Does Having a Shrink on a Board Have a Positive Impact?

Boardwise Interview with Dr. Deb Carlins

How often have you either led a board or participated and felt defeated from the mission due to personality challenges? How often have you sat on a Board and felt alienated by the Chair of the Board or other members and not known how to manage the terrain for the benefit of the mission for the organization? Countless hours are literally wasted as well intended people get lost in the dynamics or interactions that rob an otherwise dynamic group from fabulous outcomes. In our Boardwise independent board evaluations, we often hear such issues from directors looking for improvements.

To explore this, Boardwise CEO, Donna Hamlin, interviewed Dr. Deb Carlins, a leading psychologist who works with boards as an observer and expert to offer ways to improve the working dynamics of boards.

Question: Deb, is your work with boards a luxury or is it a healthy necessity?

“There was a great book written that stands the test of time because it is so factually correct; You Can’t Afford The Luxury of A Negative Thought (McWilliams, 1994). In it, the author explains the vast array of outcomes that come alongside negative thinking. His works echoes mine wherein as an expert in human behavior, my training and skills encompass not just understanding the human dynamic but does so within a paradigm that assesses the total human being holistically. There are psychologists who specialize in group dynamics or personality assessments and neurolinguistic programming which are helpful but are only a sliver of what we are equipped to offer.

Taking a wholistic approach to understanding people means evaluating a list of essential characteristics that affect a positive group dynamic and allow for maximum efficiency and productive outcomes. For example, it is essential to know where board members are regarding issues with trust, faith, expectations of success, self-determination, fiscal comfort, work life integration, influence over their personal wellbeing, and mind body awareness. Each one of these factors offers everyone on the board insight into who they are and where they are developmentally and regarding their ability to genuinely serve – healthfully.“

Question: How does you work help with board director selection, group dynamics and director skills?

“For selection of directors, stop and consider how board members are chosen, vetted, onboarded. Where is there a goodness of fit assessment that is kind, respectful, reliable, and valid? To overlook this step, in exchange for who might be a financial contributor or political ally, or social influencer is to place the organization and the dynamic of the Board in a highly compromised position. My work prevents what can be expensive issues otherwise.

When you have an expert, the right kind of expert i.e., a genuine expert in the human condition, on your Board as a paid consultant to ensure your true north i.e., to give the organization a compass by which decisions, improvements, and effective progress can be evaluated, the ability to soar healthfully as a group enjoying the experience and the results shifts massively.

Question: What factors do you consider regarding director candidate fit for specific boards?

“Serving as a board member requires the management of listening to the why a person wants to serve. If it is first and foremost to boost their ego or resume, that is a disqualifier. The first desire must be expressed in their awareness of the mission and the goodness of the organization. Secondly, they must have an awareness of how they fit into the existing culture of the board. To join any group without clarity of the essentials is to invite trouble because effective decision-making processes will be compromised. Consider how often votes are delayed or meetings are drawn out due to dissension within the group. I work with both the board, directors and candidates to ensure the fit and outcomes are successful.

The authentic health and wellbeing of a board is vital. Conversations about disfunction spread quickly and can be the demise of what was conceived to be high performing. Based on Dr. Carlin’s work, the question is begged:  Can you afford not to have an exquisite Doctor of Psychology present to guide, quelle, advise, and protect the integrity of the mission?

Happy Holidays to All!