POSITION DESCRIPTION
BOARD MEMBER
FUNCTION
To be a an active public champion for Together SA and collective impact in South Australia and to optimise the organisation’s performance and ensure compliance
with legal requirements.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Representation and Leadership
 Lead as Together SA hopes to proceed though adaptive leadership and a strong collaborarive mind set.
 Represent TSA for the purposes of changing government policy and practice, sourcing resources and investment and expanding South Australian commitment
to applying collective impact to complex social issues in local communities; in keeping with agreed political, business and community engagement plans.
 Respresent Together SA when it is agreed that this is the best approach to removing blockages to organizational and community program success.
Planning
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To develop TSA’s Vision, Mission and Values.
To further develop TSA’s Strategic Directions, business model and income generation models.
Annually review and approve the organisation’s plan.
Annually review and approve the organisation’s budget.
Approve major policies.
Organisational
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Recruit the Chief Executive Officer of Together SA
Be assured that management succession is properly being provided
Be assured that the status of organisational strength and HR planning is equal to the requirements of the long-range goals
Approve appropriate compensation and benefit policies and practices
Annually approve the performance review of the CEO and establish his/her remuneration based on recommendations of the personnel committee and Chair
of the Board.
 Contribute to effective Board recruitment and succession planning
 Contribute to an annual review of the performance of the Board and take steps to improve its performance.
Operations
 Review the results achieved by management as compared with the Association’s philosophy, annual and long-range goals, and the performance of similar
organisations
 Be certain that the financial structure of the organisation is adequate for its current needs and its long-range strategy
 Provide candid and constructive criticism, advice, and comments
Audit
 Be assured that the Board and its Committees are adequately and currently informed – through reports and other methods – of the condition of the
Association and its operations
 Be assured that published reports properly reflect the operating results and financial condition of the organisation
 Ascertain that management has established appropriate policies to define and identify conflicts of interest throughout the organisation, and is diligently
administering and enforcing those policies
 Appoint independent auditors subject to approval by Members
 Review compliance with relevant material laws affecting the organisation
 Ensure appropriate risk management procedures are in place.
Requirements
Aptitude
 Commitment: To bold systems and culture change about how we as a state address complex social issues, not to organizational turf and boundaries.
 Strategic Insight: To understand the nature of the challenge and the potential of the future landscape, to judge the right mix of technical and adaptive
responses as they emerge, to think courageously with the end results in mind.
 Self-awareness: Clarity about one’s own values, beliefs, strengths and vulnerabilities, and about how these align with and play out in the current reality.
 Self-management: Ability to build on what we know about ourselves to manage our emotions in the heat of the moment, clearing the way for our best
thinking.
 Relationship skills. Genuine interest in others, empathy, and ability to be authentic in connections with a diverse group of people.
 Vulnerability: Own their mistakes and own limitation as part of the adaptive journey.
Skills
The Board will require a mix of skills. Intending candidates need to refer to the skills matrix and complete a self-audit as part of the selection process.
Commitment
The constitution requires the Board to meet at least four times a year (14.5). It is expected that in the first year this commitment will be greater than four times a
year, initially it is likely to be monthly.
In addition to meeting the constitutional requirements it is expected that Board members will:
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available to attend a minimum of 80% of monthly Board meetings in the first year (likely to reduce to bi-monthly in subsequent years). These meetings will
be 2 – 3 hours.
attend at least two Together SA events within the first 12 months
attend a one day annual strategic conversation within the first six months at a mutually agreed time, date and location
contribute a minimum of 5 hours a month in Board preparation and attendance, event participation and championing of the cause.
TERM
Two years, renewable for a maximum of five years unless extended by special resolution of the Board.
POSITION DESCRIPTION REVIEW
This position Description is to be reviewed on or before July 2017
Conventional mindset
On the journey
Collaborative mindset
A leader/manager/practitioner needs to be a
problem-solver and have all the answers
No one can have all the answers, and its OK for
leaders/managers/practitioners to say “I don’t know”
and seek help particularly when working in areas of
complexity
Leaders/Managers/Practitioners genuinely say
they don’t have all the answers and invite a broad
range of stakeholders in to co-create solutions.
Followers need leaders to direct them and their
activities
Followers have skills to solve problems and these are
wasted if not utilised effectively
When working together to innovate, everyone
may be a leader
“Wicked’ problems or complex dilemmas are
open to solution by our established and proven
decision-making processes that generally
involve applying special operating procedures
or expert technical knowledge.
