REALBoard Buzz™
How Do You Know What You Don’t Know?
One day I was using a hand saw to cut a piece of wood. I knew enough to keep my hands in a safe position and brace the piece of wood. I also knew there are tough spots in wood, called knots, that can catch the blade, causing it to stick. Armed with this knowledge I...
If it Was Easy, Everyone Would Do It!
Policy Governance® is a model of governance based on a set of integrated principles. When a board consistently applies these principles, the organization is positioned for incredible impact. The hope of what could be is easy to grasp. When a board evaluating how it...
Three Considerations when Recruiting for Board Diversity
As more research comes in, the case for diversity at the board table grows even stronger. Diverse perspectives at the board table translate into greater board success and reduced risk. This has some boards asking how they can increase diversity at the board table. 1....
You Have the Tools to Govern, But Are You Healthy Enough to Maximize Their Potential?
When boards seek to govern with excellence, they often seek out a system or model of governance to help guide them. In other words, they look for a tool they can wield to help them get the job done. Policy Governance® is such a tool, and a wonderful one at that....
Where is Mr. Spock When You Need Him?
In previous careers, I have worked for several CEOs of non-profit organizations in which the respective boards weren’t using Policy Governance®. Meetings of the board were always intriguing from the perspective of understanding what the board was thinking. Prior...
Board Focus: Aspirational Mission Statement or Targeted Results?
Everybody appreciates an aspirational mission statement! Boards and staff often spend significant time developing and refining a mission statement that best captures what the organization does for others. And a mission statement is indeed very useful for branding and...
Efficiency Lessons for Boards Using Policy Governance®
In an interview on the CBC Radio program SPARK , Roger Martin, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, contends that businesses’ obsession with efficiency over the past two centuries has gone too far. Although efficiency has...
Evidently this is Not Evidence!
Earlier on in my consulting career, it was common to come across boards in which directors thought that the Board Chair should be the CEO’s boss. However, when a board uses Policy Governance®, board members should operate in a manner that recognizes the board as a...
No Matter How The Wind Blows
The arrival of spring is always welcome. For my wife and me, one of the best parts of spring is the return of many migrating birds to our heavily treed yard. Finches of all varieties, woodpeckers, martins, hummingbirds and, of course, the iconic bird of spring, the...
You Want to Measure What?
In my decade-long path of helping boards and CEOs implement practices that support the elegant governance system that is Policy Governance®, I have learned that monitoring is both embraced and cursed. Embraced for its promise of providing evidence that the...