“Unless we’re certain that what we do is helpful to our president, I won’t waste my time coming back.” The board member’s comment and the vehemence with which she delivered it, took me by surprise. From where I sat, it had seemed a productive meeting.
Shared governance and the cooperation instinct
November 14, 2012 By 2 Comments
You probably don’t think of Discover, a magazine devoted to science, technology, and the future, as a likely source of governance advice. But that’s what the December issue brought my way via the cover article titled “The Cooperation Instinct: Why Evolution Favors Nice Guys.” To be fair, author Kristin Ohlson would (rightfully) be surprised by [...]
Essentials of good faith governance
September 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Earlier this year, I took the first crack at bringing together into a single document the best of two decades of In Trust wisdom on the topic of good faith governance within the world of theological education. As you can appreciate, twenty years of teaching is a lot to condense into six essentials, plus commentary. [...]
It takes a team to win the board game (part 2)
July 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In my last post, I added a governance spin to two of four strategies from consultants Jack and Suzy Welch’s advice about “How to Build a Winning Team.” Now I’m back with commentary on the remaining two points. (The Welch’s words are in italic and mine are in regular face.) Third, winning teams are honest. [...]
The appropriately civil board
March 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A few posts back, I identified “dysfunctional civility” – a culture that shuts out hard questions and differences of opinions – as potentially hurtful to board performance. A board that refuses to hear, see, or speak about problems doesn’t add much value to an organization. However, board members who ignore the rules of appropriate governance behavior aren’t so helpful either. The [...]
Going nowhere fast
March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I use the phrase “dysfunctional civility” in my consulting work to describe a board culture that shuts out hard questions and differences of opinion. This week I came across a companion descriptor that I plan to add to my workshop repertoire — “dysfunctional momentum.” Michelle Barton and Kathleen Sutcliffe coined the phrase in an article that appeared [...]
