, minutes, budget, and strategy) versus “Unconscious Culture,”
what’s OFF the table (dependencies, triangles, groupthink, and gatekeeping).
What’s at stake? “Boards operate at half capacity when only at the transactional level that conscious culture tends to provide…” The authors note, “Boards operate at deep capacity governance, driven by a view of integrity that includes all that is conscious (mentionable) and unconscious (unmentionable).”
Who should read this book? Jukanovich and West describe their audience: “So, whether you:
• are a fumbling, eagle-eyed start-up,
• said yes but are unsure where to start,
• will ever get the chance to attend a board training event,
•
are a seasoned board member suddenly in the hot seat, • wonder if you are doing any good by sitting in late-night meetings, bickering over a dollar,
• are tired of constantly being the guest in a story that doesn’t appreciate yours,
we say, this book is written for you.”
With wisdom and wit, the authors describe the problem of boardroom dysfunction and mediocre outcomes—but they don’t leave us hanging. Crystal’s story leads us into
“The Board Placemat”—a very helpful one-pager focused on “Five Essential Conversations” and fleshed out over five meaty chapters on Identity, Intention, Impact, Invitation, and Investment. (
Click here to download the placemat.)
Download “The Board Placemat” tool from the authors’ website and discern when and how to use these convicting 25 true-or-false questions at future board meetings and board retreats.“The Board Placemat” features five true-or-false questions for each of the five must-have conversations at your boardroom table. Each chapter dives deeper. Examples:IDENTITY:• “We make time to hear board members’ personal stories.” (True or false?)
• “What are the marks of heroes your organization celebrates?”
•
“Who does your board turn to during hard conversations?"INTENTION• “We are convinced our theory of change makes a difference." (True or false?)
•
“Could you draw your theory of change on a napkin…?”• “…is everyone clear about what must be measured and why?”
INVITATION• “We glean stakeholder feedback to lift our cultural blindfolds.” (True or false?)
•
“How is the executive session used to ensure everyone has an opportunity to use their voice?”• “How do you understand ‘diverse’ candidate pools? What voices are missing from the table?”
INVESTMENT•
“We model our missional engagement by participating financially.” (True or false?)
• “A board that has 100% member giving is the gold standard. How does your board encourage this?”
IMPACT• “We harvest learning after events, milestones, fails and wins.” (True or false?)
• “Notice what your board celebrates and when.”
•
“What are the feedback loops in the strategic planning process, as well as in board meetings?”One of the more engaging conflicts in the book centered on a board assignment. “In this story, there were rumblings from the community about how decisions were really made. The leader forced an uncomfortable conversation on a divided board.
He put the matter on the table by requiring all board members to read a book together. All would be invited to respond. This is where things got a bit messy.” (
You’ll need to read this yourself, so no spoiler alert.)
Jukanovich and West note, “…it’s not the mentionable that cause the most problems. It’s rather the unmentionable aspects of unconscious culture that strengthen and weaken in their influence as long as they remain unnamed.” They add,
“Wouldn’t you want to know where denial or negligence has caused culture to be a liability?”I’ve always sought to inspire boards to be
lifelong learners and to
delegate their reading by inviting one board member per meeting to spotlight a board governance book. So…I loved that board chair’s assignment (but not the conflict that ensured!).
Now I have a problem! For
ECFA’s governance blog, I wrote short reviews of
“18 Best Board Books.” Now, I should probably edit those with two options:
•
Option #1: Read 18 “Best Board Books” and add #19,
The Culturally Conscious Board.
•
Option #2: Skip the first 18 and just read
The Culturally Conscious Board.
You’ll find practical alignment between
The Culturally Conscious Board and other board books and training experiences. Examples:
• “Humility’s path requires attention and courage. It requires conflict even. Humility anticipates it can be wrong.” (
See Book #18).
• On the critical role of the board chair, “These instances can sometimes resemble hostage situations, where the emotional tone of the group is dictated by the angriest or saddest person present. In these moments, true leadership is required." (
See Book #12.)
• Note:
Bob Andringa endorsed this book and his governance books also align with
The Culturally Conscious Board. (
See Book #10.)
• And…what a delight, as part of the color commentary on integrating values, to read of the authors’ appreciation for the values in
Joy at Work, by Dennis Bakke (Book #21 in
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books and my 2006 book-of-the-year).
In 134 pages, there’s not much space for theoretical musings. You’ll appreciate that and much more. The authors comment,
“We learned of a board chair who remarked, ‘bylaws, schmylaws’ upon being questioned about financial discrepancies in staff reports.” Hence, they recommend helpful tools for what they call the board’s
only job: to make decisions.
I know my friend and coauthor,
Dan Busby (1941-2022) would have loved
The Culturally Conscious Board. Our book,
ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board, will also be helpful when you’re ready to focus on putting the “unmentionables” on the table.
Examples: •
Tool #2: Board Nominee Suggestion Form (Avoid the “Friend of a Friend of Cousin Eddie Syndrome”)
•
Tool #5: The Board’s Annual Self-Assessment Survey (Look in the Mirror!)
Did I mention that this book changed my thinking? You won’t forget the metaphors, the helpful charts, and the zingers: mama’s bread, spinach, mirrors, parking lot politicking, revolving-door recruitment stories, tokenized checklists, and this: “As the saying goes, people do not quit jobs; they quit managers.
We would add: they quit cultures too.”TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for
The Culturally Conscious Board: Setting the Boardroom Table for Impact, by Jennifer M. Jukanovich and Russell W. West. And thanks to the authors for sending me a review copy.
BONUS: Click here to listen to (or read) the “On Board” podcast interview with Jennifer Jukanovich. And
click here for several short videos with co-author Russell West (on LinkedIn).
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:1) The authors of
The Culturally Conscious Board write that “A board that has 100% member giving is the gold standard.” (I agree…but I encourage boards to inspire board members with a
platinum standard:
“Generous Giving.” Here, a board member affirms he or she has prioritized their giving so the organization is one of the “Top-3” recipients for the board member's annual giving. For more details, download “
Tool #21: Board Member Annual Affirmation Statement.” (Note: It's not about wealth. Board members of any income bracket can do this.)
What's our board's policy on board member generosity?2) Here’s a link to short reviews of “
18 Best Board Books.”
What’s the best book your board has read—together—in the last 12 months? Is lifelong learning a staff and board priority? Here’s an idea: “Invest ‘10 Minutes for Governance’ in Every Board Meeting.” (
Read Lesson 39, Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom.”)
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books
Part 16: Keys to Memorable Speaking and Writing
Book #90 of 100: Keys to Great WritingFor your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by featuring Book #90 in
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
Keys to Great Writing:
(Revised and Expanded)
Mastering the Elements of Composition and Revision
by Stephen Wilbers
Books #87 through #91 spotlight five memorable books to enrich your speaking and writing competencies. According to Stephen Wilbers, “Level 4” writing (the best) is “to write with such extraordinary insight and beauty that people will be reading what I have written one hundred years from now.” (How about…a week from now?)
• Order from
Amazon:
Keys to Great Writing •
Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson).
The author's five keys to great writing will surprise you: Economy, Precision, Action, Music, and Personality. Hum along: “One of the most important things you can do to sharpen your style is to reawaken yourself to the sound of your words, to tune your ears to the rhythm and cadence and flow of your language. It is in this context that you should ask, How can I make this music more pleasing to my readers? What techniques can I learn from accomplished writers? What techniques can I discover on my own?”
CLICK HERE FOR BOOKS BY JOHN
Issue No. 658 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Oct. 3, 2025) features a new book coming Oct. 7—describing the four seasons of a CEO. The “...