REALBoard Buzz™

Goldilocks and Monitoring Reports

Posted by Richard Stringham
On April 15, 2021
Monitoring

Among the many things that I wish I’d known when I was younger is: wait for it…how to write effective reports for the board. Okay, I realize that’s not a tantalizing subject for most young men, but in my earlier career it certainly occupied more of my time than it deserved. I reported to the […]

We’ve Always Done it This Way…

Posted by Jannice Moore
On April 8, 2021
Board Agendas, Board Meetings, Board Role

As I cleared away the remainder of our Easter ham this week, I was reminded of an old story. “Mom, why do you always cut the end off the ham before cooking it?” asked the youngster. “Well, that’s the way my mother always did it.” “But why did she do it that way? “I don’t […]

Maintaining Policy Governance® Muscles

Posted by Rose Mercier
On April 1, 2021
Board Development, Governance Improvement, Sustaining Policy Governance

My colleague, Ted Hull, wrote a blog a couple of years ago , about how boards can ensure the gains experienced through Policy Governance are not lost. However, because I think it’s impossible to overemphasize the importance of being intentional about sustaining excellence in governing, I decided to revisit this topic. Given my long history in […]

Board Intervention does Not Guarantee Better Decisions

Posted by Richard Stringham
On March 11, 2021
Accountability, Board Role, Values

Several years ago, I was coaching a board which had recently issued a public position statement on behalf of its organization. Unfortunately, the position it took was based on inadequate information and damaged the credibility of some of the association’s members, in addition to the association’s credibility. The irony was that the board had a […]

Is it Time to Do Away with Board Values Lists?

Posted by Richard Stringham
On March 4, 2021
Accountability, Board Leadership, Values

I’m not a big fan of boards creating lists of values. There. I’ve finally come out and said it and I’m glad I did! Of course, now I need to explain myself. A few decades ago, I ran a youth leadership development program. Toward the end of my tenure as the program manager I convinced […]

The Best Boards Maximize Time on One Type of Information

Posted by Paul Zilz
On February 25, 2021
Board Agendas, Board Meetings, Governance Improvement

How many times have you sat in a board meeting wondering why you were discussing what you were discussing and feeling frustrated that the “real” issues weren’t being discussed? Often that frustration can be traced to one key issue: The board doesn’t understand how to properly distinguish between the three types of information it handles: […]

Co-CEOs: Dream Team or Bad Dream?

Posted by Rose Mercier
On February 18, 2021
Accountability, CEO Evaluation, Clear Delegation

If someone asks me, “Can a Policy Governance® board have co-CEOs?” my longish reply is some version of ”Yes. However . . .” Let’s deal first with the “yes” part of my answer. It is not inconsistent with Policy Governance if two people occupy the role of CEO. The board directs the co-CEOs as […]

Stakeholders’ Place in Governance

Posted by David Gray
On February 11, 2021
Owners and Ownership, Policy Governance System

A recent article on boardagenda.com caught my eye[1]. The thrust of the article is that, as a result of the pandemic, businesses are being compelled to “…adopt more of a ‘stakeholder’ approach to governance.” To this end, the article argues that businesses ought to have “…a special committee to represent stakeholder interests to the board […]

Building a Better Airplane

Posted by Richard Stringham
On February 4, 2021
Board Leadership, Governance Improvement

Orville and Wilbur Wright (yes, the chaps credited with inventing the or airplane), were known to have debated each other fiercely on various ideas. What made those debates unusual, and I expect more productive, was the fact that they would change sides in the debate. Few of us would dispute the need for critical thinking […]

Change Fatigue or Opportunity

Posted by Andrew Bergen
On January 21, 2021
Board Leadership, Strategic Focus

The fact that the world situation in the past 10 months has demanded much change from everyone is not news to any of us. We have all had to adapt – work patterns, schooling, parenting, shopping, dining, entertainment – and everything else has required new ways for us to interact. We have, in fact, been […]

With Apologies to Julia Child – The Art of Governance through Mastery of First Principles

Posted by Rose Mercier
On January 13, 2021
Policy Governance System

Every once in while, I read something that produces an ‘eureka’ moment. That happened last week when an article about Julia Child was brought to my attention. If you knew how much I enjoy being creative in the kitchen, you might not be surprised I responded enthusiastically to the Farnham Street post.[1] But it wasn’t […]

Boards In The Future

Posted by Dee Incoronato
On January 7, 2021
Board Recruitment, Board Role

What will board composition be like in the future? When thinking about future board members there is a danger in assuming everyone in a demographic grouping is alike. However, there are some basic similarities that reflect the characteristics of different generations which may be useful in imagining governance for the future. Who Will They Be? […]

Merry Christmas from The Governance Coach™

Posted by Jannice Moore
On December 22, 2020

A message of hope from Jannice Moore, President of the The Governance Coach™

Just Waiting, or Preparing?

