Earlier this fall, Cause Strategy Partners hosted our inaugural Service that Shapes Leaders summit, bringing together a diverse group of HR, talent development, and social impact professionals from some of the more than fifty Fortune 500 companies that we have been privileged to work closely with in our firm's nearly 11 year history. Three significant trends emerged from the summit's robust discussions, each reflecting a fundamental shift in how leading companies and global professional services firms are defining leadership, engaging and developing employees, and delivering community impact.

1. Board Service: From a Perk to a Leadership Strategy

While some companies continue to see board service (and board matching programs) as an optional perk, those at the vanguard increasingly see it as a critical investment in leadership development and corporate governance. Employees who serve on boards grow in three areas:

• Strategic Focus: Board members operate at the enterprise rather than the departmental level. They must establish a long-term vision for the organization, weigh risks, and allocate limited resources against competing demands. This builds the kind of systems-thinking that is essential to good leadership.

• Executive Presence: Serving on a board helps employees hone their leadership, communication, and relationship-building skills. As they interact with and work alongside a diverse group of stakeholders, they learn to influence in a new sector and in a diffuse leadership structure–resulting in more capable and more well-rounded corporate leaders.

• Empathetic Leadership: Board service exposes professionals to community needs and lived experiences beyond their own. Not only are employees who give back in this way more engaged and fulfilled, they are also becoming more empathetic and, by extension, more adaptable leaders.

2. Purpose Requires Structure for Impact

Executives are driven by a strong desire for purpose. But their passion can fizzle when faced with overwhelming options or overly strict rules as to how they can give back. The right amount of structure is key. Here are three ways to empower your employees and maximize impact:

• Reduce barriers to entry through targeted support. Having placed thousands of professionals on nonprofit boards, we know well the number one question individuals have: How much of my time and money will board service require? Grants, matching gift programs, and volunteer time off policies move busy professionals off the bench and onto the field.

• Emphasize training. The overwhelming majority of nonprofit board members do not receive any kind of governance training before taking on their role. Governance training (like the kind offered through our BoardLearn platform) establishes the essential foundation for fulfilling the responsibilities of service, making tangible to corporate professionals how they can meaningfully contribute in the nonprofit world. It builds professionals’ skills, prepares them for impact, and ensures they are equipped to perform their fiduciary duties.

• Allow for personal cause alignment. Though it can be tempting to limit financial or in-kind support to organizations working in your company’s strategic areas of focus, the true benefits of opportunities like board service come from a deep and personal connection to a nonprofit’s mission.

3. Top-Down Culture of Service