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Change is hard. Change makes us uncomfortable. Change can feel like a loss of what we once knew. But we also know that change is essential for a board and an organization to reach its full potential. As Maya Angelou once said, “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” We invited Meredith Emmett and Heather Yandow to offer insights from their recent Board Leadership Forum presentation. These two leaders from Third Space Studio share how to create an environment that nurtures new idea, and our conversation included suggestions on  monitoring the “heat” of discussion, getting to know your board’s culture, establishing trust, and easing decision-making. Links:  Meredith and Heather’s Firm’s website: www.Thirdspacestudio.com Link to Individual Donor Benchmark Project: https://www.thirdspacestudio.com/idbproject/ Follow them on Twitter: www.twitter.com/3rdspacestudio Follow them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thirdspacestudio *****Time Stamped Highlights***** (4:55) How you can help your board prepare for change (5:45) “Holding environment”: The safe space your board needs to facilitate change (8:00) Observing body language to see if your board is engaged (9:00) Meredith gives an example of how disengagement and defensiveness resulted from a conversation that got “too hot” (10:45) Knowing your board’s culture before you propose change (14:46) Effective facilitation tools for small-group discussions (18:00) Modifying your board’s meeting place to fit your board’s understanding of its purpose (20:45) Discussing the nuts and bolts of a good meeting (24:24) Whether to have alcohol and food at meetings (24:59) Why and how to build trust amongst board members (25:22) The pros and cons of having virtual meetings (30:09) Tailoring your board’s decision making process (38:00) Meredith and Heather share the big idea they will incorporate into their work