I’ve been most fortunate in my travels, having encountered (and provided services to) many condo directors over the years who’ve earned my respect and admiration because of their selflessness and untiring efforts on behalf of their communities. They are an inspiration to their communities, and in return they are frequently misunderstood, often under-appreciated, and usually unpaid.
Sadly, there are the others, the ones who provide the stark contrasts: those directors who can only be described as disruptive, uncooperative, too hands-on, too hands-off, too suspicious, too hostile…the list goes on and on. But prolonging this negativity is an exercise in futility. (Think of an AGM at which the Board bemoans the “10% of the residents who cause 90% of the problems.” It’s a safe bet, as we all know, that those 10% are not in attendance to hear and learn. That kind of futility.)
Instead, let’s approach this positively. Here are the Three Cs:
- Care
- Concern
- Co-operation.
Specific expertise is always nice (accountants, lawyers, management industry types, engineers, etc.) but these professionals are not always available to the community. Even if they are, there’s no substitute for the Three Cs.
Care: So basic it seems unnecessary to even mention it: a Board member has to care about the community in which he or she serves.
I have a scoop for you: it’s not so basic. I’ve come across condo directors who care about everything except the community: the ones who try to win the most arguments, do the most micro-managing, seldom or never show up at meetings, bad-mouth their fellow Board members, cause tension or even upheaval, take private Board business public, waste time at meetings…whew!
Caring, on the other hand, means understanding and responding to the requirements of the owners/residents; taking note of the community’s physical appearance and encouraging the other residents to do likewise; spending the corporation’s funds wisely etc. I’m certain there are Board members out there who could add several other valid examples, but you get the point.
Concern: Sounds like “care,” doesn’t it? What I mean is, concern defined as due diligence. There are always going to be issues about which the Board has to be concerned: the cost of utilities; spotty landscaping; reserve fund adequacy; maintenance problems; adherence to budget; non-compliance by unit owners and tenants; others you can name by the dozens.
A Board member needs to constantly revisit the areas of communications, cost-savings, operations, accountability, safety, and finance. These issues will vary in importance from one condominium community to another, but each facet will be of at least some relevance, and being mindful of this how the Board can best serve the community.
Also, how many Board members have taken a director’s course, such as those offered by the CCI, or attended a condo conference, like the National CCI/ACMO Conference? That’s what I mean by “showing some concern.” The best Board member is an educated one.
Co-operation: Again, something that seems so basic and self-explanatory. And yet, there are so many stories…
The fact is, a Board whose members don’t co-operate with one another may as well resign en masse. The inability or unwillingness to overcome differences and work together creates inertia, or worse yet, hostility. Or a lame-duck status that is unavoidably detrimental to the condominium community.
This does not mean to imply that a Board member will always agree with the other directors. That would be a first. But as I noted above, it’s vital to overcome these differences for the greater good. And that doesn’t mean through clenched teeth. It means establishing a working relationship that accounts for, deals with, reconciles, and overcomes conflicts as a matter of routine.
I know from personal experience that some Board members can seem impossible to work with. In that case, it is mandatory that the other directors recognize the problem and actively confront it. Inaction, on the vague hope that the issues will “work themselves out,” almost never works. In fact, it can aggravate the situation because silence is frequently interpreted by the renegade director as approval.
I’ve worked with many Boards over the years. The most effective of them, by far, are those who embrace theThree Cs.