The Practitioner’s Guide to Governance as Leadership: Building High-Performing Nonprofit Boards

235 Pages·2012·3.262 MB·English

by  Cathy A. Trower

CONTENTS
List of Exhibits, Figures, and Tables
Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1: The Governance as Leadership model
Premises
Underlying Assumptions
Governance Reform
The Three Modes or Mental Maps
Why Three Modes?
Chapter One Highlights
Chapter 2: Getting Started and Gaining Traction with Governance as
Leadership
What Is Optimized at Board Meetings?
What Is Different about Generative Governance?
Moving to Higher Purpose and Optimizing Performance: Beginning the Conversation
Moving to Higher Purpose and Optimizing Performance: Getting Started
Moving to Higher Purpose and Optimizing Performance: Getting Traction
Chapter Two Highlights
Chapter 3: Encouraging Critical Thinking in the Boardroom
Critical Thinking and Metacognition
Getting on the Balcony
Ways of Thinking
Impediments to Critical Thinking
Cognitive Biases and Board Workarounds
Social Loafing
Groupthink
Avoiding Groupthink and Its Close Cousins
Chapter Three Highlights
Chapter 4: Turning Your Board into a High-Performing Team
Social Systems
Groups and Teams
Boards as Teams
Effective Board Teams in the Context of Governance as Leadership
Chapter Four Highlights
Chapter 5: Creating a Governance-as-Leadership Culture
Culture
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Three Toxic Cultures
Culture Change
Culture Conducive to Governance as Leadership
Tools to Support a “Governance as Leadership–Friendly” Culture
Chapter Five Highlights
Chapter 6: What Governance as Leadership Requires of Leaders
Leadership
Chapter Six Highlights
Chapter 7: Measuring and Sustaining Governance as Leadership
Measuring Board Performance
Sustaining Governance as Leadership
Chapter Seven Highlights
Epilogue
References
Acknowledgments
The Author
BoardSource
Index
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“Trower offers non-profit boards a clearer and broader lens than heretofore available for addressing the
challenges and opportunities confronting the institutions they oversee. The greatest takeaway is the critical
importance of the oft-overlooked generative mode of the board – the ‘learning and discerning’ that are not
just nice-to-do but absolutely essential for effective board governance in these volatile, complex and
uncertain times.”
—Jan Bellack, president and John Hilton Knowles professor, MGH Institute for Health Professions
“It is only through the leadership of strong boards that organizations can advance their missions. Giving
boards the tools and practical advice they need to become best in class is essential to the strength of our
non-profit sector. Trower has done this in writing this practitioner’s guide.”
—Katie Sloan, COO and senior vice president, Leading Age
“Trower has done a masterful job of weaving the groundbreaking theories presented by the authors of
Governance as Leadership into an inspiring and practical ‘how to’ guide for those of us on the ground who
know the future hinges on the capacity of nonprofit board-executive teams to lead with skill, innovation,
and strategic insight.”
—Mary Ellen Jackson, executive director, NH Center for Nonprofits
“Trower has hit the nail on the head in terms of the need for contemporary not-for-profit governance to
transform itself. This is a must read for boards of directors of the sector because we are clearly in a new era
of a need to refocus on our responsibility for the public good, the transparent way in which we fulfill that
mission, and our accountability for the results we should achieve as stewards of the human and financial
resources for which we are responsible. And, it all begins in the board room!”
—Larry Minnix, president and CEO, LeadingAge
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Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Trower, Cathy A. (Cathy Ann)
The practitioner’s guide to governance as leadership : building high-performing nonprofit boards / Cathy A.
