REALBoard Buzz™
The End.
It all starts with the End. Ends policies signify the impact the organization seeks to have on the outside world. In Policy Governance®, the global Ends statement must have three components: the impact, difference, change, benefit or outcome in or for people...
Living on a Small Boat – Preparation Matters
Three weeks ago my wife Val and I set out to sail down the eastern seaboard to the Bahamas for the winter. I have just retired after 30 years as a pastor in the Anglican Church. There was much planning for this epic voyage. It began in 2011 when I first purchased...
Is Your Governance Doctor Up to Date?
During my years as a university student, a friend and I took up scuba diving. On one dive, I found that I was a bit more congested than I had realized and had difficulty equalizing the pressure in my ears. We fastidiously observed the rule to never dive alone and, not...
Prescribing vs. Proscribing
We love Policy Governance®, except for that negative language requirement. Why can’t we just tell the CEO how to do something? Tobe consistent with the model and still get its way, a board may go to great lengths to come up with creative ways of directing its CEO,...
What is Monitoring in Policy Governance®?
Does Your Board Govern as if It’s the “Top Dog” of the Organization?
This is a fundamental, but often overlooked, question for your board to ask: “What is our position and our role in this organization?” The way your board answers this question will determine, to a large extent, its focus and its processes. Many boards assume that they...
Remembering to Listen
I live in Canada. Currently, our government is involved in a disagreement with another nation regarding a tweet that was disagreeable. I’m not here to discuss the merits of either side of the issue at hand. A few days ago, I was listening to an interview on the radio...
It’s Our Blogiversary! Check out the TOP 10!
It's our "BLOGiversary"!!! We’re celebrating two years of blogs! If you missed any, here are our Top Ten most visited blogs. Click on the titles below to read or re-read our most popular pieces! Remedy for Governance Failure: Part 1 – Rose Mercier (Aug 7, 2018) What...
Remedy for a Governance Failure: Part 2: A Board is Ultimately Accountable for Everything
For those who haven’t yet read Part 1 of this blog, here is a short recap: the blog was motivated by a newspaper article about a board of a social housing organization that was removed by the body that gave it the authority to govern. I pondered on the types of...
Remedy for a Governance Failure: Part 1: TRUST….BUT VERIFY
Perhaps because I live in a smaller city, lots of circumstances that might otherwise be a footnote in a larger metropolitan area attract the local newspaper’s attention. Consequently, I have a rich source of revelations about the impact of poor governance. Last week’s...