Articles

Thoughts and perspectives on how organizations can achieve strong policy governance.

Governance Solutions

WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT GOVERNANCE? We Need “New” Solutions People seem to believe that the status quo still isn’t working because they...

Do I need a professional facilitator?

Insights into group dynamics are essential to facilitators to successfully accomplish the purpose of the meeting. Facilitators should...

On board service

Dear Association Executive: Recently on the American Society of Association Executive’s (ASAE) Executive Section listserv, there have...

What do nonprofit governing boards do?

Defining governance is not easy. If you google “definition on governance,” you will find over 500,000 entries. Governance is a generic...

A Failure of Leadership

Last week, President Obama spoke of a “failure of leadership” at GM. What happens to GM affects their employees, vendors, retirees,...

Twittering?…follow this!

Terrance Barkan asks: “Is ‘Social Media’ going to significantly change your organization?” Take the short 12-question survey! What do you...

Averting a crisis due to lack of funding

Those of you who know me know that I’m a big fan of Thomas Friedman. His book, The World is Flat” changed all of my perceptions about the...

Horse sense for people

From Rick Lamb of The Horse Show came the following gem. People in groups have similar focus issues! When I read this, I thought that...

Democracy is messy

Last night, President Obama said that democracy is messy. Democracy is messy. Governing boards represent democracy in action and the...

Governance is a new word to many

An acquaintance asked me yesterday what I do. “I work with board and executive leaders on a system of governance that helps them get rid...

Lessons on Policy Governance® from The Little Red Hen

The Little Red Hen was an industrious little hen. From a few seeds, she had a vision of a beautifully golden, richly fragrant loaf of...

ROI on Social Media?

Reading Scott Stratten’s book on Unmarketing. His take on ROI for social media (about it giving him ulcers!) resonates with me. As it did...

Geographically dispersed boards

Most of my client teams (board and staff leaders) are geographically dispersed. As an organizational and governance consultant, I give...

Policy Governance Drove Me to…

Psychology. Why is it difficult for many?/most? boards to move to a comprehensive, logical system of governing? What’s that old joke:...

I need someone to organize my virtual social life

Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Google Plus, groups, followers, followings, likes/dislikes….AAAGGGGHHH! I can’t keep track. Oh...

Classic NPO mistakes in hiring a CEO

I recently got this question from one of my professors in I-O Psychology: “Have you noticed that non-profit organizations tend to write...

Workforce planning – Do it now

In the public sector, I found that leaders knew the perfect storm of a labor shortage was coming. What they didn’t understand was that...

Corporate accountability – blah, blah, blah

This morning, The Xylem Group had a very interesting teleconference. We discussed the debates and dialogs going on over corporate...

Boards that add value are accountable for a healthy organizational future

When a board spends most of its time reviewing what happened in the past (e.g., monthly reports or budget reports), it is merely...