Afraid Planning Will Make Board Conflict Worse? Here’s Why It Might NOT

If you’re leading through board tension, planning probably sounds like the last thing you need.
Your nonprofit’s board isn’t aligned. Meetings feel tense. And every decision feels heavier than it should.

You’ve thought:
“We need a plan…but we’re too divided to even have that conversation.”

And maybe you’re worried—Will strategic planning make this worse?

Here’s the truth: strategic planning doesn’t create conflict. It reveals it—and gives you a way to work through it.

The Strategic Planning Process: A Safe Way to Say What Needs Saying

When planning is done well, it becomes a safe structure for truth-telling, listening, and sorting through hard issues. It gives your board a neutral space to surface what’s simmering—before it explodes.

One CEO told me after a recent session,

“I thought planning would be a disaster with our board—but it helped us finally say what needed to be said.”

It wasn’t easy. But it was the beginning of real alignment. And progress.

What Mark Might Say

If you’re that CEO, there’s a good chance you have a Mark on your board. He sees the tension during board meetings. He knows you’re carrying a lot. And he wants the board to move—but doesn’t know how to say it without adding more pressure.

Mark is quietly hoping someone will help the board move forward.

You already have a champion. You don’t have to do it alone.

You Don’t Have to Wait for “Peace” to Plan

Conflict doesn’t mean planning is impossible.
It means you need a process built for your situation—one that balances honesty with hope, structure with flexibility.

I design strategic planning processes for moments just like this.
Ones that meet your board where they are—and move you forward together.

✨ Curious what that could look like for your board?

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