By John Pearson

If you enjoy college football (I do) and you live on the West Coast (I do), then you’re probably a fan of the Football in 60 TV broadcast for the Pac-12 conference.

The promo: “It’s a no-time out, no-huddle offense—just the game in condensed form. Each week Pac-12 Networks broadcasts each of the previous week’s games, cut down to an action-packed hour. Each episode includes enhanced footage not seen in the live game broadcast. Football in 60 is the ideal football fix in a fast and furious format for the busy fan.”

This got me thinking. What if we videoed your last (perhaps tedious) board meeting that went on and on and on… And then cut it down to just one action-packed hour: 60 minutes of God-honoring governance!

Would you have 60 minutes of God-honoring governance?

What would the replay reveal?
• Holy moments when your board faced a fork-in-the-road decision with confident prayer and discernment?
• Or, a wide camera shot of opposing sides rehashing the rehash of the last meeting’s rehash of the issue that won’t go away?
• Perhaps…a board chair with wisdom and grace—moving toward the end zone, but with sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s nudges to go slower and invite every board member to participate?

Try this at your next meeting. Mention the Football in 60 concepts and ask one board member to observe and take notes. Then at the end of the meeting, ask that board member to share the meeting’s highlights and lowlights. Might be interesting!

BOARDROOM ASSIGNMENT: For a helpful resource, order the new governance book by Dan Busby and yours truly, Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom. (Read my book summary here.) We’ve invited 40 guest bloggers (40 Blogs. 40 Wednesdays.) to add their color commentary to the book’s 40 short lessons. To download a sample chapter and/or order the book, visit the book’s webpage here. It’s the perfect year-end gift for every board member. Check out the bulk pricing for 10 or more copies.