Governance Failure Archives - The Governance Coach

Board Oversight of Workplace Discrimination

Posted by Richard Stringham
On August 12, 2020
Accountability, Governance Failure, Monitoring

If you sit on the board of directors for an organization, how do you know whether there has been unacceptable discrimination in the operational ranks? I’m not talking about discrimination based upon qualifications necessary for the position. Instead, I’m referring to discrimination based on factors such as skin tone, creed, gender identification, or disabilities. Each […]

Remedy for a Governance Failure: Part 2: A Board is Ultimately Accountable for Everything

Posted by Rose Mercier
On August 14, 2018
Accountability, Executive Limitations, Governance Failure, Monitoring

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 governance failure that would […]

Remedy for a Governance Failure: Part 1: TRUST….BUT VERIFY

Posted by Rose Mercier
On August 7, 2018
Accountability, Executive Limitations, Governance Failure, Monitoring

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 secondary front page story revealed that the municipality had removed both the […]

Wild Boars – or Wild Boards

Posted by Jannice Moore
On September 12, 2017
Accountability, Governance Failure, Governance Improvement

A typo in a newspaper headline earlier this year caught my eye. The photo was of several wild boars, and the headline read “Alberta admits defeat in attempt to wipe out wild BOARD with bounty.” [emphasis added] The article goes on to explain how wild boars have damaged crops and riverbanks, cut fences allowing domestic […]

Could this Headline be about Your Organization?

Posted by Richard Stringham
On June 13, 2017
Executive Limitations, Governance Failure, Monitoring

It is the headline that board members dread: “Former Treasurer Charged with Defrauding [name of the organization]”. Yet, in the past month, I’ve caught two of those headlines in my local newspaper. It’s by no means the first as I’ve seen several such headlines over the years and met board members who tell me horror […]

How to End up as Front Page News!

Posted by Rose Mercier
On September 6, 2016
Governance Failure, Strategic Foresight

I have yet to encounter a board that doesn’t want to be proud of its organization’s achievements. A board might even hope to be front page news for something brilliant the organization does. I recently read about an organization which had just received a significant Foundation grant, matching the amount it had previously been granted […]