Introduction – Board Readiness

“be prepared”

Although we should consider it the first domain of board responsibility, board readiness is often an after-thought, or is completely ignored by boards who are focused on one or another of the other three areas. But boards that fail to fully and effectively perform their responsibilities of strategic voice, operational guidance, and accountability inevitably do so because they have not paid attention to their own readiness for those responsibilities. They literally are “too busy” to get organized by reflecting on and recalibrating (as necessary) their own governance ‘operating system’ This foundational responsibility both precedes and supports effective performance in the other three domains.

To prepare itself for more readily observed areas of functional responsibility, the board must systematically prepare and renew itself, establishing a solid foundation on which to govern.

Starting with a comprehensive understanding of its own core purpose, the board must commit as both servant and leader to a growth mindset and a belief in its own capacity for growth through self-improvement effort.

Reviewing its own past performance and thoughtfully reflecting on the board role, reviewing each of its responsibilities in turn, the board reviews the past in order to prepare for the future.