The two-question agenda
One rather stark morsel of conventional board wisdom suggests that every board meeting should revolve around only two questions. First question: Should we fire the president? If the answer is, “No” then the second question should be: How can we help the president succeed?
I do not recommend that boards literally implement the two-question agenda. But those questions do illustrate critically important principles relative to an effective board-CEO dynamic.
I refer you once again to John Carver’s list of typical governance flaws:
- Time on trivia
- Short term bias
- Reactive (vs. proactive)
- Leaky accountability
- Ambiguous authority
A great many institutional governance train wrecks can be traced to one or both of the latter two flaws: leaky accountability and ambiguous authority.
— Ralph Enlow | 4thoughtleaders Blog