REALBoard Buzz™
COVID – 19: Does Your Board Have this Covered?
In the news at home today, the federal Minister of Health, “cautioned Canadians to prepare for the ‘eventuality’ of [a coronavirus] outbreak here.” Elsewhere, we are witnessing more severe measures already in place such as the state of...
Writing Ends is more like distilling spirits than brewing beer!
Last winter my wife and I cruised the coast of Florida in our sailboat. We happened upon the city of St. Augustine and were thrilled by the number of attractions. We ended up staying an extra day as we had seen an advert for free winery,...
Why shouldn’t a board approve the CEO’s plans?
One of the changes a board experiences when it begins to use Policy Governance® is a move away from a more traditional decision-making process where the CEO requires the board’s...
Tradition or Renewal?
Is your board a product of many years of tradition with a few tweaks thrown in by well-meaning experts or based on books read by members? Perhaps it is time for an overhaul? But wait, things are working, sort of, and we wouldn’t want to change too much too fast. If...
Why Are We Wasting Time Talking About That?!
Perhaps you have found yourself in a board meeting wondering why the board was taking time to discuss something you thought had neither strategic nor fiduciary importance. You lamented, “Why is the board wasting time talking about this...
THINKING ABOUT CEO INCENTIVE PAY AS A QUESTION OF VALUES
In Policy Governance®, policies express a governing body’s values, so making those values explicit is the first step in answering a policy question. This is true of any important policy decision that a board wants to consider. One question a board may face is whether...
SO YOU’RE A POLICY GOVERNANCE CYNIC
I was in my rookie year of consulting to boards in the area of Policy Governance®. I knew the model well enough to present it with clarity and accuracy. What I had not faced were the objections to the model. “So tell me how this model is better than any other...
Why is Discipline a Dirty Word for Some Board Members?
In this age of disruption, what follows might seem heresy. We are encouraged to think outside the box, to view our businesses differently. I’ve no quarrel with that. But I’ve been witnessing some boards in which board members are shirking discipline and, in some...
At What Point do I Begin?
I am always pleased when I am invited by an organization to come and help them with their board of directors. Then comes the fine tuning of the invitation. They have requested to see all the various “systems” of board governance and learn...
Taking Stock – Hindsight Can Be Positive
“Hindsight is 20/20 vision.” We often consider this a negative statement as we rue some decision we have made. As we head into the literal year 2020, let’s consider the statement in a positive light. Hindsight literally means “thinking about things after they’ve...