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The Policy Govcmance@ Model Page 4 of ] 6 . various views held in the community about the purpose of the organization. In short, if the community owns the organization, what does the community want the organization for? Traditionally, boards have developed their relationships largely inside the organization-that is, with staff. Polie Gov demands that boards' . r rei ionshi s or i ati n that is. Wit owners This parallels the concept of servant leadership developed by Greenleaf (1977, 1991), in that the board is first servant, before it is leader. It must lead the organization subject to its discoveries about and judgments of the values of the ownership. We have thus far referred repeatedly to the board and very little to board members; that is intentional. Since we are now establishing the starting point for governance thinking, it is important that we start with the body charged with authority and accountability-the board as a group, not individual board members. It is the board as a body that speaks for the ownership. not each board member except as he or she contributes to the final board product. So while we might derive roles and resDonsibilities for individual board members, we must derive them from the roles and resDonsibilities of thp. homd as a qroup, not the other way around. Hence, board practices must recognize that it is the board, not board members. who have authority. The board s eaks authoritatively when it asses an official 'on at a ro erly constituted meeting. atements b rs horit . In other words, the board spea s WI one vOice or not at all. The "one voice" principle makes it pOSSible to know what the board has said, and what it has not said..This is important when the board qives instructions to one or more subordinates. "One voice" does not require unanimous votes. But it does require all board members, even those who lost the vote, to respect the decision that was made. Board decisions can be changed by the board. but never by board members. 7 . The Necessity for Systematic Delegation On behalf of the ownership, the board has total authority over the organization and total accountability for the organization. But the board is almost always forced to rely on others to carry out the work, that is, to exercise most of the authority and to fulfill most of the accountability. This dependence on others requires the board to give careful attention to the principles of sound delegation. _.. Since the board is accountable that the organization works, and since the actual running of the organization is substantially in the hands of management, then it is important to the board that management be successful. The board must therefore increase the likelihood that manaqement will be successful, while makina it no~~ihlp. tn rpr'r'lQnbo whpthpr or not it re;:]llv is successful. ThIS calls upon the board to be ,,-eey clear about its expectations, to personalize the assiqnment of those expectations. and then to check whether the eXDeetations have been met. Only in this way is everyone concerned clear about what constitutes success and who has what role in achieving it. At this point, we wish to introduce the chief executive (CEO) role. (Policy Governance works in the absence of a CEO role, but the governing job is more difficult than with a CEO.) We are not concerned whether the CEO is called executive director, director-general, president, general manager, superintendent, or any other title. We are, however, concerned how the role is defined and we will use the term "CEO" to reflect the role definition we recommend. . We recommend that the board use a single point of delegation and hold this position accountable for meeting all the board's expectations for organizational performance. Naturally, it is essential that the board delegate to this position all the authority that such extensive accountability deserves. The use of a CEO position considerably simplifies the board's job. Using a CEO, the board can express its expectations for the entire organization without having to work out any of the internal, often complex, divisions of labor. Therefore, all the authority granted by the board to the organization is actually granted personally to the CEO. All the accountability of the organization to meet board expectations is charged personally to the CEO. The board, in effect, has one employee. t:. __ http://www.carvergovemance.com/modcl.htrn 6/12/2002