Hello Inner Circle Member:
I had a fantastic weekend aside from the washout with the Super Bowl (did people really pay $1000 a ticket to sit in the rain for 4 hours?). On Saturday I was a presenter at the 10th Annual Art & Culture Symposium in North Vancouver, BC, where I presented my highly effective board governance workshop, “The 12 Pillars of Exceptional Boards.” For those that attended, they had a very kind words to share about their time, finding out where their board’s performance stood, and how to improve. I shared with the attendees what it takes to move their board from ‘good’ to ‘exceptional.’
Here's what a few of them had to say about my Board Governance Work Shop:
“Clear, incisive, thoughtful and educational –- lots of really structured information for non-profits. I would absolutely recommend that organizations with concerns about board development and organizational capacity building take the opportunity to attend the workshop. It was an exceptional learning outcome.” – John Rice (District of North Vancouver)
“An invaluable resource and much needed first step” – Caroline Farquhar (Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists)
“I learned a lot that I wish I knew several committees ago” – Monica Craver (Municipal Citizens Advisory Committee)
“I found it very informative in its breakdown and detailed consideration of relevant governance issues” - DH
“I would recommend this workshop. It demonstrated the importance of strategic planning and how to implement with the CEO and Board an effective working relationship…10 out of 10!” – Peggy Heywood (North Vancouver Arts Council)
“Very well presented, clear, useful information” – Janet Moi (North Vancouver Community Arts Council)
Well, since you weren’t able to attend the workshop, I thought I should at least share some of the key points that will help you improve the performance of your board.
And for those of you who emailed me about the last ‘Inner Circle EZine Newsletter,’ there will be the all important Jokes of the Week.
P.S. If you want to see this eZine in a much more attractive format, you can read it and the last issue at my BLOG at:
http://www.halladayeducationgroupinnercircle.blogspot.com/
Enjoy,
Doug Halladay
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In This Issue
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1. The 12 Pillars of Exceptional Board Performance
2. Inner Circle Jokes of the Week
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1. The 12 Pillars of Exceptional Board Performance
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Are you an Exceptional Board? You know it and you can see it...exceptional boards stand out. But what makes these boards tick? What’s their secret?
Exceptional boards have a set of common attributes that clearly separates them from others. Today’s article reveals the “12 Pillars of Exceptional Boards,” and how your board can improve their own performance from ‘good’ to ‘exceptional.”
But first, let me ask you a few question, “what do exceptional boards look like?” For many of them they:
- Exceed fundraising campaigns
- There is a waiting list for board seats
- They have bright trustees doing significant work
- Well attended board meetings
- Low turnover in CEO and Chair positions
- Mission focused for next generation
- There’s a plan & they stick to it
But these are the outcomes of exceptional board performance. What attributes or ‘Pillars” do you have to put into place to get there?
Good boards are:
- Competent Stewards
- Focus on fiduciary oversight
- Ensure their organization comply with law
- Act with financial integrity
- Operate effectively & ethically
However, exceptional boards:
- Add active engagement and independent decision making to the oversight function
- Members are open and honest with each other and the Chief Executive
- Passionately challenge and support efforts in pursuit of the mission and their community
Let me ask you, does your board exhibit any of the following:
- Trustee behavior that is unproductive and not in alignment with your mission
- Board agenda that’s controlled by crisis rather than a clear vision
- Lack of a plan or goals that result in no annual board agenda, committee goals, or operational plan
- Board committees that exist only because they have always been there, not because they are needed
- No link between budget, programs, or a long-term plan
- Blurring of boundaries and channels between the roles of the Board and Administration
- Board commitment is greater than you would like it to be and has become too taxing and stressful
- Inability to attract new trustees
- Poor turn-out at board meetings or AGM’s
If you answered yes to the any of the preceeding, then you need to keep on reading and find out how many of the following Pillars your Board has and fix it.
12 PILLARS OF EXCEPTIONAL BOARDS
===> Pillar 1: MISSION-FOCUSED: Exceptional boards share & uphold the mission, articulate a compelling vision, & ensure congruence between strategy, core values, & day-to-day operations.
===> Pillar 2: STRATEGIC: Exceptional boards engage constantly in strategic thinking that focuses the organization’s direction & is driven by their strategic plan.
===> Pillar 3: INTERDEPENDENT: Exceptional boards govern in an interdependent partnership with their CEO.
===> Pillar 4: OUTCOME FOCUSED: Exceptional boards are results-focused, measuring progress towards the mission by evaluating their organization’s & their own performance.
===> Pillar 5: OVERSIGHT: Exceptional boards have systems of oversight set up that uphold an ethical code of conduct & disciplined compliance.