Posted by Jannice Moore
On December 17, 2020
Board Development, Board Leadership

This season prior to Christmas is known in church calendars as the season of Advent, the time of “waiting” for Christmas to arrive, re-enacting the period of waiting for the birth of the Messiah. Advent is a season of Hope. This year, perhaps more than any other, we need to hold on to hope. In […]

Accountability: A Governance Imperative for Charities – and Others

Posted by Jannice Moore
On December 9, 2020
Accountability, Policy Governance System

The effects of the pandemic have created a significant hit on the bottom line for charities. As many businesses have scaled down or shut down, temporarily or permanently, resulting in job losses, an Angus Reid poll in Canada earlier this fall (even before the second COVID wave hit) indicated 37 per cent of those surveyed […]

How Does a Policy Governance Board Evaluate its CEO?

Posted by Ted Hull
On November 25, 2020
Accountability, CEO Evaluation, Monitoring

One of the most common questions I’m asked is “How does a Policy Governance® board evaluate its CEO?” Let me suggest that if your board is asking this question, it is asking the wrong one. If you hired someone to build a fence, you wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) evaluate the competence of the carpenter while the […]

Is Your Board Examining the Right Costs?

Posted by Richard Stringham
On November 19, 2020
At What Worth, Values

In a recent episode of NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast, Vivian Lee, the author of: “The Long Fix: Solving America’s Health Care Crisis with Strategies that Work for Everyone,” describes the results of a substantive change that took place in Utah’s Medicaid program. Prior to the change, health care providers were paid for each medical procedure […]

How a Board can Embrace Diversity

Posted by Rose Mercier
On November 11, 2020
Board Development, Values

It would be hard not to notice the proliferation of media stories, academic and industry research, anecdotal evidence, and statistics about the diversity – or lack thereof – on boards of directors. Corporate boards, in particular, have been under pressure from institutional investors, governments and regulators to address gender diversity, and there are many excellent […]

If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going…

Posted by Andrew Bergen
On October 28, 2020
Ends, Future Focus

One of my favorite pieces of literature is Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. At one point in the story, Alice has an exchange with the Cheshire Cat that goes like this: Alice: “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want […]

Monitoring Financial Condition

Posted by David Gray
On October 21, 2020
Monitoring

It’s not unusual for boards which have not previously worked with the Policy Governance® model to respond very positively when it is explained to them and to express enthusiasm for implementing the model. However, it’s also not unusual for boards new to the model to stumble when it comes to using limitation policies to monitor […]

Taking Care of What’s Important

Posted by Rose Mercier
On October 14, 2020
Board Leadership, Board Meetings

In the early years of my consulting career, I was frequently involved with personal and professional leadership development projects. A frequent reference in those years was Steven Covey and his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People[1]. One of Covey’s many insightful concepts offers food for thought for boards, in general, and reinforces the positive outcomes […]

Shift Happens

Posted by Jannice Moore
On September 30, 2020
Board Development, Board Orientation, Policy Governance Implementation

Indulge me in a little nostalgia. Before COVID, I spent a lot of time in airplanes. I had the flight attendant announcements memorized: “In preparation for landing, please fasten your seatbelts, ensure your seat backs and table trays are in the upright and locked positions, and stow your carryon baggage safely. Please use caution when opening overhead […]

Strategic Importance of Effective Board Education

Posted by Paul Zilz
On September 16, 2020
Board Development, Board Role, Strategic Focus

The Jewish Torah tells a compelling story of a Middle Eastern shepherd encountering a bush that burns but is not consumed. The shepherd, known by the name of Moses, was curious and approached the bush only to be called in a new direction by the God known by the Jewish people as Yahweh. This encounter led to Moses taking an entirely new life path that led […]

Make a Real Strategic Difference: Stop Managing and Start Governing!

Posted by Paul Zilz
On September 9, 2020
Clear Delegation, Governance Improvement, Policy Governance System, Strategic Focus, Strategic Leadership

I recently observed a board meeting where the board discussed whether or not to renew a contract with one of the organization’s vendors. Clearly, a majority of board members and the Executive Director were frustrated by a perceived lack of responsiveness from this vendor, and alternatives had been explored. Inevitably, someone asked if a motion […]

The Board’s Policy Manual – An Essential Tool

Posted by Rose Mercier
On September 2, 2020
Board Leadership, Policy Development

You shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the board’s essential tool in Policy Governance® is its policy manual. After all, it is “Policy” Governance. However, you might be surprised to learn that a board can control and direct the entire organization in a relatively short document. Thirty or so pages is usually sufficient. This realization is welcome relief for boards whose previous policy manuals ran to hundreds of pages, and who may have drafted policies in response to crises, inadvertently […]

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