| 13 April |
An Example of Good Governance |
Authored by: Eric F.. Douglas, Author of the new book “Leading at Light Speed“
I worked recently with the Board of Directors of a large public power company. They needed a more capable, stronger governance system. I mentioned how efficient boards operate. I broke down our approach.
“With our framework,” I told them, “the board conveys the results it wants to organization to attain in the form of policies. The company will benifit greatly if both the officials and the employees do their assgned jobs owing to well defined policies and policing them. Hence, the establishment will grow due to well executed undertakings..”
“But we already have policies,” one board member said.
“You do have policies,” I said. “But the board didn’t mke those policies.”. They are a mixture of state and federal policy, with a lot of your staff’s policy thrown in for good measure. I’m talking about a separate set of policies that express only what the Board wants the organization to achieve.”
“Why would we need that?”A different board memeber declared what was on his/her mind.. “Nothing seems wrong with our policies.”
“Because it would enable the board to communicate as a board,” I said. “Right now, you communicate as individual board members. The members of the board exists for each other, they have one voice and that voice should be evryone’s.. Otherwise, your staff has to guess. This is what leads to many different problems.
“Maybe we like it that way,” said one board member. We have the power to be heard..
“Is that really how you want to communicate?” I asked. “Can you imagine having 20 superiors, expressing their diverging opinions?”? How long would you stay in that place of business?
I let that sink in. Look, the best boards in the country use this framework. I’ve seen the results. It facilitates an organization to elucidate its core priorities, as well as be clear about how to measure success and assess the CEO or general managers. That’s good governance. All boards ought to strive to it.
Well, said one board member. It could be we have our way of getting things done..
At least that’s honest, I thought to myself. I raised my voice and inquired, ” How many are in favor of this presentation?” Is there anybody willing to try this one??
A few hands went up, and then a few more. I stared at the lone board member who was vehemently against it.. Finally his hand went up, too. I was taking notes of everyone’s reaction.. All the board members were agreeing.
“Now,” I said. ” I can see you have made up your mind.”. What do you want to take on next.
Related Article: Good Governance and Performance Goals
