Why does the Board exist? If you think it is to simply hire and fire the CEO, then stop what you're doing and listen to this.
3 ways to handle a board decision you disagree with (even if you are the lone voice)
Reasonable people can disagree on important issues. But what do you do if you firmly believe the consensus decision is wrong and that the Board is veering toward a decision that could be extremely damaging?
6 ways you can assist an underperforming Board member
What do you do when a new Director is not performing to the standard expected of them? Whether this Director was tapped on the shoulder or was the successful applicant, ongoing performance should be non-negotiable.
How to create an action plan that supports your strategy
Action planning should be viewed as the architecture of your strategic goal setting. Without a realistic set of incremental steps, overarching strategies are not likely to form in the way you would like (if at all).
The Case for Nonprofit Board Succession Planning
In a recent study, less than half the nonprofit CEOs surveyed said they did not have an adequate succession planning process in place. If building a board leadership pipeline is among the most important areas for board improvement, why does it routinely fail to take priority?
5 choices you can make to become a Conscious Leader in your workplace and in your life
Cultivating what it means to be a conscious leader is not a deception, pretense or a performance. It is a deliberate choice about how you choose to live and about how you choose to be a leader at work and in your life.
The 10 duties and responsibilities that every Director must understand
Use the following as a sample of Director standards with which to inform and assess each Director on the Board as well as incoming candidates or volunteers.
How to cut down wasteful Director micromanagement with a good Board induction program
If decision making around the Board room is likely to recede into the weeds its productivity and effectiveness is greatly diluted. The Board induction program is the first and greatest opportunity to set personal expectations from the beginning of a Director’s tenure.
Risk Management 2.0: How to turn risk and uncertainty into opportunity and innovation
Risk and uncertainty are forces that are part of everyday life. How you respond to risk can be the difference between an enduring organization and an endangered one.
What is an in camera session? How to maintain confidentiality in the Boardroom without generating fear
“In camera” is a Latin term which can be understood to mean an "in private" session in this context. It involves a confidential meeting, or a portion of a meeting, taking place with only Board members present.
For the nonprofit CEO: 3 responsibilities you must embrace for higher performance
The CEO has the challenging task of implementing the Board’s policies and strategies, engaging with key stakeholders, managing staff, and managing the resources of the organization.
[Watch] How to remain competitive and resilient with scenario planning
The role of scenario planning is crucial for any business – it opens a constructive space with which to index all the environmental risks which could disrupt your organization, and discuss how your resources could be allocated to minimize their impact should they play out.
Stop competing for less: How to adopt a 'blue ocean strategy' and unlock value innovations in the Boardroom
Why do some companies succeed in creating new markets while others fail?This question has driven the work of W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne over the past ten years and led them to conceptualize a framework for business innovation and success: Blue Ocean Strategy.
What is strategic awareness? 8 ways you can begin to use it in business and in life
Strategic awareness rarely features in modern textbooks on management, yet is something that can fundamentally change conversations and decision-making at the Board level.
In essence, strategic awareness is the...
Leadership VS friendship: How to maintain a relationship in the workplace for those in positions of authority
Have you ever seen one of your close peers receive a promotion, or be appointed to a Board, only to then treat you and existing workplace friends in a different, negative way?
Before you alert the press: How to evaluate merger opportunities for the greatest compatibility
The primary reason driving most mergers is to gain some type of advantage or to stave off some sort of disaster. The only way organizations can decide if a merger makes sense is to evaluate whether it significantly advances their vision and strategic objectives. Since these strategies are, presumably, designed to increase the ability of the organization to deliver against its vision, their accomplishment should, by definition, increase profitability.
The responsibilities of the Honorary Treasurer are too much for any one individual. Try this instead.
Many nonprofit organizations elect or appoint an individual to the position of Treasurer and that person is deemed responsible for the financial management of the organization.
For the senior executive: the 5 tips you need to become an innovator
This commonly accepted business practice tends to compel people to believe that they need to cut costs to improve revenue and profit, making expenses the focus of the business strategy, not revenue generation. This often leads management to make decisions that actually harm the organization.
How do you stop a great CEO from leaving? Change their performance management
One of the key assets of any nonprofit organization is its CEO (or MD, EO, GM, Coordinator or any other title that represents the chief staff leader). A primary reason many great CEOs choose to leave their organization is due to poor handling of their performance management by the Board, or sometimes not at all.
How to strengthen the most important relationship in your nonprofit
The relationship between the nonprofit Board Chair and the CEO is arguably the most important relationship in the organization.