===> Pillar 6: ANALYTICAL: Exceptional boards establish a culture of mutual respect, inquiry, trust, & constructive debate that leads to sound shared decision making.
===> Pillar 7: AUTONOMOUS: Exceptional boards are independent minded, & put the interests of the organization before their own.
===> Pillar 8: TRANSPARENT: Exceptional boards sustain a culture of transparency by ensuring that donors, stakeholders, & public have access to appropriate information regarding finances, operations, & performance.
===> Pillar 9: RESOURCEFUL: Exceptional boards balance their vision & plans directly to their financial resources.
===> Pillar 10: BEST PRACTICES: Exceptional boards purposely structure themselves to fulfill essential governance duties & support organizational priorities.
===> Pillar 11: SELF-DEVELOPMENT: Exceptional boards embrace continuous learning, evaluating their own performance & assessing the value they add to their organization.
===> Pillar 12: RENEWAL: Exceptional boards energize themselves through planned turnover, attentive recruitment, & inclusiveness.
How did you score?
1). If you scored less than 6 you need to go back and seriously focus on your board’s performance
2). If you scored between 7 -10 you’re heading in the right direction but you need to set a plan of action
3). If you scored 11 or more you only need to fine tune and you should be up here!
What’s your next step?
Well, remember the old adage, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” If you board did not score too well with the 12 Pillars, you need a plan of action. I would encourage you to seriously consider my BOARD PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP. It provides:
1). A confidential 360° Online Board Self-Assessment Questionnaire for each board member and administrator that analyzes critical governance issues
2). A report that summarizes the questionnaire results
3). A retreat where the issues that are identified in the questionnaire are analyzed and resolved
4). Board members participate in case studies that evaluate ‘Best Board Practices’
5). Facilitated board workshop to assist the board in developing an action plan to improve their performance
6). Written summary of the board’s key issues & the action plans to improve their performance
The Online Board Survey focuses on:
- Mission & Purpose
- Strategic Planning
- Programs & Services
- Financial Resources
- Fiscal Oversight
- Risk Management Policies
- Support & Review of CEO
- Relationship between Board & Staff
- Public Image
- Selection & Orientation of New Board Members
- Organization & Efficient Operation of the Board
- Board Committees & Task Forces
BENEFITS OF THE BOARD PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP:
- Identify vital areas of board operation that need attention
- Prepare for a Strategic Plan or major Fundraising Campaign
- Serve as an effective orientation & inclusion process for new board members
- Build trust, respect, team-work, & communication amongst board members & the CEO
- Ensure that all board members have a shared understanding their roles & responsibilities, & how to operate & behave as an effective board
- Enable individual board members to work more effectively as part of the team
- Identify & reach consensus on critical issues before they become a crisis specific priorities
- Develop & energize your board — ensure a common vision, utilize talent & stability
If you would like more information about my Board Performance Workshop call me at 1-604-868-0002 or email me at info@halladayeducationgroup.com , or go to: http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/services.php?sub=online_assessments#topheader
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2. Inner Circle Jokes of the Week
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GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:
1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2) When your Mum is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.
GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:
1) Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree.
2) Wrinkles don't hurt.
3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.
4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.
6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber, not the toy.
GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD
1) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.
4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you once got from a roller coaster.
5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions. 6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.
7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.
If you like these tips please pass them on to your friends, clients and colleagues.
To your success,
Douglas L.J. Halladay
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President and Founder
4316 Arthur Drive, Ladner, BC, Canada, V4K 2W8
P: 604.868.0002/F: 868.472.8737/Email: info@halladayeducationgroup.com
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com
P.S. HAVE YOU RECEIVED MY ECOURSE ON STARTING YOUR OWN SCHOOL?
So far, more than +300 educators and non-profit leaders have signed up for my complimentary 15-part email mini-eCourse called "15 Critical Steps To Starting Your Own School." If you're not one of them, do it now. I provide a clear overview of the fundamentals needed to start your own PreK-12 school or Post Secondary Institution and many secret short-cuts to ensure that you start the school of your dreams – there’s no second chance to make a first impression on opening day.
Sign up here by emailing the following address and putting in your subject, “Sign me up for the 15-part email mini-eCourse”:
info@halladayeducationgroup.com
Monday, February 5, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Inner Circle eZine - January 26 - 2007
So far, more than +300 educators and non-profit leaders have signed up for my complimentary 15-part email mini-eCourse called "15 Critical Steps To Starting Your Own School." If you're not one of them, do it now. I provide a clear overview of the fundamentals needed to start your own PreK-12 private school or Post Secondary Institution and many secret short-cuts to ensure that you start the school of your dreams – there’s no second chance to make a first impression on opening day.
