Tag: board governance Blog

Unity of Control – Why It Matters to a Healthy Board-CEO Relationship

Our firm helps organizations of all kinds improve their governance – corporations, non-profits, public agencies. One of the keys to a healthy relationship is unity of control.   Unity of control is the idea that it is the Board of Directors as a body that makes decisions for the organization – not individual Board members. It …

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How Do You Hold Board Members Accountable for Their Behavior?

We work with many different boards of directors in many different types of organizations. Our mission is always to improve board governance and effectiveness. One question keeps coming up: How do you hold dysfunctional board members accountable? When board members bad mouth staff, or disrupt meetings, or stray outside their lane into operational matters, what …

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A 5-Step Cycle for Effective Non-Profit Board Governance

One of the questions we frequently get is: How do non-profit Boards provide effective oversight? What is their governance role and how do they execute it effectively. The diagram below shows a 5-step cycle that can help illuminate the important aspects of non-profit Board governance. Step 1: The cycle begins with the Board providing overall …

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Effective Board Governance: 10 New Year’s Resolutions

In the spirit of the new year, here are 10 resolutions I think could apply to the boards of directors of non-profits and public agencies. Pick at least one for yourself and let’s check in 12 months from now!

Strategic Policy Governance – a System That Works for Publicly-Elected Boards

In my travels around the U.S., I work with many different organizations, including public power companies. I work with their publicly-elected Boards to help them figure out how to effectively govern their organizations.

Battling Bureaucratic Creep

Bureaucracy is the force in direct opposition to emergent intelligence. Fostering creative flow means constantly battling bureaucratic “creep.” Bureaucracy begins because a manager feels he or she has to exert control over something. So a “checkpoint” is installed to monitor the quality of a particular decision – say a customer service decision that has minor …

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Governance Framework Example

Organizations need a clear governance framework to function effectively. The framework should clarify the role of the governing body – and the role of staff. This tool provides an example of a governance framework that can help agencies achieve a high level of performance. Governing boards clearly have ultimate decision-making authority for everything under their …

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Developing Governance Policies – How Effective Boards Work

I worked recently with the Board of Directors of a large public power company. They needed stronger governance systems. I talked about how effective boards work. I detailed our approach. “With our framework,” I told them, “the board expresses exactly what it wants the organization to achieve in the form of policies. By defining what …

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Managing the Board of Directors

Today, I met with the head of a large public agency (10,000 employees) and we talked about managing his Board of Directors so that they are supportive of his vision.