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It explains how the League prepares and develops leaders through recruitment, orientation, and succession planning, reframing board service from a “chore” into an “opportunity.” The text highlights common board problems such as attendance, preparedness, and unproductive criticism, then proposes structured steps including rebuilding clarity of the board role, strengthening nominations, and setting transparent expectations and time commitments for candidates.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/","Template",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/letters/","Letters",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/what-it-means-to-be-a-board-member/179590/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/what-it-means-to-be-a-board-member/179590.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Putri","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/octet-stream","2026-10-22","2026-09-02",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why is the board position considered so important in the League?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The board is ultimately responsible and accountable for what the League does and does not do, including community benefit, acceptable behavior standards, and adequate funding.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What board problems does the document describe?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Many board members do not attend meetings, show up unprepared, and have little to add beyond criticism, which can lead to quorum difficulties.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What solutions does the document propose to improve board development?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It recommends reframing leadership from a “chore” to an “opportunity” and incorporating succession planning through clear role understanding, stronger recruitment and orientation, a better nominations process, and clear candidate expectations.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},179590,1790388767,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,93,98,103,108,113,117,122],{"id":55,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Presentations",90,"presentations",{"id":89,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":90,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":92},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":94,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":99,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":104,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":109,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":114,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},18,30,"letters",{"id":118,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":123,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":125},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":127},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":128,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":129,"doc_module":22,"category_id":114,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":130,"file_id":131,"file_url":132,"file_type":133,"file_size":134,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":135,"language":136,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":137,"faqs":138,"seo_title":139,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":140,"read_time":141},962085571259,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","\u000fIntroduction\n“I owe it all to the League of Women Voters”, Mrs. Margaret Bradburn.  Shady Grove, Oregon\nI spent most of my adult life in the “boonies,” hours from the nearest city. It was a sheltered existence and most residents there did not have a concept of the real world. As a local activist, my dream was to someday join the League of Women Voters.  When my husband retired, we moved to Shady Cove on the Rogue River. Our first month in Oregon, now four years ago, I joined the Rogue Valley LWV. I was in awe of the accomplishments of the women I met at that meeting. I felt like a little kid who was allowed to play with the big kids.\nBefore long, I participated in two studies. One was Citizen Involvement in Land Use Decisions and the other was the two-year Homeless Youth Study. I spent months interviewing city officials about Citizen Advisory Committees and school officials, counselors and youth on homelessness. My eyes were finally opened to the real world.\nLate last summer, I decided to run for city council because I knew the issues from League programs and from reporting. I won the election. Reflecting back, I remembered sitting on the dais interviewing the Shady Cove City Administrator for the League, never dreaming I would one day sit there in an official capacity. Without the League of Women Voters, I would not be where I am today. I can’t say enough about the importance of the League especially with the complex issues facing this country today such as education, immigration and more. Thank you League!\nWe all know how powerful the League can be in impacting our personal lives, how important it can be to strengthening our leadership skills and how vital it is in making a genuine difference in our communities on the issues we care about!  It is with that spirit and pride, that we encourage Nominating Committees to offer the opportunities for leadership service within the League to candidates for board positions!\nAnother  Story….\nWe are a small, poor local League.  No one good will want to sit on our board.  So we will take who we can get. Once those people are on the Board, we can’t demand much of them, because they are just volunteers.  We can’t ask them for a letter of commitment, for example, or require that they be at meetings, because they are busy people.  And we certainly would never demand that they read their board materials and be prepared before meetings!\nWe are having board problems.  Many board members don’t show up for meetings. When they do show up, they are not prepared. They have nothing to add except criticize.\nWe’re losing a lot of our board members.  Sometimes we can’t even get a quorum.  Where can we recruit that we can get good board members this time?\nIf this sounds familiar, you're not alone, and there are solutions! Solutions are found in reframing how we offer League leadership (from a “chore” to an “opportunity”) and in incorporating succession planning into the work of the League.  They include four important steps:\nThe Board must relearn what it means to be a board and relearn what their job is within that role.\nThe Board must institute a strong recruitment and orientation process.  Replacing the \"woe is me\" approach with an approach that shares enthusiasm for all the great developmental opportunities for new leaders, as this will help strengthen their League’s ability to do great things.\nBuild a strong Nominating Committee that remembers how much the League has meant to their own personal lives and brings people in with that energy.\nBe clear with candidates about the expectations and time commitments for serving on a League board.  And be flexible enough to create opportunities for people to serve who have limited time and offer differing talents to the Board team.\nAll of us have been told that the Nominating Committee is the most powerful committee of any board. Annually, this committee selects directors and, usually, officers as well. Yet, within many organizations, a closer examination of ","cbCaisQWxknSWhCb","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisQWxknSWhCb","doc",208896,26,"English","# Introduction\n# Reframing Board Leadership as an Opportunity\n# Four Steps for Building Strong League Boards\n# Rethinking the Nominating Committee’s Power\n# What it Means to Be a Board Member","[{\"question\":\"Why is the board position considered so important in the League?\",\"answer\":\"The board is ultimately responsible and accountable for what the League does and does not do, including community benefit, acceptable behavior standards, and adequate funding.\"},{\"question\":\"What board problems does the document describe?\",\"answer\":\"Many board members do not attend meetings, show up unprepared, and have little to add beyond criticism, which can lead to quorum difficulties.\"},{\"question\":\"What solutions does the document propose to improve board development?\",\"answer\":\"It recommends reframing leadership from a “chore” to an “opportunity” and incorporating succession planning through clear role understanding, stronger recruitment and orientation, a better nominations process, and clear candidate expectations.\"}]","What it Means to Be a Board Member | DOC",1788337474,9]