The longest serving member of Maryland Technology Development Corporation’s (TEDCO’s) Board recently retired. He disappeared without any fanfare; simply signed off. He left as he’d served – quietly. He’d been around for over half of the life of the place. His impact on TEDCO was somehow both indelible and invisible, a lesson in selfless leadership. Warren Mullins was involved throughout TEDCO’s long reinvention and we wouldn’t be where we are as an organization today without his thoughtful, steady stewardship over the past decade. His departure got me thinking about how organizations evolve, how challenges are met, and what role board members should serve.

I suspect we have all served on boards and have seen among our board colleagues varying degrees of engagement, contribution and perspective. Some view the act of getting on a board as the end itself; others never take the time to truly understand an organization’s mission and relevancy; and a few confuse their role and muck around with staff and programs or worse, drive their own agendas. When times are good, credit is easily shared. But Warren demonstrated that it is in uncertain times that board members must truly engage.

What organization doesn’t profess a desire to change; the challenge for any board is to grapple with exactly what “change” means, whether the organization can handle change, and to understand their role in its implementation.TEDCO has seen an immense amount of change over the past several years.Warren’s quiet leadership over his tenure demonstrated an awareness that change takes time – no matter its perceived immediacy –that change arrives not through some clarifying statement but through people. Reshaping an organization’s human face takes empathy, patience and for TEDCO, new leadership.

TEDCO is in a far better place – one with a redefined and bright future for helping Maryland’s entrepreneurs – thanks in no small part to Warren’s unwavering commitment. Now as the fun begins – with a reimagined TEDCO gaining momentum – Warren has, as is his style, quietly left the place in far better shape than when he arrived over ten years ago. Bereft of fanfare but not of appreciation for the difference he made.

With more than 30 years’ experience in law and business, Newt Fowler, a partner in Womble Bond Dickinson’s business practice, advises many investors, entrepreneurs and technology companies, guiding them through all aspects of business planning, financing transactions, technology commercialization and M&A. He’s the pastboard chair of TEDCO and serves on the Board of the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore. Newt can be reached at newt.fowler@wbd-us.com.