What Type of Board Member Are You?

As the actor Steve Carell explained about his character on the TV show The Office; "Every office has someone like Michael and if you look around and don't see them, then that means you probably are the one." The following are different personality types typically found on HOA Boards and while it is easy to see these faults in others can you see them yourself? And if you do see them do you consider them not so much a fault but as a quality? Sometimes two or more characteristics show up at different times and you should be constantly on the lookout for them to avoid becoming "that" Board Member.

The Naysayer - This person automatically shoots down any idea or proposal as unworkable. Can come up with ten reasons why something won't work but not one as to why it would.

The Penny Pincher - Will not spend money on anything because it might cause assessments to rise. Can cause significant damage from lack of maintenance and is often the reason for large special assessments.

The Drama Queen - Thrives on hysterics and inflicts fear and dread whenever they enter the room.

The Big Shot - This glory seeker will try to take full credit for collaborative efforts to impress the homeowners. This overly ambitious Board Member has never heard a good idea he couldn't pass off as his own.

The Bully - Will overpower anyone in the room and easily overpowers weak boards, rules by fear and intimidation.

The Big Picture Thinker - Can't be bothered on how to implement a new policy or procedure leaving that for others to figure out.

The Nitpicker - Micro manages and must oversee everything and as a result nothing ever gets done.

The Expert - Self proclaimed expert in one or more of these fields; parliamentary procedures, finance, construction and the law. Fills his vocabulary with impressive sounding buzzwords and
techno babble.

The Killjoy - This person is all business all of the time. Disapproves of any attempt at levity and because they are incapable of having fun they think no one else has the right to either.

The Emailer - Is addicted to the "reply all" function, this "cc" supporter clogs fellow Board Member's and Property Manager's already-overflowing inboxes with unnecessary messages. This person also marks less-than-critical emails as "high priority" and sends enormous attachments that crash unwitting recipients' computers.

The Interrupter - Can't wait to be recognized by the Board chair to speak and often initiates off topic side conversations that interrupts the Boards business.

The Repeater - Incapable of forming an original thought or opinion, just regurgitates someone else's words back when pressed for an opinion.

The Luddite - The battle cry of this Board Member is: "But that's the way we've always done it." This person believes that an electric typewriter and a touchtone phone with a carbonless notepad is cutting edge state of the art equipment that can't be improved upon.

Rose Colored Glasses - Cannot ever see anything wrong. No matter what covenant is violated thinks the offender should get a fifth or sixth chance.

Be my guest if you think it will help. Thanks for asking.

Donna,

I'm with you! It was always my firm belief that, whether I agreed with the rule or law or not, it was my duty to uphold it!

Mary,
Yes I too have had a couple of items that I did not agree with and neither did the membership. A couple of them, as being the Docs Chairman and then the Liaison to the committee, I wrote a few amendments and totally rewrote the ARC Guideline manual. I walked the neighborhood with a suggestion sheet that each member could write down what they did or did not like about the community. Then after gathering most of them, I made a list by the number of times any issue was noted. Once it was presented to our Board, the items were addressed according to if we could fix, alter or even address the item. The Board now appeared more in touch with the community.

It is difficult to get the membership involved in the boring aspect of running the association but all it takes is someone to do the footwork. Get out there and talk to the members. They all have stuff to say. Can most of it be used? Sometimes not but at least they had their chance to air their thoughts. (most of this I did before I was appointed to the Board) It gave me a good feeling to know that everyone was given a chance to be involved. Good feelings is what it's all about.

that is funny.

You can add another type to your list, but I don't know what you'd call such a person...

That's the person who is so afraid of hurting another board or association member's feelings that he always suggests a "wait and see if the problem goes away" approach (which, to me, is no approach at all), or states, "we don't want to look like Nazis", "we don't want to be on the 6:00 news" - I think you know what I mean...