By Julie Garland McLellan on April 7, 2012
Kate is a director on the board of a large national not-for-profit company. The board is comprised of well-intentioned and conscientious professionals who bring diverse viewpoints and bountiful energy to their board discussions. None of them are qualified in governance or have experience on other boards but all take their responsibilities seriously and strive to [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on March 6, 2012
James is a recently-appointed director on the board of a family business. He is the nephew of the founder and has worked in the business for several years since completing his MBA. He is concerned because the board meetings are all taken up with historical reports and endless discussions of ‘who did what’ and how [...]
By Nick Lindsay on February 28, 2012
In the modern world, women are outperforming men in many stages of their career; especially at school level, university and during the early years of work. However, despite a considerable number of women entering the corporate world, the gender diversity of top companies at executive and board level is woeful. Background In 2010, women made [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on January 13, 2012
Herman has been invited to join the board of a not-for-profit organisation that provides specialist education and training for the non-profit sector. The invitation was extended to him by the CEO who is also the founder and the principal deliverer of services. Due diligence shows that the company is profitable (making a small but comfortable [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on November 21, 2011
Graham worked as a management consultant assisting the national operations of a company that has grown over twenty years acquiring ‘non-family’ shareholders who now account for 40% of the capital. The founder’s son, who owns 10% of the shares, heads an overseas division and is a director. The founder retains the remaining 50% and is [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on October 31, 2011
The difference between chief executive and Managing Director is one of the subtleties that can confuse board members. Boards have the right to delegate the tasks of running the organisation to any person they rationally believe is capable of performing them. When the board delegates those tasks to one of the directors, that person becomes known as [...]
By Hank Lewis on October 11, 2011
I do know at least one person who has been the chair of a board for over 20 years (a big organization). Is that unusual? It is an extremely unhealthy situation, but is not unusual for an NPO that never grew up. I’d expect that the same people are doing the same things they’ve done, [...]
By Hank Lewis on October 5, 2011
It is important that specific terms be used/understood with consistent definitions. Members of a Board of a non-profit organization, by law, are those individuals who have specific responsibilities and liabilities, and who have unrestricted voting rights — except for conflict of interest situations. Anyone who does not have voting rights, therefore, is not a Member [...]
By Hank Lewis on August 29, 2011
Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are created to address specific issues/problems/needs and serve specific communities/constituencies, and the primary role/responsibility of the Boards of those NPOs is to represent (the issues/problems/needs of) those communities/constituencies. A Board does this by ensuring that the NPO’s mission is consistent the reason(s) that organization was created … and by adapting that mission [...]
By Julie Garland McLellan on July 17, 2011
Some considerations to assist in developing an effective board composition.
Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting, LLC, provides organization development and consultant training services, and is developer of the Free Management Library.
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Julie Garland-McLellan uses her experience and depth of knowledge in corporate governance to show boards with limited resources how to be more effective through practical governance innovation and know-how.
Nick Lindsay of Elemental CoSec, provides corporate governance, legal and company secretarial advice to a wide range of companies in the UK.
