The Strategic Board: The Step-by-Step Guide to High-Impact Governance Review

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The Strategic Board: The Step-by-Step Guide to High-Impact Governance ReviewWhat are the characteristics of an effective and powerful board? For Mark Light, it is a board that is "visionary about the future, explicit in delegating that future into the present, clear about the tasks that must be executed today, and disciplined about monitoring performance." It "...focuses its energy on making sure that the organization achieves its chosen destiny."
The process for creating such a board is the focus of The Strategic Board. In Light's view, the ideal board builds its agenda around the creation and implementation of a governance plan consisting of four sub-plans:
1. a leadership plan, articulating vision, mission, strategies, critical issues (he calls these "imperatives"), and success indicators;
2. a delegation plan, defining the responsibilities and performance standards of the board (including its members, officers, and committees) and executive director;
3. a twelve-month management plan for the board and for each functional area of the organization stating annual objectives, challenges to be addressed, and budget;
4. a "vigilance plan," that serves as a monitoring schedule and provides the main agenda items the board's meetings for the coming year.
The book includes examples of each type of plan, drawn from the theatre company where the author serves as executive director and from a Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization. The examples are very helpful in following the logic of each planning process.
In an interesting introduction, Light suggests that any effort to improve nonprofit governance must take into account seven realities of nonprofit organizations:
1. part-time volunteer directors are able to give only limited time to the tasks of governance;

2. boards operate with something less than perfect knowledge, creating a dilemma for the both the board and executive director as they must each be both servant and leader to the other;
3. boards tend to be fairly large, making decision-making a lengthy and complicated process;
4. for many boards, the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required for effective governance are not seen as a prerequisite for recruitment;
5. there are few consequences for poor performance, and little recognition for excellent board performance;
6. consistency and continuity are problems for many boards from year-to-year and even from meeting-to-meeting due to poor attendance and turnover of members and officers;

7. nonprofit organizations are led by relatively inexperienced executive directors. (based on an article from Board Member which is available online at [URL]
The author draws upon a number of sources in nonprofit literature to support his thesis, making the endnotes a useful link to follow-up reading. He also sprinkles the text with the wisdom of motivational writers and speakers. This will be enjoyed by readers who are inspired by such writing. Personally, I think these oversimplified inspirational messages detract from the otherwise strong and thoughtful text.
Overall, there is much in this book to stimulate creative thinking. The concepts are well-explained and illustrated with good examples. On the negative side, it suffers from too much jargon (e.g. "high-impact governance") and like so many "how-to" books, tends to underestimate the time and effort necessary to transform intentions into action. Still, it is a serious and thoughtful effort to build boards capable of the leadership needed by strong and effective organizations. Most executive directors and board members will find some new and challenging ideas to consider.The Strategic Board: The Step-by-Step Guide to High-Impact Governance Overview

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