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Facilitators: Lon Swartzentruber
Topic: Humble Boards: Six-Session Learning Experience
We’re living and leading in a world that feels more unpredictable by the day—full of change, uncertainty, and, at times, a fair amount of anxiety. And in the middle of that, boards are being asked to carry a lot. Not just strategy and oversight, but the responsibility for how an organization behaves—how people relate to each other, make decisions, and move forward together.
At its core, governance is deeply human work. It’s not just about having the right answers or the right expertise in the room. It’s about how people show up with one another. Our willingness to be curious, humble, and listen makes all the difference in the world. When those are present, something shifts—we begin to understand each other more clearly, navigate complexity with a bit more steadiness, and draw on the collective wisdom in the room.
This six-session series is an invitation to practice that way of being together. Each session focuses on one of the six healthy behaviors of a Humble Board, along with a specific way of listening that supports it. The goal is simple: to offer practical ways you can show up differently in your next board conversation.
At the end of the day, this work is about something larger. It’s about what we’re here to steward together. A Humble Board keeps moving toward one aim: care for the whole—the organization, the people within it, and the broader impact it has on the world.
Session 3: Building Whole-Person Relationships – Strengthening Trust and Vulnerability
Boards do their best work when there’s real trust and vulnerability in the room. Not surface-level agreement, but the kind of trust where people can be honest and still stay connected. We’ll talk about what it takes to build those kinds of relationships and practice comprehensive listening in a way that helps people feel fully heard.
Bio for Lon Swartzentruber
Lon has spent nearly 30 years working alongside leaders in all kinds of organizations—nonprofits, businesses, schools, foundations—helping them navigate the realities of leading and governing together. During this time, Lon has had the opportunity to sit in hundreds of boardrooms and leadership conversations, learning firsthand what helps—and what gets in the way.
His approach is pretty simple. He is less interested in giving you the “right” answers and more interested in posing questions that bring clarity to your situation. This approach helps to create space where people can think, reflect, and learn together in real time. Our hope is that you leave each session with something practical you can use right away—and maybe a slightly different way of showing up in the conversations that matter most.
Register here.