The Importance of Patience as a Director: Don't Leave Before the Miracle

By Mary Cameron

Mary is a former CEO and executive with experience in real estate, insurance, IT, and utilities. She was also a former Deputy Minister in two provinces. Mary is a full-time Director and Chair and has made a long-term commitment to Habitat for Humanity serving as past Chair of Habitat for Humanity International.

One of the hardest things to learn as a director is patience.

Boards are naturally drawn to momentum. New strategies, new leadership, new ambition. Movement feels reassuring. It signals progress and it gives directors something tangible to point to.

Many directors come into the role after careers in leadership. They are used to making decisions, moving quickly, and driving initiatives forward. So when a board moves slowly, or when progress is incremental rather than visible, it can feel unsettling. The slower pace itself can feel like a warning sign, even when nothing is actually wrong.

Nothing is Wrong, But Nothing is Changing

Boards can spend long periods in what feels like an in-between state.

This is a phase where there are no fires to put out, no crisis demanding immediate attention. The management team is capable, governance is sound, papers are well prepared. From the outside, the board looks functional.

But from the inside, being on a board like this can feel stagnant. Progress feels slow, discussions often revisit familiar ground and decisions feel cautious, sometimes overly so. The board has not quite found its rhythm.

I sat on a board like this for several years. On paper, it was a good board. The compensation was good, management was competent and there were no obvious issues. But the work felt uninspiring. I was questioning whether or not I was wasting my time. On the other hand, there was no clear reason to leave.

This is often where impatience sets in. There was no problem to solve, only the unsettling sense that things should be further along by now.

Beneath the Surface

What I underestimated at the time was that important work was happening below the surface. It was not the visible kind that shows up in minutes or decisions, but it defined the quality of everything that came next. In that in-between phase, trust was being built. Directors were learning how to work together, and challenge one another productively. Management was learning when to bring issues forward and how to engage with the board.

Then, almost without warning, things changed.

Conversations became more engaging. Management grew more comfortable being challenged. Directors stopped speaking to fill the air and started building on one another’s thinking. Decisions became sharper. The board stopped operating as a group of individuals and began functioning as a team. Momentum followed.  

The period that followed those slow years became one of the most meaningful board experiences I have had.

Had I left earlier, I would have walked away right before the board had a breakthrough.

The Instinct That Can Work Against You

For many directors who have spent years as CEOs or senior executives, the tension in the in-between phase can lead to wanting to take charge.

That instinct does not always serve directors well.

While many directors had successful careers in leadership roles, that does not automatically translate into effectiveness as a director. The two roles call for different forms of contribution.

Directors are not there to run the business. They are there to exercise judgment, offer perspective, challenge assumptions, and support management without displacing it. Management must lead. The board must resist the urge to take the wheel.

This requires a deliberate and conscious shift in how you show up in the role.

What earned you a seat on the board is not necessarily what you were brought there to do.

Boards Are Human Systems

Boards are not mechanical systems. They are human systems, and human systems take time.

Alignment forms slowly. Judgment is built through repetition. Trust grows quietly before it becomes visible. Often, the most important work a board is doing is happening beneath the surface, long before results accelerate.

Patience, in this context, is not passivity. It is discipline. It is knowing when not to intervene. It is allowing management the space to lead and learn. It is staying engaged during periods that feel uneventful but are foundational.

A Question Worth Sitting With

For directors, this raises a self-reflecting question. Am I frustrated because the board is ineffective, or because I am uncomfortable with the pace at which real board work unfolds?

There are times when stepping off a board is the right decision. But there is also risk in leaving simply because the work feels slow.

Many directors only learn this in hindsight.

The most rewarding board experiences often come after a period that tested patience, restraint, and trust. After you have stayed long enough for the board to become what it is capable of being. Try not to leave before the miracle.