There has been an increasing emphasis in the past few years on developing nonprofit governance frameworks that will ensure sustainability of organizations. The background to this emphasis has been the public scrutiny arising from governance related debacles such as the corporate meltdown of companies that includes Enron, Worldcom, Parmalat, HIH and OneTel, the tarnishing of the reputations of companies such as United Way, The Smithsonian INstitute, NRMA, Coles Myer and National Australia Bank, and the increased interest from regulators that has resulted in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and various international Stock Exchange Corporate Governance guidelines.

One of the major issues facing nonprofit Boards today is the tendency towards prescription and conformance with governance systems, rather than conscious governance that adds value to the organisation. A sophisticated and thorough compliance and governance system is only as useful as the people who are responsible for that governance. In other words, no amount of compliance or governance systems will compensate for Board members who do not consciously govern!

The processes of nonprofit governance and the systems that Boards should put in place are well documented. It is now time to move on to the delivery of the insight, passion, enthusiasm, excitement and energy that should be the right of every Board, and the contribution of every Board member.

Today’s members and stakeholders are increasingly holding companies responsible for a companies performance, which has lead to a shift in ensuring companies have truly strategic governance and an ethical strategy in place to guide core organisational activities. Business ethics can determine the security of an organizations profits and reputation in the market place, as well as act as a source of business driven innovation.

With all the corporate collapses of high profile companies locally and globally, questions are being asked. How far do directors responsibilities go? Is it now acceptable to confine contribution purely to financial matters or extend beyond professional codes and legal responsibility to ethical ones? Yet all too often, deficiencies in corporate governance are only discovered after companies file for bankruptcy.

Advanced Board Governance is about asking what would it take to conduct business even more profitably, asking the right questions, creating expansive decisions, and being open to strategic possibilities. This is the gift of governance. 

Advanced Board Governance Strategies

Our innovative points of view about governance describe ways that Boards and Board members can add value to the organizations they serve with conscious awareness.

Governance issues include the way an organization is structured, operated and controlled in order to achieve long term strategic goals, appropriate returns to the members and stakeholders, and good customer and employee relations.

Advanced Board Governance Strategies should consider the following

* Background to Emphasis on Governance-why is it so high profile?

* The Essence of Conscious Board Leadership

* Who can be a conscious leader?

* Being Conscious

* Conscious Leaders

* Unconscious leaders

* Anti-conscious leaders

* Becoming a Conscious Leader

* The Way You Think: Prosperity vs Scarcity

* Key Tools for Strategic Decision Making

* Board Authority and Leadership

* What is a Director?

* Constitution

* Accountability

* Board Evaluation

* Responsibility (to the public)

* Role of the Board

* Board time allocation checklist

* Skills and Resources

* Induction Process

* Board Committees and Structure

* Finance/Audit

* Succession Planning/Nominations

* Compliance/Internal Audit

* Operational Committees

* What Is Risk?

* The role of Governance and Risk

* Strategic Planning Skills for the Board

* Strategic plan preparation checklist

* Strategic Board Meeting Agenda to focus the Board

* Measuring The Implementation of Your Strategic Plan

* Governance: Best Practice

* What Board members need to know about finance-Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, cash flow, investments, retained earnings and key ratios