Enduring solutions come from working across the
usual boundaries and involving all parts of the system
to get diverse ownership of “wicked” problems as well
as their input into solutions
Enduring solutions to wicked problems come
only from working across the usual boundaries
and with all parts of the system to jointly
understand the problem and co-create the
solution
Making decisions quickly is the sign of a strong
and decisive leader
Smart leaders need to adapt their leadership style to
suit the situation.
Going slow on your decision making process
means getting enduring solutions sooner
Changing one’s mind is a sign of weakness in
a leader so once a decision is made its
important to stick with it
An open mind and a willingness to change as a result
of new information or acquired wisdom is a sign of
strength
An open mind and a willingness to change as a
result of new information or acquired wisdom is
essential to fostering innovation and co creating
enduring solutions
Achieving personal gains or wins for the
organisation is a leader’s job
Achieving mutual gains is the ultimate solution that
will create energy for implementation if the problem is
bigger than a single organisation can solve on its own
Acknowledging that complex social issues
cannot be solved by individual effort, or single
organisational programs, projects or efforts and
require collaboration by all parts of the system
Risk needs to be avoided
Risks can be anticipated and managed
We take risks to work with others to innovate
because results are worth it
Past experience is a great teacher and guide
for the future and contributes to our application
of good and best practice when problem
solving
In today’s increasing complexity our past experiences
are unreliable as predictors of future outcomes
Emergent practice is required to solve todays
complex challenges because these are impacted
by rapidly changing environments
Leaders / managers / followers rightly get
personal credit for successful outcomes
Many people contribute to successful outcomes and
strong leaders share autonomy and credit
Great outcomes are possible when no one cares
who gets the credit
Boards require their organisations to clearly
Boards acknowledge that when working in complex
Boards find new ways to measure population
Conventional mindset
On the journey
Collaborative mindset
‘own’ the work they do and have outcomes
clearly attributed to them and acknowledged
areas such as social disadvantage they are one part
of a complex system; they need to let go of some
level of autonomy and work collaboratively
wide improvements and share attribution
Technically unskilled people have nothing
useful to contribute to problem solving
A diversity of perspectives from all parts of the system
contribute to a greater understanding of the problem
and to more innovative solutions
A diversity of knowledge, perspectives and ideas
from all parts of the system is essential to
understanding and solving complex dilemmas
Communication is needed prior to decisions
mainly to increase stakeholder awareness of
our ideas and proposals
Ongoing consistent and open communication is
needed to the whole ‘community of interest’ to build
trust, assure mutual objectives and create common
motivation
Ongoing consistent and open communication is
needed AMONG the whole ‘community of
interest’ to build trust, assure mutual objectives
and create a common agenda and motivation
People will provide us with feedback on our
ideas or proposals if we provide reasonable
opportunities for them to do so
We need to invite, encourage and empower
stakeholders to participate with us in co-creating
solutions so they have energy to implement them
We can’t be sure what the problem is until our
stakeholders help us understand it. We can’t
solve it alone. We can’t implement it unless we
implement it together.
Long established proven processes support
consistency
A willingness to embrace new practices and thinking
is needed for innovation in solving complex dilemmas
New thinking, practices, processes and skills are
essential for innovation
If you bring together key stakeholders and
present them with a problem they will be able
to quickly work together to find a solution
Collaboration happens when people agree on the
problem, genuinely want to solve it and trust in each
other and the process sufficiently to keep working until
an agreed solution emerges. This takes more time but
the solution is more likely to address the problem
reliably and become an enduring solution because
there is energy in its implementation.
Collaboration happens when people from
different sectors, WITH VERY DIFFERENT
BACKGROUNDS and CULTURES agree on the
problem, genuinely want to solve it and trust in
each other and the process sufficiently to keep
working until an agreed solution emerges with
agreed measures and energy for implementation
We will take note of what feedback people give
us without expectation that we will get any
thing of value we haven’t thought of
There is value in ‘the community of interest'
deliberating together over possible solutions taking
into account agreed criteria
It is essential that ‘the community of interest'
deliberates together over possible solutions
taking into account agreed criteria
We can build trust with others by getting the
job done
Trust can only be built or extended through
demonstrated integrity and competence by all parties
plus shared responsibility for the process and the
outcomes
Trust only grows through demonstrated integrity
and competence by all parties, shared
responsibility for the process and the outcomes,
and a willingness to trust ‘them’ first.