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		There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the highest creed. — Albert Schweitzer
Board members volunteer what precious little time they have to lead, yet they often spend countless hours discussing trivia, focusing on the short term and mirco-managing the work of the staff. They have the same conversations meeting after meeting, year after year and board generation after board generation.

Usually boards are full of highly resourceful people who care deeply about the mission and have a strong desire to serve. What's missing is that they don't have clearly stated goals and policies that empower their staff to creatively accomplish the mission. The board's opportunity to truly govern is often compromised.

Suppose your organization were well governed and ran flawlessly. Picture all members of the staff with an extra hour a day to focus on their job. Envision everyone, from the board down to part-time staff and volunteers, knowing and owning their roles and responsibilities.

For everyone to become fully successful in their role, those roles must be clearly defined from the beginning. Policies must be written to define the ends, goals, and limitations of the board's one employee, the CEO. The board becomes the true visionaries of the organization and the CEO runs the organization. The standards for judging performance and compensation must be known and accepted up front. At the end of each fiscal year, there should be a a clear history of what worked and what didn't work, with full accountability for those successes and failures.

Learning from both success and failure, your board uses the information to make adjustments and create next year's existing plan. A highly evolved level of communication between the board and the CEO develops a trust that allows the board to do forward thinking work at meetings, putting to rest the ritual of voting in historic records.

We use the Policy Governance© model, developed by Dr. John Carver, the best-selling author of Boards that Make a Difference. We started using the Carver model to ensure that the board has a clearly defined mission and an empowered CEO. Carver's Policy Governance model is widely acclaimed as the new standard of excellence for governing boards. Its application works for boards in desperate need, but is absolutely inspirational when working with high-functioning boards seeking new levels of excellence.

Working with Leadership that Works is a partnership that enables success. This rigorous process creates a complete paradigm shift that focuses on the future, and challenges many deeply held beliefs about boards and CEO/ Executive Directors.

We don't just spend a couple of days with your board and then leave you to figure out how to implement the Carver model by yourselves. We believe so strongly in this work, we make ourselves available for a full year after implementation. We become your resource as you work through your board's transition.

We want to know the unique challenges that your board faces, so give us a call at 570-297-2270 for a complimentary consultation. Take our free board assessment tool to your next meeting and ask the hard question, "Are we making a difference?"