What are 1 or more recent experiences you’ve had that require a group of people, of which you are a part, to come to agreement on an important matter (business or personal) which, at the outset, have several different and opposing views. What was your role in helping the group come to agreement?
From Karen Zakeski | Granite Mill
Candidate Answers:
- Kate Bice: I am a collaborator by nature and want to make sure that all parties in any given decision have a place to be heard and that decisions benefit the greatest number of people possible.
- Bob Lijana: My professional accomplishments across many companies demonstrate my commitment to teams and their success.
- Liz Rolison: As Board President in 2023, it’s my role to bring issues to the board and work towards agreements that a majority of the board will vote to support. In 2023, we had a track record of almost all unanimous votes, including several major decisions on: Settlement Agreement with NNP BC, agreement on the 2024 BCCA Budget and 5-Year Projections, decision to move up termination of our landscape contract to allow for competitive bidding and revised landscaping requirements, and revisions to the Confidentiality and Ethics Policy. We achieved these agreements by introducing the topic, providing research and background on the issue, bringing in experts when needed, providing opportunity for all board members to discuss and share their views (both in electronic chats as well as in person meetings) and then reaching an agreement that all board members could vote to support. This takes time and energy, but ensures that the decisions we reach have been well researched, well thought out and that they are more likely to be long-term decisions with a clear basis of why we reached that decision.
- Tom Speer: Not every issue result in unanimous decisions and I have great experience building consensus thru compromising. For example, I led the Beaver task force before I was ever interested in running for the board back in 2018. The developer wanted to kill all of the beavers. The residents stood up and a large number opposed that and I along with 2 other volunteers had to research and document our ideas. I facilitated discussions that led us all to a result that was a compromise. The beavers were not to be killed but their range and activities needed to be managed. Collectively the task force presented to the board and we also presented to a packed standing room only crowd at the clubhouse. The board agreed thereby diffusing a hot button item. The success of the beaver task force led me to run for the board in November 2019 and winning.
- William Weitz: My job has me constantly working with groups of people on agreements on matters with people of different views.