Sign up here by emailing the following address and putting in your subject, “Sign me up for the 15-part email mini-eCourse”:
info@halladayeducationgroup.com
*************************************************
I hope your start to 2007 has been propitious and that the goals you’ve set for the New Year have begun to unfold. On a personal note, our fair city of
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In This Issue
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1. Developing a Feasibility Study For Your New School
2. Setting Your Tuition
3. Transforming Your Board Structure
4. Inner Circle Jokes of the Week
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1. Developing a Feasibility Study for Your New School
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I’m really impressed by the people who call me up to find out more about how they can start their own school; be it a Preschool, K-12, college, institute, or university. It truly takes courage to take that bold step and start something brand new. For those who’ve never started their own school, you have no idea how many cogs there are in the wheel of school formation, nor the emotions involved; parents staking their child’s education on an entity that doesn’t even exist yet.
After I listen to the folks and hear what kind of school they envision, I always ask them whether they’ve done a “feasibility study” yet. In other words, have they completed an in-depth analysis of the market to determine whether there is demand by the community for the niche program(s) the school is offering?
The old line from the movie “The Field of Dreams” stated...”if you build it, they will come.” Wellllll, this sentiment isn’t true in starting schools. You and your steering committee need to sit down and honestly evaluate whether there is a need in the community for your school. This is referred to as the feasibility study.
For some a feasibility study can be an informal appraisal of the need or it can be a formal written questionnaire and/or survey. The latter will provide you much more detail and disclose to a greater degree the commitment of your community to the type of school you are planning to develop (e.g., the mission, vision, core values, education philosophy, curriculum, facilities).
When you look closely at the results of your study (the hard data), your steering committee will have a more reliable picture of what your community wants, and whether there really is a demand that can sustain your investment (time and money). This approach takes the emotions out of the process.
The design and implementation of the study is critical to your success. You can design/implement it yourself, or you can retain a professional. Whatever approach you take you need to ensure that you determine the kind of information you need. This could include: your competition; level of interest in your area; demographics of parents and children; can parents afford the tuition; how grades levels should be offered; type of programs the parents are interested in; support for your type of school etc.
These are just a few of the many questions that need to be considered. However you design it, your feasibility study needs to provide you the critical data needed for future planning. Remember, it’s not “ready, shoot, aim.”
For more information about starting your own school, go to: http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/services.php?sub=school_formation#topheader
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2. Setting Your Tuition
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At this point in the school year, the Board of Trustees has probably set the tuition for the 2007-08 school year. In most schools, the approach to determine an increase in tuition is based on the incorrect philosophy of “how much can they bear.” Many trustees do all they can to hold tuition down at “bargain prices,” but this is wrong. Research in private school enrollment illustrates that parents select the school for their child because of the quality of the programs offered, and the convenience of the services delivered. Parents may have sticker shock with high tuitions, but at the end of the day the select the school for their child because of its services – academic, co-curricular, personal development, etc. When parents remove their child, it’s not because they can’t afford the tuition, it’s because the experience is no longer worth it; it’s no longer unique; or the quality of service just not justify the cost.
So when you’re determining the tuition for the next school year, base your decision on the quality, quantity, and convenience of services required by parents and students, not what the pain threshold is. Oh and by the way, base your tuition increase on the annual goals in your strategic plan. This is something that your community was involved in, bought into, and understands in its value to their school. So when you’re announcing the tuition increase, it’s not a surprise, and they will support it.
For more information on Strategic Planning go to:
http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/services.php?sub=strategic#topheader
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3. Transforming Your Board Structure
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The committee structure a board chooses depends on its individual needs, its strategic plan, and the board’s and the organization’s stage of development. A new board may have a lot of committees because the organization most likely has no staff. A small or active board may not need committees at all. No matter what you committee needs are, the appropriate structure can be set up by the following 4 steps:
1). Pay attention to your board’s needs;
2). Give each committee terms of reference and measurable annual goals;
3). The executive committee selects chairs and members for each committee;
4). Annually evaluate each committee against its goals and the need for the committee.
There is nothing worse than to have standing committees that exist because they’ve always been there. That is the formula for disaster; without a purpose board members will find things to do, and it won’t always be on task or for the betterment of the school or the mission.
One simple solution is determine the committees needed for each school year based on the goals of the strategic plan, design the annual goals for each committee, select the chairs and committee members, and let this drive your boards agenda – with measurable goals.
For more information about board governance, go to:
http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/services.php?sub=online_assessments#topheader
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4. Inner Circle Jokes of the Week
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WHY?
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?
Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?
If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?
When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It’s all right?" Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you
To find out more about how we can help you, contact HEG by email or by phone at +1-604-868-0002.To your success,
Douglas Halladay
President and Founder
P: 604.868.0002/F: 868.472.8737/Email: info@halladayeducationgroup.com
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com
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