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Governance vs. Board Mechanics
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RETURN TO LIBRARY Why have we split the Boards section of our library into two parts - one focused on Governance and one focused on Board Mechanics?
Prior to developing the Community-Driven approach to governance, we searched for forms of governance that would guide boards to create more significant, comprehensive, visionary improvement in their communities.
We didn’t find any.
What we found instead were governance models, and standards of excellence, and best practices, all focusing boards on the means - the day-to-day stuff of what it takes to be a board. We found governance approaches focused on the board as fundraiser, the board as “boss” of the CEO, the board as policy-maker, the board as accountable financial overseer. We found checklists upon checklists, all focused on the mechanics of what boards do.
Yes, all that stuff is important. But when there is no overarching community context for all those day-to-day actions, the means begin to be the only things boards focus on and worry about. And that becomes what most board experts then focus on - the day-to-day board problems of micromanagement and lousy attendance and every other issue complained about by boards and staff alike.
That has been the main impetus behind our ongoing development of the Community-Driven approach to Governance. Our goal is to focus Governance - the act of leading and guiding the organization - on the only thing that matters: improving the quality of life in our communities.
If we are going to create a better future for our communities, boards need to be encouraged to see themselves not as overbearing parents, but as change agents - as decision-makers and leaders, aiming their organizations at the change they want to see in their communities. They need to be encouraged to focus on their potential, rather than their problems.
Governance vs. Board
Mechanics
As one small step in our quest to help boards focus
on their immense potential, we have split up our library articles, to make it
clear that there is a difference between the leadership and decision-making
role of boards - the Governance role - and the day-to-day mechanical issues of
what it takes to just be a board.
We know you may arrive looking for a particular item to help your board get past a particular problem. You will probably find most of those day-to-day board items listed under the Board Mechanics section.
We invite you, though, to check out the articles on Governance as well, to see what happens when instead of problem-solving, you aim your board at its immense potential.
You may be surprised that when you aim beyond the problem - aim out towards what you want your board and your organization to become - that the problems don’t seem so overwhelming. Those problems become easier to address, because the context isn’t the problem, but the bigger picture of what the board could be doing for both the organization AND the community.
What you will see is the difference between a board that is mired in solving its own problems, and a board that is inspired and energized to create an incredible future for your community.
Which do you want for your board?
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