IF YOU WERE TO MAKE A MAP of the to make a map of the diversity, skills, attributes and networks each of your board members brings to your organization's table, what would it look like? A board's combined talents form a profile that may be well-understood or barely perceived. And we should all know that what a group thinks of itself may not be anything like what others might think. For a number of years I've used, and encouraged my client organizations to use, a simple chart to inventory these important elements. Yesterday, I sat with an executive director and the chairperson of her organization's nominating committee and watched them complete just such a chart. They inventoried gender, race, age, profession/avocation, skills brought to the organization, how each person is active in the organization, and what each person can help the organization accomplish. It revealed obvious characteristics (average age is about mid-50s to 60); it also revealed some not-so-obv...