In this episode of Build Better Boards, hosts Dr. Keri Jacobs and Richard Fagerlin open a new series on running strategic decisions through the lens of the seven cooperative principles, using growth as the entry point.

• The dual mandate: Co-op leaders carry two responsibilities at once: running a competitive, sustainable business and maintaining a member-centric enterprise grounded in principles. Holding both is the tension every big decision should be tested against.
• The central question for any growth decision: Will this strengthen or weaken the cooperative? Keri frames strength through cooperative health, which depends on alignment across four structures: governance and control, ownership, member benefits, and purpose.
• Why member heterogeneity matters: As members grow more dissimilar in size, needs, and how they use the co-op, decisions that serve the whole get harder. Friction in the boardroom and the membership often shows up here before it reaches the financials.
• Representation and understanding in the boardroom: Richard and Keri work through the question of how a board can reflect a diverse membership while also building shared understanding across every segment, especially when a small share of members drives most of the volume.
• Naming the trade-offs out loud: Every yes is also a no. Boards benefit from naming what a decision sets aside, where it benefits members differently, and how it aligns with the strategy set by directors who came before them.

This is the first in a series. Future episodes will go deeper into applying the principles to specific strategic decisions.

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