Changing the Role of the Executive Committee

Yesterday, I held my first executive committee meeting for 2010. The primary goal for this meeting was to set a tone for the year and communicate some of the initiatives that I would like to see us tackle.

Past chairs have used their executive committees in several different ways. Some held frequent meetings, while others met annually to discuss personnel issues. My predecessor, Dr. Tim Chirpich, set up his executive committee as a sort of financial review committee. We met quarterly to review budgetary issues. This was very effective. There were some tough discussions that led to some better accounting practices, board communication and realistic review of revenue and expenses.

This year, I will be asking quite a bit from my executive committee. Many of the issues I want to tackle this year involve many changes.  And, we all know how well change goes over. To be most effective, I realize that it will be important to pick the right battles, and be very purposeful in communicating priorities. So, I will be looking to the executive committee to be my first filter for ideas and actions.

I was certainly pleased with the meeting,  and given the feedback during and after the meeting,  it seemed like my teammates agreed.

As I looked around the table, I felt very good about the leaders that joined me. Here’s my executive team for the year:

• Pat Searcy, Power-On Technologies, Chair-Elect
• Pat Ertz, Public Water District #2, Treasurer
• Shawna Burns, Commerce Bank & Trust Co., Secretary
• Dr. Tim Chirpich, Raytown Gregory Animal Health Clinic, Immediate Past Chair
• Rev. Dawn Weaks, Raytown Christian Church, At-Large Member
• Ken Blom, Stafford Development Corporation, At-Large Member
• Bill Rabius, 55 Raytown Partners, LLC., At-Large Member

The first four folks on this list are selected by a nominating committee and approved by the board and the membership. The last three, at-large members are my selection. These are non-voting members who are meant to be advisors to me as the chair and the rest of the committee. Given our discussion last night, I feel confident that I made some good choices.

I have identified three higher-level initiatives that I want to take on this year. I am SO anxious to share these with you and get started. However, I first needed to lay out these plans to the executive committee. Then, I will be presenting them at the board retreat in December and then the world (or anyone who will listen).

We’ll be meeting monthly in advance of every board meeting to discuss issues related to the organizations structure and prepare for effective board meeting each month.

Next post: “Changing the Questions We Ask”

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