"Board Discipline" is not a punitive concept, but a positive one. The word "discipline" comes from the same root as "disciple," which has to do with receiving teaching, not punishment.

"…governing boards [have] enough autonomy to become originators of new regenerative forces … if a strong Board sets distinction as its goal, invests the time and energy, organizes itself for the task, and stays with it, distinction is practically assured. The place to start is with an unequivocal trustee obligation to deliver a new, more serving [organization].

"The most important qualification for trustees should be that they care for the [organization], which means that they care for all the people the [organization] touches, and that they are determined to make their caring count." [emphasis added]

Robert Greenleaf. Servant Leadership.
Indianapolis: The Robert K. Greenleaf Center, 1977.

"…true listening builds strength in other people … The best test of whether we are communicating … is to ask ourselves, first, are we really listening? Are we listening to the one we want to communicate to? Is our basic attitude, as we approach the confrontation, one of wanting to understand?"

"We think more about the use of our money, which is renewable, than we do about the use of our time, which is irreplaceable … the Peter Principle is really about reaching our level of burnout, that level where we feel too much stress and dissatisfaction with our job to be performing at our best … Heart disease is a direct outgrowth of Western culture, found in societies in a hurry, in which life is rushed … the best way to slow down is to experience natural rhythms …"

Stephan Reschtschaffen, M.D. Time Shifting.
New York: Doubleday, 1996, pp. 145, 150, 172, 218.

"…there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. For the innovator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new ones. The hesitation of the latter arises in part from the fear of their adversaries, who have current laws on their side, and in part from the general skepticism of mankind which does not really believe in an innovation until experience proves its value. So it happens that whenever his enemies have occasion to attack the innovator, they do so with the passion of partisans while his supporters defend him sluggishly, so that both the innovator and his party are vulnerable."

"Trustees exist to serve the public trust." (Paul Olson, president of the Blandin Foundation, whose focus is healthy rural communities.) James Tatum asks us to consider what would happen if every decision were prefaced with these deliberate questions:

Keep it simple

 John Kotter. Summarized from Leading Change