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The Case for
BOARD LEADERSHIP
EDUCATION
A Board Member’s Tale
By Steve Kroll, CAVL
Fairways at Livingston
W
hen discussing what makes a great leader, a question often arises:
Are some people just born great leaders with little need for train-
ing or can people be trained to become great leaders? While
it is true there are individuals who seem to have innate leadership qualities
already with them when they step into responsible positions, the majority
of us could benefit immensely from leadership training in the particular field that
we are expected to be effective leaders.
As board members and homeowner leaders, we are on the forefront of handling issues
impacting our communities. The residents of our communities look to us for leadership on matters
of importance and to provide wise stewardship on behalf of the community association. Like
some medieval knight out of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world, a board member is on an inner quest to
prove their worthiness, but not quite sure how to achieve it.
In responding to that critical need for board members of common interest communities to
acquire solid leadership skills, Community Associations Institute provides to members a free one
day Board Leadership Development Workshop for the chapters to conduct, on behalf of board
members seeking to become more professional in their leadership role.
I was fortunate enough to attend the New Jersey chapter’s CAI Board Leadership Development
Workshop last summer at the CAI-NJ headquarters. The high demand for the workshop was
quite evident, because it was a full house. A few late subscribers gained admission only on
the promise by those assembled that we would all become great leaders! With that oath, the
board member training began.
The BLD workshop was well organized and ran smoothly during the whole day. There were
five subject modules covered with three different industry experts leading them. The five modules
were: 1) Governing Documents and Roles & Responsibilities; 2) Communications, Meetings,
"As board members
and homeowner
leaders, we are
on the forefront of
handling issues
impacting our
communities."