In the summer of 1982, Larry Walters was a young man growing up in southern California.

Since his childhood years, Larry was consumed with becoming a jet fighter pilot.

In his boyish mind’s eye, he pictured himself strapped into the cockpit of a McDonnell Douglas F15 Eagle—a twin-engine, all-weather, tactical fighter renowned for an undefeate air-to-air combat record.

Powered by two afterburning turbofan engines, Walters spent his teen years dreaming of knifing through flak-filled skies at Mach 2.5 pursuing enemy fighters.

But sadly, for Larry Walters, it wasn’t meant to be.

You see, as Larry Walters jettisoned his teenage years, he was cursed with failing vision. As a result, his dreams of becoming a jet-fighter pilot were nothing more than a foregone conclusion.

Disillusioned but not defeated, at the age of 32, Larry was determined to take to the friendly skies.

So, on July 2,1982 (with his girlfriend Carol Van Deusen at his side), Larry trekked to a local California military surplus store and purchased 45, eight-foot, weather balloons.

He also purchased helium, rope, and an aluminum lawn chair.

I think you can see where this is going.

Returning home, he and his girlfriend proceeded to inflate all 45 balloons. The balloons were then tethered to the aluminum lawn chair via the rope.

The whole thing was bungie-cabled (you can’t make this stuff up) to the bumper of Larry’s truck.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Rube Goldberg (Google it) would have been grinning from ear-to-ear.

With everything assembled, the countdown began.

Grabbing a six pack of brewskis, a couple of sandwiches, and a pellet gun (like I said, you can’t make this up) Larry was ready for launch.

Just as Larry climbed into his homespun cockpit, the bungie cables broke free from the truck’s bumper and Larry was suddenly, unexpectedly, and violently headed heavenward.

He reached an altitude of 100 feet in under a second. He reached a 1,000 feet in a couple of seconds more.

In just a few minutes, he leveled off at 16,000 thousand feet.

But the story gets even more bizarre.

As fate would have it, the warm southern California winds pushed “Lawn-Chair Larry” into the flight corridor of Long Beach Airport. And, of course, Larry is promptly passed by abcommercial jet airliner.

Taken aback by this UFO, the pilot radioed air-traffic control to report that he has “…spotted a man with a gun sitting in a lawn-chair at 16,000 feet. ”

Emergency protocols kick into place. Fighter jets are scrambled. The Governor is notified.

After 45 minutes aloft, Larry Walters uses the pellet gun to start popping the balloons so he can expedite his return to terra firma.

Upon landing (in electrical powerlines that caused a major area-wide blackout no less!),

Walters was immediately arrested by waiting members of the Long Beach Police Department.

Regional Safety Inspector Neal Savoy was reported to have said, “We know he broke some part of the Federal Aviation Act, and as soon as we decide which part it is, some type of charges will be filed.”

Ultimately, Walters was fined $4,000 ($13,345 in today’s dollars) for violations under U.S. Federal Aviation Regulations.

Crazy, huh?

Needless to say, that day, the world took notice of Lawn-Chair Larry’s exploits. And in his 15 minutes of fame, Walters was a featured guest on Late Night With David Letterman and a unanimous recipient of the annual Darwin Award.

Now, with that behind us, I’m betting dollars to donuts that you are seriously wondering how this magnificent tale applies to you and your charity’s board.

Well, fasten your seat belt and make sure your tray-table is in the upright and locked position because Lawn-Chair Larry’s lesson is an important one.

The Moral of Lawn-Chair Larry’s Famous Flight

Here’s why the story of “Lawn-Chair Larry” should matter to you and your nonprofit board.

Do not miss this.

In the same way that Larry Walters jury-rigged his flying machine, the lion’s share of nonprofits do EXACTLY the same thing with their boards of directors.

In fact, research reveals that the vast majority of U.S. nonprofit boards do not have a common mental model or an evidence-based framework that guides their group’s practices, policies, and/or performance.

Because of this, piecemealing a lot of random stuff together (in hopes that it works) becomes the default.

And although it absolutely “feels” like you are doing the right thing, everything begins to unravel very, very quickly.

How so?

