Our organizations have stories too, don’t they? Beyond bottom lines, programs, products and number of clients served, we have stories that define our organizations: the vision of the founder, the sacrifices of early employees, the commitment to serve customers well, the innovation that helped us scale up. When combined, our stories reflect our corporate identity. Right now, we are all living in the middle of a new story, the Coronavirus Global Pandemic Story. What is your version of the Coronavirus story?

News channels and financial experts are hard at work. 24/7 we are constantly bombarded with Coronavirus financial chatter. All of this electronic clatter can easily clutter the mind of organizational leaders. If we’re not careful, we find ourselves monitoring the chorus of global and national speculation, rather than focusing on the financial essentials of our own enterprise.

There is an essential word in the field of emergency medicine. The word is triage. “Triage (verb)—the process of determining urgency and priority of treatment based upon the severity of condition and the likelihood of recovery with and without treatment.”

Did you get the memo? Is your organization’s version of the Great Recession completely over? Have you fully recovered? Are you now operating in your new version of normal?

Here is what I believe. The board is responsible for the mission, vision and over-arching plans of your organization. Those elected to the board answer a call to be stewards of the organization’s purpose, health and effectiveness. Board members must remember the weight and responsibility of the moral duty they bear, the work they oversee and the talents entrusted to them. The board has an essential role in organizational impact.

Tis’ the season for resolutions. Well, not quite. It’s a tad too early for most of us. The truth of the matter is, in a manner similar to our last minute Christmas scurry, we often feel compelled to cobble together a quick list of New Year’s Resolutions. Call it resolution peer pressure, the bandwagon of good intentions or the guilt of things left undone. We “rush to resolution” sometime between December 30th and January 2nd.

It was 1974 in my college dorm room.  We were watching one of the first episodes of Saturday Night Live. Gilda Radner played a character...

Select the answer that best describes your board.

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