Description
Book SynopsisGood Governance is a Choice, 2nd edition is a book about, and for, boards of public and non-profit organizations. Its central focus is on public school boards and the special challenges they face, but the governing model it introduces, Coherent Governance , is applicable to any board of any type. Coherent Governance is a policy-based governing model that features a fail-proof means for creating absolute role clarity for boards and their CEOs. The model offers a process for boards to control operational decisions without making them, allowing them to spend the dominant part of their time on what matterswhether the organization is delivering the goods for the clients it serves. The authors challenge readers to consider themselves to be the very first board elected or appointed to serve their organization and to thoughtfully craft a governance role and board processes to allow them to best do their workunencumbered by past practice and tradition. They draw from their combined 60-plus year
Trade ReviewAgain, Randy and Linda get it exactly right. I have long believed that governance is the key to school improvement. Period. Not lack of funding, teacher unions, government regulations, lack of technology, poor administrative leadership—governance! Good, coherent, governance can overcome these and other obstacles preventing America’s children from getting the education they deserve and the nation so desperately needs. Too many board members focus on adult versus student issues in an attempt to curry the favor needed to run for a higher political office. And, too many superintendents are just trying to get from one side of the road to the other without getting run over. An old Southern minister once told me that ‘some folks would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven.’ Randy and Linda have developed a clear, coherent, roadmap for those who really want to change their ‘sinful’ ways! -- Terry Grier, EdD, retired superintendent, Houston Independent School District; Houston, Texas
Coherence Governance has fundamentally changed how our board and administration operate and work together. We are more efficient, transparent and focused on students as a result. -- Paru Shah, president, Shorewood School District Board of Education, WI
Quinn and Dawson’s Coherent Governance model not only provides an efficient mechanism to achieve role clarification between board members and CEOs, it also empowers boards and executives to work strategically and collaboratively. By making the choice to embrace Coherent Governance, we strengthened our organization by focusing on, and subsequently achieving, the results that mattered most to our members. -- Doug Booher, CVE, past chair, International Association of Venue Managers
Linda Dawson and Randy Quinn have their act together. Their straightforward combination of theory and practical application of Coherent Governance has helped our district, in the second year of implementation, to experience clear board/superintendent roles and responsibilities, accountability, and alignment of student achievement goals. -- Todd Yuzuriha, president, Board of Directors, Evergreen Public Schools, Vancouver, WA
Table of ContentsForeword Preface Chapter 1: Why Don’t Boards Perform Better? Chapter 2: What Does a High Performing Board Look Like? Chapter 3: Governing Coherently, or Incoherently? Chapter 4: Defining the Board’s Own Governing Culture Chapter 5: The Board’s Relationship With its CEO--Part 1 Chapter 6: Controlling Operational Decisions Without Helping the CEO Manage Chapter 7: Becoming a Results Driven Organization Chapter 8: The Board’s Relationship With its CEO—Part 2 Chapter 9: Monitoring—Everything! Chapter 10: Systemic Application and Alignment Chapter 11: The Process and The Reasons for Adopting Coherent Governance Chapter 12: Governing Coherently: How Can a Board Transform Itself? Glossary About the Authors
