At our most recent board meeting for Creating the Future, we took time to deeply explore the role financial management, reporting, and leadership should play in the organization. As a demonstration project exploring what could be possible for all boards, we spend a fair amount of time engaged in a process talking about process. I personally … Read more
During its December meeting (for context, see this post summarizing our November meeting, and this post announcing our upcoming January meeting), Creating the Future’s board addressed this question: What will it take for the board – and individual board members – to hold themselves accountable for accomplishing the organization’s mission? The result of that question … Read more
Updating the Bylaws – three words that send shivers to the soul. Leaders of entities that legally require bylaws quickly relegate the task to a committee (with a mix of appreciation and condolences) or to the organization’s attorney. During its November meeting, Creating the Future’s board (along with participating guests Regina Birdsell, Heather Tunis and … Read more
Updating the Bylaws – three words that send shivers to the soul. Leaders of entities that legally require bylaws quickly relegate the task to a committee (with a mix of appreciation and condolences) or to the organization’s attorney. During its November meeting, Creating the Future’s board (along with participating guests Regina Birdsell, Heather Tunis and … Read more
At today's meeting, Creating the Future's board will continue to the link between bylaws and the role of the board. Going through our original boilerplate bylaws section by section, what does each sections say about the role of the board in this organization? What systems and practices will support that role? To see the discussion … Read more
Boards have so much to accomplish during the few hours they are together at their meetings. Whether it is a corporate board, a traditional “nonprofit” board, or the board of a social enterprise, there is the work it takes to aim the organization at accomplishing its mission, and then the work it takes to ensure … Read more
Imagine if your board members were more deeply engaged in your organization’s work had all the information they needed AND read it / understood it each month had critical documents such as bylaws at their fingertips (without having to haul around a 3-inch-thick policy binder). knew each other as people (rather than as “Bob – … Read more
True confession time: the members of Creating the Future’s board of directors love our board. We lament when meetings are over. In fact, long ago when our meetings were only 90 minutes long, our board requested that we meet for 2 hours – yes, they wanted a LONGER meeting, not a shorter one! Now that … Read more
In plain English, the word “mission” doesn’t mean “something we do forever.” A mission is either accomplished or impossible. We either get the job done, or we go home. Which means the most powerful question any change effort can ask is, “If we intend to accomplish our mission and actually change conditions in our communities, … Read more
In Creating the Future’s immersion courses, one of the posters that greets participants is the one to the left here – Values as a Verb. Put simply, values are merely empty words if they are not put into action. At its August 2012 board meeting, the board of Creating the Future therefore discussed the talk … Read more