We have embarked on a multi-post series concerning governance, grounded upon the assertion that, Organizations are built from the bottom up but they fall apart from the top down. Signs of a bumbling board If it is true that organizational failure and board failure are inextricably linked, what are some of the most common shortcomings of nonprofit boards? In his classic, Boards That Make a Difference, John Carver cites the following flaws typical of nonprofit boards:

In my last post I asserted that effective governing boards are ones that keep their primary focus upon ends rather than means. Job one for a board’s ends orientation is the responsibility to prayerfully establish, regularly revisit, and consistently apply the institution’s mission statement to gauging institutional priorities and possibilities. Allocating a board’s attention Good boards are also mindful of the need to balance the allocation of their time and attention between matters of more immediate and rather narrow concern and those of longer and broader concern. One conceptual framework I find can really help boards to think about and plan for such balance is proposed by Chait, Ryan and Taylor in their 2004 book, Governance as Leadership. Boards that lead, rather than simply manage, consciously allocate time and attention across the following domains: