Every board I've ever been on has the same energy problem in a wet winter: everyone is a little more exhausted, a little more short-tempered, and a little more likely to snap about something that has nothing to do with the actual agenda item. Flooding on their street. A commute that used to take twenty minutes and now takes fifty. A power blip that took out their fridge. Nobody shows up to a meeting fresh after a day like that, and nobody should be expected to.
So here's the reframe I've landed on. Instead of treating a historically wet season as something to survive, use it.
Start with swag. If your organization does giveaways or thank-you gifts, this is the season to be useful instead of cute. A branded umbrella gets used constantly and seen by everyone in the vicinity, and "We've Got You Covered" is sitting right there waiting to be printed on one. A packable rain jacket becomes someone's grab-and-go layer for months. A quick-dry towel or cloth is the kind of thing nobody buys for themselves but everyone's grateful to have. And if you're pairing it with coffee, a nice hot tumbler is a long-tail gift, since it means someone gets a warm drink today and a reason to think of you every morning after. People remember useful. (Sorry, tote bags. It's not personal.)
Then think about your board. They're the ones fighting that same traffic, dealing with that same flooding and those same blackouts, and still making time for your organization's business on top of it. That deserves more than a "thanks everyone, see you next month."
Small things go a long way here. A hot chocolate bar at an evening meeting, or a couple of carafes from your favorite local coffee shop instead of the usual lukewarm pot, turns a meeting into something people are a little glad to be at. A short, genuine note acknowledging that this season is hard and you see them showing up anyway costs nothing and means a lot. And if your budget allows for it, do the same swag idea as your giveaways, but a notch nicer, since these are your people. A better umbrella, a better jacket, a better tumbler, maybe with "Weathering the Storm Since [year]" or "Literally, Rain or Shine" on it. It signals that you notice what they're dealing with outside the meeting, not just inside it.
None of this fixes the weather. It's still going to be a wet, inconvenient, historically significant mess of a winter. But a little intentional appreciation costs very little and does a lot to keep people from quietly burning out on you before spring even shows up.
Rain doesn't have to be the enemy of your season. Sometimes it's just the reason you finally did the nice thing you'd been meaning to do anyway. Community doesn't take a rain check.
- LP
Figuring It Out, One Umbrella at a Time
