As general counsel to a significant non-profit organization, I get asked this question by both the chief executive officer and by members of the Board. Each of which is expecting a different answer. What is the correct answer? Is it the Board or the CEO?
Sometimes we are not fortunate enough to realize great advice until it is too late. Several months ago I met a seasoned board member (of public, private and non-profit boards) and we had a long discussion about board of directors’ qualifications. He provided me with a piece of advice that I’m sure many corporate board members wish they had before joining their board.
Many businesses needing outside expertise but unable to afford the cost of numerous consultants have turned to an advisory board. An advisory board is non-legal board of directors where the advisors are selected by the CEO. The CEO generally selects advisors due to their skills, talents, expertise and contacts.
Not all non-profit board organizations have a robust board member on-boarding process. Knowing the responsibilities that are basic to every non-profit board will help you determine your individual contribution to the collective effort and ensure that your board term is successful, fulfilling, and beneficial to the mission of the organization.
One of the most common problems of smaller organizations is where to have their board meetings. Whether it’s an advisory board or nonprofit board meeting, the location is important. This blog offers seven tips when using a restaurant as your meeting location.
One of the persistent - and frustrating - refrains of many conversations about nonprofit board development centers on the notion that, if we want more effective outcomes from our governing bodies, we must plop them down in a room with an expert for training. Yet if we expand our understanding of how adults learn, we open new opportunities to engage boards in meaningful learning that changes their practice. One of the more useful ideas emerging from that knowledge base is the 70:20:10 framework of learning, which draws on research about the role of informal adult learning.
In an interview, Apple board member and CEO of J.Crew Mickey Drexler revealed that Steve Jobs wanted to design a car before he died...
Have you ever not attended the meeting of a board you sit on? When you don’t do you understand the impact it has? Many board members give little thought to what happens if they don’t attend a board meeting. The following blog offers six implications to consider, some more weighty than others.
This past year we saw the continuing trend of corporate governance scandals—-from the international market (e.g., Olympus), national (e.g., MF Global), and locally (e.g. Chelsea Housing Authority in Massachusetts). Although each such instance has its own particular facts and circumstances, there is a common thread that often runs through these scandals— a Board of Directors that for one reason or another, fails to take appropriate action. Unfortunately, we can expect 2012 to have their own list of corporate governance scandals. I would like to begin the new year by challenging all board members, regardless of the ...
Charity Navigator, one of the original and best-publicized guides to charitable giving, recently unveiled a new rating system, Charity Navigator 2.0. The new system rates organizations on two levels – accountability and transparency. This creates a system whereby organizations that do well on only one dimension, can’t do well overall. Ken Berger, the president and CEO of Charity Navigator, is expecting to be raked over the coals by those who either don’t do well under the new system (maybe some former four star rated organizations who are a tad too secretive) or those who see the new expectations ...
Shareholders are getting a bigger say in how companies are run. Find out how you can be heard...