Boards must assign responsibility for doing the work. They must delegate sufficient authority over the work to get the job done. And they must assure accountability for the work.
Seven (Not So) Simple Rules for Board Success – Part II
Tag: Governance
Actions of a board of directors to assure, on behalf of others, that an organization is successful.
Seven (Not So) Simple Rules for Board Success – Part I
Board success depends on many elements, including the organization’s leadership and culture, the board’s actions, knowledge, and character, and the situation, but the purpose of board leadership can be simply defined as assuring, on behalf of the community, that the organization succeeds. One way to portray leadership is a three-legged stool – each leg must be present for the three to stand together – consisting of responsibility, authority, and accountability. Leaders at every level, including the board in its leadership role, must accept full responsibility for their level in the organization. They must know those whom they serve. They must assign responsibility for doing the work. They must delegate sufficient authority over the work to get the job done. And they must assure accountability for the work. Before all else, they must take responsibility and be accountable for the board’s own performance.
Boards Matter – Part I
Boards Matter – Part I Board members sometimes wonder: “Am I prepared for this job?” “Can the board contribute anything of importance to the mission?” “Does the work of a board matter?” In the film Mr. Holland’s Opus there is a scene in which the school board, in a budget-cutting move, votes to cut the arts program, eliminating the music teaching job to which Mr Holland (Richard Dreyfus) has dedicated his adult life. The board is portrayed as dimwitted and Read More …
From the Boardroom: Questions Many Boards Never Think to Ask (Part III)
In Parts I and II of this post, we considered questions rarely (maybe never) asked by Board members regarding orientation and professional development of board members, the full Board, and its Superintendent/staff. This third part will deal with questions about some strategic Board-level functions: About Planning Strategic Board Functions Strategic planning. Q#1: Does the Board take responsibility for strategic planning? The Board is likely to answer this question in the affirmative, as this is something the Board does pay attention to, Read More …
From the Boardroom: Questions Many Boards Never Think to Ask (Part II)
From the Boardroom: Questions Many #Boards Never Think to Ask (Part II) December 16, 2017 Rick Maloney In Part I of this post, we considered some questions rarely (perhaps never) asked by Board members regarding such topics as the orientation the Board provides to its members, ongoing Board member professional development, and professional development for the Board as a body, focusing on collective behaviors that are not addressed in individual Board member professional development. Some more “never think to ask” Read More …
Board-CEO Relationship: A Three-Legged Stool
A Three-Legged Stool In any leadership situation, including the leadership role assumed by a board of directors, a conceptual trio of responsibility, authority, and accountability share an inseparable relationship. Boards of directors must understand this relationship if they are to succeed. Like the legs of a three-legged stool, they must be kept in balance, or they will not stand. Ineffective boards pay little or no attention to this essential balance. A hands-on board, for example, that refuses to delegate authority Read More …
Servant Leadership, A Dual Role for Boards
In his 1977 book Servant Leadership Robert Greenleaf tells of a journey, and a man named Leo… …who accompanies the party as the servant who does their menial chores, but who also sustains them with his spirit and his song. He is a person of extraordinary presence. All goes well until Leo disappears. Then the group falls into disarray and the journey is abandoned. They cannot make it without the servant Leo. The narrator, one of the party, after some Read More …
Dealing With the Board’s Limitations
Dealing with the Board’s Limitations Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. – Leo Tolstoy Recently I described some limitations that can get in the way of board effectiveness, and offered ideas about: Board voice – Unless we “speak” as a board and in writing, what we say as board members has little impact. We should use the power of our “board voice” by putting it in writing; The board – Respect “the board” Read More …
The Ten-Year Agenda as a Strategic Device
Operational or Strategic? Most agendas, as described in a recent post (see The Board Agenda, August 18, 2017) are filled with operational matters. Finding out “what the staff are up to” is surely interesting to board members, and it is tempting to excuse it as part of the organizational accountability/evaluation/monitoring function for which a board is responsible, but it is too often just a matter of “wandering around” in the data. The problem with this situation is that there is Read More …
The Board Agenda
Board Business or Staff Business: An Agenda that Works – Because a board only acts when it officially meets, and board meetings only occur periodically, it is very important to pay attention to what the board actually does during meetings. In 2008 I wrote an article for the American School Board Journal, describing how our board structured its meetings to focus the board’s work on the board’s business (that which only the board can do, and that which is only Read More …