Serving on a Board

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

I am working from home today, and I have the TV on in the background. In my house, that means MSNBC. So I am listening to this conversation about Obama serving on a board with Bill Ayers. Without me saying anything, you already know what the people are saying.

So here's where I'm at. I've served on two boards: a non-profit board for a one-year term, and an organizational board for almost 5 years. On the one-year board, I never saw anyone outside the board meetings, I did my job, and occasionally spoke with a couple other members about the 501(c)(3) application on which I was working. On the other board, I had more interaction with some of the members.

So when they say that Obama served on a board with Ayers, my first thought is -- A BOARD!?!?! So what? You don't date those people, you're not necessarily friends, in my experience, I actually really, really, REALLY disliked a number of them. But you're there to work for a common cause, so you put personalities aside to the extent possible, and get the work done.

What about you?

Online Surveys & Market Research

Please use the comments to say whether you think who one serves on a board with has any bearing on anything. I'm curious if serving on a board gives one a different perspective. It may be that people who have never served on boards think that people who serve on a board walk in lock step, it may be that the experience others have had on boards is different than mine.