Just like Larry Walters, the beginning of the journey is exciting. You are assembling what you believe are all the right pieces and you are working hard to put them into place.

Then comes the ride.

For about the first 10 seconds of your journey, it’s super exciting. Then, all of a sudden, you realize that you are in uncharted territory—16,000 feet holding a pellet gun with airplanes screaming by you.

And then, unfortunately, comes the descent where you crash into the power lines.

Wiser for the experience, you vow that you will NEVER do that again.

But the real difference between you and Lawn-Chair Larry is this: He wasn’t charged with helping those who can’t help themselves.

And in this respect, the lesson of Larry Walters isn’t just embarrassing, it’s tragic.

Extraordinary Impact

So, here’s the bottom line.

If your goal is to experience extraordinary impact, you and your board need an evidence-based, rock-solid framework to get everyone on the same page.

And this is what the Impact Foundation’s ‘High Impact Boards’ initiative is all about.

Check it out.

High I-M-P-A-C-T Board Priority #1: Imagine the GCO that is your CEO!

Put simply, high impact boards recognize that the nonprofit’s CEO is a game-changing opportunity (GCO!).

With this in mind, extraordinary boards not only make sure that they have the right CEO in place, but they also do everything in their power to bring out the very best in them.

High I-M-P-A-C-T Board Priority #2: Multiply your impact by aiming higher thanyou ever thought possible.

Secondly, extraordinary boards understand that bold dreams and shared vision are

the fuel of organizational progress.

Peter Senge said it best, “Vision paints the picture of what we want to create…andwhen that vision is shared, it becomes a force in people’s hearts, a force of impressive power…few, if any, forces in human affairs are as powerful a shared vision.”

High impact boards know this and go to great lengths to dream big!

High I-M-P-A-C-T Board Priority #3: Perfect the plan that propels progress.

Next, high impact boards not only dream big, but they deliver brilliantly. They do this by making sure that the nonprofit’s plan is as good as it can possibly be.

This means making sure that every plan:

• Reinforces the nonprofit’s vision,

• Articulates clear goals and measurable objectives,

• Assigns every important task to a specific individual,

• Properly funds each priority, and

• Regularly monitors and communicates progress.

Said differently, high impact boards understand that planning is the art of bringingthe future into the present so that something can be done about it now!

High I-M-P-A-C-T Board Priority #4: Amplify accountability with the metrics that matter.

Fourthly, high impact boards keep score—and they do this through the use of a dashboard/scorecard.

Think about it.To operate an enormously complex piece of machinery (e.g., your car), you really only need to know four or five pieces of information: (1) whether or not the car is turned on, (2) how much gas you have in tank, (3) how fast you are traveling, and (4) whether are not there are any alarms or warnings present.

Despite having more than 100,000 parts, as long as you know these four simple things you can pretty much drive a car without incident.

It works the exactly the same with your nonprofit’s dashboard.

By monitoring the four or five most important metrics of your organization, your board can not only proceed confidently but they can have great fun in pooling their energies to move these needles.

High I-M-P-A-C-T Board Priority #5: Communicate effectively and courageously.

Fifthly, high impact boards communicate effectively and courageously.

For your board to be effective as possible, each and every person at the table needs to possess the ability (and willingness) to communicate courageously.

To do this, high impact boards go to great lengths to not only create psychological safety, but they also invest in training to make sure that every director has the understanding, skills, and tools necessary to interact with precision and care.

High I-M-P-A-C-T Board Priority #6: Take care of the organization by delivering on the details.

Last but not least, high impact boards deliver on the details.

This means making sure that all the administrative details (e.g., the annual audit, filing of 990’s and other IRS forms, examining monthly financials, reviewing insurance coverages, etc.) all get done the right way and on time.

But here’s what separates extraordinary boards from average ones.

Low to average-performing nonprofit boards spend about 80% of their time in this area. The extraordinary one’s only spend about 20% of their time here (and the rest on the five aforementioned priorities!).

In closing, if you follow these six steps, not only will you be building a legitimate flying machine, but you will never, ever, ever experience a single Lawn-Chair Larry moment in your life.

And that’s worth its weight in gold.