Reflections on Nonprofit Success Stories
By: Eugene Fram
As a veteran business professor, former students occasionally contact me to recount how I may have impacted their lives. Some have become senior executives in Fortune 500 companies, others have become attorneys, have founded profitable businesses and a few successfully have followed in my footsteps into the academic world after some years of business experience.
I recently reviewed the comments on my book, Policy vs. Paper Clips, listed on Amazon.com and thought my blog post viewers might like to see some abstracted comments, showing successful use of the governance model in my book. Eight out of ten reviews were top “five star” ratings.
My boards recognized the danger of fiddling with paper clips while strategy burns.
We had no board turnover (because) of the change (moving to the Corporate Model of Governance.)
The model is intended to convey a sense of professionalism, discipline and organizational skill.
We were able to start acting on the core idea (focus on policy not operations) immediately.
The board’s most important job is to find the best possible person to manage the organization, then stand back and let the person manage.
An added benefit is that a Leader’s Guider is available (free from the author) to facilitate discussion.
But he (the author) gets you to think about things the board needs to address.
After 15 years, the board members love (the model) because they are engaged at a strategic level.
For more details see: http://amzn.to/eu7nQl
Nonprofit Management 