Many First Nation organizations have created Boards and other structures to carry out their work. In this article, I will describe the six most important responsibilities of every board.

Baseball great Yogi Berra once said "You got to be careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there."

The same could be said about Boards. They need to have a clear sense of direction and purpose. Without a clear purpose, Boards have a tendency to wander.

One way to develop a clear purpose is to draft (or redraft) a mission statement. A mission statement is basically a document that defines the organization’s reason for existing. It answers the question "Why are we here?"

We’ve all seen more than our fair share of weak mission statements. Often, they are unclear and uninspiring. Remember this: a good mission statement should be clear, simple and it should provide focus and direction. To develop one, you need a few good wordsmiths and some facilitation.

Next, you need to develop a plan on how you will fulfill your mission. This long-term plan should address several realities. Obvious considerations should be that you are going to need time and resources to develop capacity and overcome many obstacles.

I have seen far too many First Nations spend too much money to develop strategic plans that they never used. Usually, an outside consultant is paid big bucks to put this plan together. The problem, I think, is that some consultants become too focused on generating a product, their glossy report. A more appropriate focus might be to facilitate or assist the Board with the planning process. This makes me think of Eisenhower’s famous words: "Plans are nothing; planning is everything."

First Nation Boards are often made up of volunteers. Many board members have full time commitments besides their volunteer duties. Thus, Boards often need to hire someone else to execute their plan.

Hiring the "right" executive may be the most important decision a Board can make.

My suggestion is to find someone with a track record of being able to deliver, to execute. If you have confidence in your senior manager’s ability to perform, Board work can be very rewarding. Not having the right senior manager can make board work very cumbersome.

Many First Nations place a high priority on hiring their own members. I fully support that approach. However, I’ve seen some local senior managers who were "way over their heads" with their jobs. These situations usually do nobody any good, including the senior manager.

As a rule, the bigger your budget the more important it is to hire the best manager that you can afford.

Also note that if you do hire externally, you can take steps to have your senior executive transfer his skills to a community member. This is one way to build internal management capacity.

Now that you’ve hired your top-gun, you’re ready to tackle your long-term plan. However, your long-term strategy is usually a monumental assignment. It’s better to break this long-term project into smaller, do-able tasks. Thus, you need to develop some short-term goals. One- year plans are usually a good place to start. Ask yourself, "What do we want to accomplish this year?"

Short-term planning should be done with your senior executive. You may also want other senior managers involved if they have good planning skills. Involving your senior staff in the short-term planning process makes good sense. Just make sure that they understand and support your long-term objectives.

Note that your short-term objectives should relate with your long-term strategy. This may seem obvious. But the reality is that many organizations start out in one direction but end up heading in another. One reason this happens is that some organizations go after government funding that is not exactly "up their alley." These kinds of organizations may end up serving funding agents more than they serve their own mission.

If you have hired people to carry out your work, you will need to ensure that they are heading in the right direction.

The best way to monitor your progress is by having a clear and constructive relationship with your senior manager. Also, have regular boards meetings to chart your progress. And make sure that your board meetings are properly structured. There’s nothing more demoralizing than going to a board meeting that was "a waste of time."

Finally, Boards need to evaluate their own performance. This step is critical because it provides an excellent opportunity to refocus the organization and correct any things that need fixing.

Often these evaluations are done during retreats or weekend meetings. At these meetings, it may be beneficial to have an outsider facilitate such a session.

Other evaluations are more comprehensive. They may entail site visits, personal interviews, and reviewing financial statements or other reports. Like the retreats, these organizational reviews may require the assistance of outside support.

Undoubtedly, Boards often do more than the six steps mentioned above. However, these six steps are critical. These steps should take up the bulk of a Board’s time and resources.

Finally, note that these guidelines can also be used for other governing entities such as elected Councils. However, rather than having a mission, the Council may develop a mandate for the duration of their term, for example.

The bottom line is that governing entities should have some sense of where they are, where they want to go, and how they are going to get there. If they can figure this one out, they’re probably doing better than most.

Andrew Leach is from the St’at’imc Nation (Lillooet, BC), has a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA) and is presently completing his doctorate degree in Management. He also operates a successful management consulting business. Andrew welcomes feedback to this article. Email him at andrewleach@home.com or call him at his office 604-922-0055.