Path to Creating an Effective, Engaged and Forward-thinking Association Board of Directors

You can’t run a forward-thinking organization if you cannot attract the right people with vision, passion, and a selfless commitment to leadership. linked

According to the 2025 WAV Group Association Governance Effectiveness Study, more than one third of Associations say it’s very or extremely difficult to recruit qualified leaders to serve on the Board of Directors. And if you dig into the reasons why, it’s easy to see this isn’t a pipeline problem – it’s a governance design problem.

Too often, Association boards function with unclear expectations, outdated processes, and little room for meaningful impact. Unfortunately, that’s not a seat that most productive, forward-looking leaders have time for. 

The wrong criteria are keeping the wrong people in

While most Associations require their leaders to have years of real estate experience and previous committee involvement few require board leadership experience, financial acumen or experience managing senior level executives like CEO’s. 

When board eligibility is based only on years in the business or committee involvement and and not on a diversity of skills and senior level management experience, it is difficult, if not impossible to build highly productive teams and boards that are up for today’s existential challenges. 

Only 6% of Associations choose board members to round out skills or experience gaps. Less than 2% recruit for financial knowledge. Zero actively look for experience managing staff – even though managing the CEO is one of the board’s most important responsibilities.

Instead, many boards recycle the same leaders. A quarter of associations don’t have term limits. Members, and especially younger members steer clear when they feel like the Board of Directors is not welcoming or too cliqueish. Discouraging, whether knowingly or unknowingly discourages new voices and diverse perspectives from showing interest in board leadership.  

Nobody wants a powerless position

If you’ve built a board structure where volunteers can’t drive change, don’t be surprised when qualified people don’t raise their hands. Members are busy running businesses, raising families, and navigating one of the most challenging real estate environments in decades. They’re not going to jump through hoops for a title with no influence.

The best and brightest want to make a difference. If your board process is slow, clunky, indecisive and overly political, they’ll spend their energy somewhere else.

Fix the experience, not just the messaging

If you’re struggling to find new leaders with diverse perspectives, consider the following: 

• Offer or Require leadership training from organizations like the Women’s Council of REALTORS(R), so you have a pool of qualified candidates to choose from 
• Self-Assess your Board and Company Culture – Using WAV Group’s time-tested proprietary board assessment tool your organization can measure how much your culture and traditions support innovation and forward-thinking. 
• Build a Brave, Measurable Strategic Plan – the perception that leaders cannot create an impact sometimes comes from generic strategic goals with no tangible outcomes or performance measurements. Don’t be afraid to go after the hard stuff!  Build plans to address the housing shortage in your market, dive in and find ways to use AI to improve customer support. 
• Make recruiting leaders with new perspectives a year-round priority for the CEO and Board of Directors. Highlight the types of skills you would like to round out your leadership expertise and then actively looking for those types of leaders. 
• Prioritize leaders that focus on impact. Recruit impact-driven leaders that want to strengthen the real estate community, not their resume. 
• Make sure you include active and significant producers that are current on the challenges facing consumers and the market, Real-time innovations can come first from those that are most actively involved in selling real estate
• Create space for next-generation and non-traditional leaders including those with business, tech, or community advocacy backgrounds, not just real estate experience

Potential new leaders are looking for a better return on time invested. Make board service worth it, and you’ll have a much better shot of creating a cohesive, productive team that will push your organization a lot further faster.

Want to see the full set of data and recommendations?
Download the complete 2025 WAV Group Association Governance Effectiveness Study on our website to dig deeper into how Associations are building (and rebuilding) modern leadership. 

If you would like help evaluating the effectiveness of your board structure, company culture and partnership between the CEO and Board of Directors, WAV Group is here to help!