Podcast Episode 53: The pleasures and pains of trusteeship

The Pleasures and Pain of Trusteeship by Rodan Rennie If you have ever been involved with a charity or something similar, like a board of governors at the school or a community venture, you might have been approached, or you might one day be approached, to become a trustee. That will simply mean that you, along with your fellow trustees, have a duty of care over that organisation, as defined by whatever principles it has in its Articles of Association. I'm going to speak to you, therefore, about the pleasures and pain of trusteeship. I'm not sure how appropriate it is for me to be giving this podcast as I've only ever been a trustee of one organisation, the Lazy Leg Club Foundation. Nevertheless, I've been asked to give you a personal perspective, so here it is. Now before I begin, here's the important stuff. If you want to find out exactly what being a trustee is and what you need to do when you become one, don't listen to me. There is plenty of information out there for you to access. For example, I've got a downloadable document in front of me right now from the Charity Commission for England and Wales called The Essential Trustee, What You Need to Know, What You Need to Do. It's a very good guide and it's absolutely essential that you read something like this before you take on any type of trustee role. What is being a trustee like? In my opinion, it's a cross between being on a board of directors a company and being a parent. It's the former because you're responsible jointly with your fellow trustees for a legal entity and the latter because you're putting in time and effort for something you love without being paid and where the rewards are both intangible and potentially intense. Please don't become a trustee just because somebody you like has asked you to or because you think it will be good for your career. Both are okay by the way but they can't be the only reasons. I've seen people join for either reason alone and come unstuck. You'll need to have a genuine empathy for the organisation, including its mission and values, because I can guarantee that at some point it's going to give you some grief. So unless you identify with and consider its presence to be valuable, that's going to be a tough call. You'll also need to do some research, what you would otherwise need to call due diligence in order to make sure that the organisation that has invited you to become a trustee is properly run and has no horrible hidden secrets that are going to surprise you during your trusteeship. This Lindsay Lake Club Foundation, by the way, has none. When I joined, I attended the first few meetings there without really knowing what I was doing, but what struck me quite quickly was that there was far more passion about many of the topics that were being discussed than I had seen while on company management teams or even while discussing projects with clients. I was wondering why this was the case and then it suddenly struck me that the reason was obvious, money. When you leave profit at the door, what is left is a strong personal commitment to make what you do count. You have to use that horrible expression, skin in the game. That is why I experienced more heated arguments as a trustee than I had done most of the other times I'd spent at work. You are there rightly because you genuinely believe in the cause for you are a trustee. Of course that is most of the time one of the nice aspects of being a trustee but there are also some pitfalls. Being a trustee can be great fun. It can give you a focus and drive outside the range of activities you're normally involved in. It's something which is suitable for retired people who want to continue to offer their services now that they have more time to give but also younger people that want to mix things up a bit in their lives. but it's also a responsibility and with responsibility comes risk. Anyway, that's enough of that. Here's my very personal list of things to take on board when you take the responsibility on of being a trustee. One, leave your ego at home and listen. I have seen trustees become highly emotionally attached to their points of view and fail to listen to people who disagree with them. Remember that a board of trustees consists of lots of different people and the key is that consensus is negotiated as much as possible and when it is not achieved people must agree to differ. You will have a chair and vice-chair of the Board of Trustees who will hopefully assist in reaching consensus, but every individual must remember that we are in this venture together with all the other people on the board. It's surprisingly easy to forget this when you are advocating for an issue that you feel passionate about. 2. Under-promise and over-deliver rather than over-promise and under-deliver. People can get carried away in the early stages of their trusteeship or at board meetings only to realise that what they have committed to is really too much for them. You might be tempted to volunteer to do all sorts of things only to find out that your other priorities in life make it impossible to achieve them. When that happens the work doesn't get done and the organisation suffers. Often it is the main requirement of a trustee to just attend the board meetings, be they in person or remote, which may be quarterly for example. I would suggest that you start with that and then see how you get on for a year or so before taking on anything else. Three, if you're unhappy for whatever reason with being a trustee in the organisation that you're in, please don't stay on. You are not doing anyone any favours. This may be because you realise that it's taking up too much of your time or because you don't resonate with the organisation as much as you thought you would. By staying on, you're taking up a place that a more enthusiastic trustee could fill. There's no shame in trying something and realising that it doesn't work, but unlike many paid jobs, you can actually do something about it if you don't like it. Just hand in your notice according to the protocols of that particular organisation. And what about me during my six years as a trustee? Well to be honest I absolutely loved it and I'll tell you why. I love the organisation itself, a great charity, it's executive team too and it was great to be able from time to time to add my pre-existing skills to make a difference to it. I was able to expand my repertoire of activities and do things that I would not normally have had the chance to, write business plans for example, present work, meet and speak with volunteers and members, help set up displays, write articles both alone and with fellow trustees. I enjoyed the social side, the meetings and conferences and occasional travel. It benefited me professionally and added extra depth to my business when I had it. I told you that it was okay to do that, didn't I? I got to know and maintain friendships with many of the people I met during that time. So that's quite a lot of positives. And if you want to be on a board without being paid or be a parent without having to change nappies, I can think of many worse things to do, as long as the conditions are right for you, than to be a trustee. So I hope I didn't put you off too much. It's one of the most rewarding things that I've done in my working life. Thank you and good luck.