Board Leadership Newsletter: Policy Governance in Action, Number 58, 2001 (Paperback, 2001 ed.)

The articles include: What Use is Business Experience on a Nonprofit or Governmental Board? Most boards assume that business experience can be a great asset in board members. And, it can be - but as John Carver explains, not in the ways many managers may assume. Uncovering the Value of the Right Word by Caroline Oliver. Most people join boards for selfless reasons, because they want to "make a difference." Received wisdom tells us that making a difference is grueling and overwhelming work, and unfortunately the muddled governance procedures of most boards seem to prove the case. In this article, Caroline Oliver, chair of the International Policy Governance Association, shows us why the Policy Governance board must disabuse itself of the orthodoxy that says that there is a one-to-one relationship between effort and effectiveness. Relying on just a handful of concise policies, the Policy Governance board dictates a whole range of organizational ends, and so has more time to govern than the board that busies itself with staff means. The Policy Governance board may have a more straightforward job than the traditional board, but it is also more effective.