ILA Board Update With Ruminations From Ira Chaleff on ILA Board Service
Like the regular and stately procession of the seasons, the changing of the calendar year brings about updates to ILA’s board governance. Existing board members roll off at the end of December like delightful dandelion seeds blowing in the wind, flying off to plant their ideas in other soil while new board members take root at the beginning of January, bringing their unique passions and leadership expertise to create beautiful new plantings in the association.
This year we bid farewell to Ira Chaleff and Mansour Javidan and welcome to four new members: Michael Chikeleze, John Heiser, Kevin Lowe, and Carolyn Stefanco.
“Ira Chaleff and Mansour Javidan completed their terms on the ILA Board in December 2017. We were very fortunate to have had their expertise and leadership that helped to strengthen the governance and globalization of ILA,” shared Katherine Tyler Scott, ILA’s Board Chair. “Our four newest Board members reflect the excellent work of the Board Development Committee. They too, are accomplished leaders whose impressive and diverse backgrounds in the corporate, academic, and financial sectors will further the strategic positioning of ILA as the global organizational network capable of significantly impacting leadership worldwide.”
Learn more about these amazing individuals by following the link to the board page and clicking on their names.
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| Michael Chikeleze |
John Heiser |
Kevin Lowe |
Carolyn Stefanco |
| Associate Professor & Department Chair, Leadership Studies, Louisiana State University in Shreveport, USA |
President & Chief Operating Officer, Magnetrol International, Incorporated, USA |
Professor in Leadership Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies,
Business School, The University of Sydney, Australia |
President, The College of Saint Rose, USA |
Completing My Board Service
Dear Fellow ILA Members,
In December 2017, I completed my second three-year term on the ILA board. We are term limited so I am “rolling off the board”, which seems to be the kinetic language we use for this transition. I would like to say a few words about my board experience.
When I was elected to the ILA board it was only the second year of the ILA being a stand-alone non-profit, separate from the University of Maryland. The imperative at the time was to create the structure, processes, and norms for a board with fiduciary responsibilities. As many of us in the ILA are students of group dynamics, it will not be surprising to know that we needed to go through the Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing stages. Storming is always interesting, and somewhat fraught, but we successfully made this passage and emerged with clear and healthy norms. In the second term of my service it was a delight to watch and contribute to the high level of performance the board achieved on many of its functions.
Of course, all groups and boards cycle through these stages as old members leave and new members join. The stronger the culture of the group the less rocky are the later cycles through these stages. With our staggered terms, thorough candidate interview process, and attention to diversity in all its dimensions, I am confident the newly constituted board that began its service in January will maintain a high level of performance and, in fact, take the board to new levels of effectiveness.
If you don’t already know this, I would like you to appreciate that this is as hard a working board as you will ever see. In addition to our regular board meetings, the real work of the board is done in committees that meet regularly throughout the year, roll up their sleeves, and do the hard work of accountable governance. The board is supported by a very competent staff, and we hope the staff feel equally supported by the board. I am tempted to call out individuals for recognition but I would only wind up omitting others who have earned equal praise.
Many of you know me as a champion of followership. So, I would feel remiss in not saying a few words about this. When I joined the ILA, I proposed the formation of a Followership Learning Community. This was approved and, under successive years of engaged followership enthusiasts, the Learning Community has become an integral part of the ILA. I encourage the ILA board and community to give even greater attention to followership in the coming years, commensurate with its elevation broadly in the field of leadership. While some of my colleagues have lovingly accused me of wanting to change the ILA’s name to the IFA, in truth I would opt for the International Association of Leadership and Followership. Realistically, in the foreseeable future I look forward to a conference theme that embraces the organic triad our colleague Barbara Kellerman describes as leadership, followership, and context.
I thank the ILA for having given me the opportunity and honor to have served in a board capacity. I look forward to seeing everyone again in West Palm Beach.
Ira Chaleff
For more information, contact:
Debra DeRuyver
Communications Director
International Leadership Association
dderuyver@ila-net.org | 1.202.470.4818 x102