Trower. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-10987-8 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-22423-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-23736-6 (ebk); ISBN
978-1-118-26237-5 (ebk)
1. Nonprofit organizations—Management. 2. Corporate governance. 3. Directors of corporations. I. Title.
HD2769.15.T76 2013
658.4’22—dc23
2012033556
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To my husband, Bill, for his steadfast love and support.
To Richard Chait, William Ryan, and Barbara Taylor, for their wisdom.
To Alison Hankey, for planting the seed and encouraging this project.
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LIST OF EXHIBITS, FIGURES, AND TABLES
EXHIBITS
Exhibit 3.1 Readings on Mental Shortcuts and Cognitive Mistakes
Exhibit 3.2 Anchoring and Arbitrary Coherence in Action
Exhibit 3.3 The Abilene Paradox
Exhibit 4.1 CEOs and Board Chairs Talk About Candor and Trust
Exhibit 4.2 Life University Board Mission and Board Agreements
Exhibit 4.3 MGH Institute of Health Professions, Trustee Expectations and Statement of Commitment
Exhibit 4.4 Cedar Crest College, Board of Trustees Responsibilities/Norms
Exhibit 4.5 Daniel Webster College, Board Operating Agreements
Exhibit 4.6 Trinity College, Trustee Code of Conduct
Exhibit 4.7 Questions Frequently Asked by Board Members About What to Expect from Board Service
Exhibit 4.8 Individual Board Member Performance Self-Assessment
Exhibit 4.9 Board Team Assessment Survey
Exhibit 5.1 Board Sensemaking in Action
Exhibit 5.2 Board Member Personality Types Ranging from Destructive to Benign
Exhibit 5.3 Liberal Arts College, Board Meeting Goals
Exhibit 5.4 Sample Consent Agenda
Exhibit 5.5 CGLA Board of Directors “Before” Agenda
Exhibit 5.6 CGLA Board of Directors “After” Agenda
Exhibit 5.7 CGLA Organizational Performance Dashboard
Exhibit 5.8 Advance Surveys and Breakout Groups
Exhibit 5.9 Pre-Meeting Clarification Protocol
Exhibit 5.10Board Retreat/Meeting Evaluation
Exhibit 5.11Sample Committee Assessment Questions
Exhibit 5.12Sample Committee Assessment Tailored to a Specific Need
Exhibit 6.1 CEO Advice
Exhibit 6.2 CEOs and Board Chairs Reflect on Their Relationship and Leadership
Exhibit 6.3 Tips for Building the CEO-Chair Relationship
Exhibit 7.1 Sample Interview Questions
Exhibit 7.2 Sample Questions—Board Performance Profile
Exhibit 7.3 Sample Questions—How Well Informed Is the Board?
Exhibit 7.4 Sample Data Display—Highest and Lowest Ratings
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Exhibit 7.5 Sample Data Display—Least Consensus
Exhibit 7.6 Board Coach Services
FIGURES
Figure 1.1 The Governance Triangle
Figure 1.2 Depiction of a Triple Helix
Figure 1.3 Governance Modes or Mental Maps
Figure 1.4 Generative Thinking: Four Scenarios
Figure 3.1 Sample Cards in the Asch “Line Experiment”
Figure 6.1 Boards and Generative Opportunity
Figure 6.2 Contested Territory: In Theory
Figure 6.3 Contested Territory: In Reality
Figure 6.4 Common Ground
Figure 7.1 Information Gap Display Between What the Board “Should Be” and “Is” Informed
About
Figure 7.2 Sample Data Display: Lowest to Highest Composite Scores by Theme
Figure 7.3 Sample Data Display: Single Item Score Difference by Length of Service on the Board
Figure 7.4 Sample Data Display: Single Item Score Difference by Executive Committee Service
Figure 7.5 Sample Data Display: Excel “Radar” Chart
Figure 7.6 Sample Data Display: Overall Board Performance Grade Distribution
Figure 7.7 Sample Data Display: Time Well Spent
Figure 7.8 Board Performance Dashboard
TABLES
Table 1.1Fiduciary Oversight to Fiduciary Inquiry
Table 1.2Strategic Planning to Strategic Thinking
Table 1.3Comparing Type I and Type II Governance
Table 1.4Comparing Types I and II to Type III Rules
Table 1.5Comparing the Three Types of Governance
Table 3.1Questions for the Application of Universal Intellectual Standards
Table 3.2Hedgehogs and Foxes
Table 3.3Discussions Versus Dialogues
Table 4.1Characteristics Differentiating Boards from Other Teams
Table 4.2Board Member Trait and Preference Inventory (Extracts)
Table 4.3Sample 360 Questions for Boards
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