It is difficult to deal with individuals who are determined not to play by the rules. These individuals are angry for one or more reasons. They want
- things done their way
- someone out of office
- to reduce the tension in their own system and the board room is a safe venue.
How do boards deal with such individuals? They can
- ‘get through’ the term and refuse to offer them another term of office
- review the rules with them on a one-on-one basis and trust that their team behaviour will improve
- enforce policies to remove them from their boards
- openly confront those members during a board meeting
- hope these people leave of their own volition when they realize that they are not going to control the board
- engage in team building exercises, or
- use alternate dispute resolution techniques to resolve the issue with the whole board present.
There are only three real choices. Boards can put up with the behaviour, deal with the behaviour or let the other board members decide whether they can continue to deal with the tension and stress. If they cannot, they could resign.
The key is that it is essential for each board to decide on the strategy that will work for it, create a plan that contains contingencies, and to set the parameters needed to ensure the plan is well executed.
