Board Leadership Archives - The Governance Coach

If Governing for the Future is So Important, Why are So Few Boards doing it well?

Posted by Richard Stringham
On May 12, 2022
Board Leadership, Future Focus, Strategic Foresight

At The Governance Coach™, we believe that truly responsible boards seek to shape meaningful futures. Yet, from what we’ve observed, only a select few are deeply engaged in that outcome. Here are a few reasons why boards are not getting to that level of profound future shaping and what they can do about those […]

Board Leadership, Blue Skies and Growing Up

Posted by Paul Zilz
On February 3, 2022
Accountability, Board Leadership, Ends, Owners and Ownership

Children ask questions that are both profound and require clear, age-appropriate responses. “Why is the sky blue?” Why does the sky have clouds?” “Why is there pink, red, and orange in the sky when the sun sets?” Behind each of these questions is a whole lot of science about water vapor and the color spectrum. […]

Embracing Complexity

Posted by Rose Mercier
On November 25, 2021
Board Development, Board Leadership, Strategic Foresight

I am reading an interesting book1 about leading in times of crisis and change. While its messages are directed in large part to individual leaders, there are many lessons in it for governing boards. After all, effective boards are leading organizations where change is a constant and crises are not unknown. Organizations are complex and […]

Where Is Our Board Taking Us?

Posted by Paul Zilz
On October 21, 2021
Board Leadership, Strategic Focus

My wife and I were recently taking a leisurely walk at sunset. As we looked up to the sky, we noticed the high-flying airplane contrails which were lit up in a variety of shades of red, yellow, and purple, contrasting with a deepening blue sky. My wanderlust mind led me to state “I wonder where […]

Organizational Culture and Policies: Where is the Connection?

Posted by Rose Mercier
On September 9, 2021
Board Leadership, Executive Limitations, Policy Development

Sometimes when boards start to develop Executive Limitations, they want to make sure their policies address organizational culture. Where might policies say it is unacceptable if the organization’s operations are inconsistent with our organizational culture? This question always starts an interesting conversation. How exactly is the board defining its organization’s culture? It’s a pretty big […]

Board Focus: Aspirational Mission Statement or Targeted Results?

Posted by Paul Zilz
On June 10, 2021
Accountability, Board Leadership, Strategic Focus

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 a key element for effective fundraising. But I would argue that your board’s time would best […]

Change or Growth?

Posted by Jannice Moore
On May 13, 2021
Board Development, Board Leadership, Policy Governance System

Every now and then, I run into a board that has been using Policy Governance®, often for some time, and decides it wants a “change” – just to try something different. Almost always, this desire is precipitated by a significant turnover in board members, and a failure on the part of the board to have […]

No Matter How The Wind Blows

Posted by governancecoach
On May 6, 2021
Board Leadership, Sustaining Policy Governance, Values

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 robin. The past weekend, the wind was blowing […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Gift of Time…to Focus

Posted by Andrew Bergen
On July 29, 2020
Board Leadership, Board Meetings

At this time, we are living through the necessity for physical distancing. Like most people around us, we are hoping for the time when restrictions will be lifted safely. My wife and I are having conversations imagining what the “new normal” will be like for the world, as I suspect many others are doing. And […]

Freedom In Discipline

Posted by Jannice Moore
On July 8, 2020
Board Development, Board Leadership, Governance Improvement

Has your board considered Policy Governance® but decided against it because it sounded like too much work, or you heard it was too confining? Often, this translates into “we don’t really want to exercise discipline.” Many boards tend to shy away from discipline. Perhaps it’s because the word evokes mental images of punishment – when […]

Boards, Purpose, and Policy Governance®

Posted by Rose Mercier
On July 1, 2020
Board Leadership, Ends

I read a lot of stuff. Online and print, articles and books, the most recent releases and the not-so-current: governance, strategy, management, culture, measurement, news, technology, music, food, mysteries…you get the idea. I don’t read everything with the same attention to detail with which I read governance books and articles. Often, I find myself having an internal dialogue about how an author’s ideas relate to Policy Governance® principles – the main […]

The Trick To Good Soup

Posted by Andrew Bergen
On June 24, 2020
Board Development, Board Leadership

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I’ve been exploring an emerging perspective on “Growth Mindset vs. Closed Mindset”. One of the leaders in this work is the Neuroleadership Institute. Their research indicates that the simple (yet often difficult) work of changing one’s mental model significantly shifts one towards possibilities that were previously unavailable. For example, I like soup. I […]

Why is Discipline a Dirty Word for Some Board Members?

Posted by Richard Stringham
On January 22, 2020
Board Leadership, Board Role, Board Self-Evaluation

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 cases, doing so because they want to make changes. Again, I don’t […]

Jet Trails or Trail Blazers?

Posted by Jannice Moore
On December 11, 2019
Board Leadership

On a recent walk I was enjoying the clear azure blue sky when I noticed a jet trail streaking across it. The trail made a spectacular impact, but in a few minutes it had faded from view. I was reminded about boards and board members I’ve encountered over my career. All too often their short-term thinking has a similarity with […]

How Well Has Your Board Performed This Year?

Posted by Paul Zilz
On December 4, 2019
Board Leadership, Board Self-Evaluation

As we near the end of the calendar year, we often take stock of performance: ours, those accountable to us, and our investments. Shouldn’t your board evaluate its own performance too, since it is accountable for your organization’s performance to whomever “owns” your organization? Most boards aspire to see the organizations they serve make a real difference in people’s […]

The Future Keeps Moving

Posted by Andrew Bergen
On November 13, 2019
Board Leadership, Future Focus

I’ve been on a journey the past 2 years – toward greater physical health. Those of you who know me might think there is a long road ahead! I’ve made significant progress and still have some distance to travel. I’ve always enjoyed running (not fast, but I get there!) and so have made that one […]

Meaning & Purpose in Governance

Posted by David Gray
On October 30, 2019
Board Leadership, Sustaining Policy Governance

I’ve been thinking lately about a particular feature of board performance that I see all too often. It’s a feature that has troubled me for some time now, but I think I’m beginning to understand why it happens and how to avoid it. Governance is a system. One of the most famous definitions of governance is found in what is commonly called […]

Does Your Board Have a Growth or a Fixed Mindset?

Posted by Andrew Bergen
On September 18, 2019
Board Leadership, Executive Limitations, Risk

I’ve been exploring the concept of “Growth vs. Fixed Mindset” over the past couple of months. A recent podcast* on the subject addressed this mindset partly in relation to the concept of risk. The podcast explained that a key factor in many areas of organizational health (including employee engagement, organizational growth, success of new ideas, etc.) was the […]

Eat One Hot Dog Faster

Posted by Andrew Bergen
On July 31, 2019
Board Leadership, Ends

One a recent episode of the Podcast* “Freakanomics Radio”, the host was interviewing world famous food eating champion Takeru Kobayashi. He is most well-known for taking on the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest at the age of 23 and walking away the winner. Not only did he win – but he doubled the record […]

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