the realboard excellence advantage™
What does board coaching look like?
Teams in every sport need a coach. Coaches usually don’t play on the team. They understand the game and use that understanding to develop a game plan that will help the team win. However, no team wants its coach to put together a plan, walk into the dressing room, throw it down on the table and walk out. A good coach is constantly pressing the players toward excellence, while pointing out ways that the team can improve. That doesn’t mean the coach is smarter or can play the game better. Rather, the coach draws upon his or her experience and understanding of the game so that the players around him can succeed.
Boards are no different. They are teams. They need someone from the outside to provide a game plan for the team and the perspective that challenges the team to be the very best it can be.
The Governance Coach™ is that someone. The Governance Coach consultants have a six step approach to coaching, designed on the basis of over 100 cumulative years of experience, called The REALBoard Excellence Advantage™. Here are the steps:
Clarity Consultation™
This step is designed to assess the current governance capabilities of your board, ensure the board understands the purpose of governance, how a principles-based system – Policy Governance® – works, and why a system is important. We take time to answer your questions about how the system would work in your particular situation.
The Board Management Accountability Process™
In this step we use our Policy Architecture Blueprint™ to facilitate crafting a set of policies that provide unambiguous expectations for your CEO, and clarify your own processes of governing.
The Alignment Process™
You have the basics of the Policy Governance model in place. As you begin applying the principles you notice that your board has certain structures and practices in place that need to be changed. This might include how you use committees, and optimizing the structure and content of your board agendas. Also you may recognize that certain corporate documents, such as by-laws, need to be amended so that those documents align with your new governance structure. Now you need to take the steps to make those changes.
The Accountability Culture Enhancer™
Policy Governance seemed like a wonderful idea when you started. But without a culture of accountability, it is easy to postpone or even ignore the disciplines that are needed for it to work effectively. With The Accountability Culture Enhancer, your coach challenges your board to develop an ethos where accountability is the norm. Your board will be diligent in carefully assessing the monitoring reports it receives, rather than taking a cursory peek at the report or hoping that someone else looks at the report carefully. Your board will regularly evaluate its own meetings to make sure it focuses only on those items that are its responsibility rather than getting into the administrative weeds. Your board will have a plan for holding itself accountable for how it has agreed to conduct itself as it governs. Connecting with those on whose behalf you govern will be more than a good idea. Your board will develop a plan by which it intentionally maintains this connection.
The Vision Refiner™
By now you have implemented a plan to connect with those on whose behalf you govern and know how to connect the information you gather to Ends – the policies in which the board sets out your organization’s purpose and the difference it is to make in the world. The Vision Refiner is the part of coaching that presses your board agendas toward a heightened awareness of the context in which your organization operates, with an increasing focus on developing risk acumen, future direction-setting and exercising strategic foresight.
The REALBoard Legacy Builder™
Your board has spent a lot of time and energy exploring various governance options. It has invested significantly in the implementation and application of Policy Governance. What a tragedy if this investment only lasts as long as the current board is in place. The REALBoard Legacy Builder allows you to create a lasting legacy that outlives the tenure of individual board members. Your coach will assist you in developing a governance succession plan as well as developing habits to grow your investment in good governance.
Great coaches make sure great players develop great habits. Then great players make great teams where winning becomes a culture. If your team is committed to make great governance a culture, The Governance Coach wants to help you reach that goal. We start where you are, and walk with you on the journey, providing expert coaching and practical resources.