Solving the Board Development Puzzle: the How
Our readers might recall that the March 25 post at this blog dealt with two pieces of the board development puzzle: WHAT does board development mean? WHY is it critical that the CEO spearhead board development, wearing the Board Developer-in-Chief hat? The post points out that your transit board – like any other formal organization – can be consciously and systematically developed into an organization more capable of carrying out its mission: to govern your authority. Of course, board development is an ongoing function because the field of transit governance is continuously evolving. Another important point the post makes is … Read the rest
Solving the Board Development Puzzle: the What and the Why
The half-day Zoom governance workshop I presented a couple of weeks ago for 25-some CEOs of a diverse array of transit authorities included a segment on board development. Early in my career I would have been a trifle worried that the topic might be ho-hum for some of the more seasoned CEOs, but I soon learned I needn’t have been concerned. Since much of the terrain we covered in the workshop turned out to be refreshingly new to the great majority of my participants, I think readers of this blog will be interested in the key points that came up … Read the rest
King Richard III: A Case For Aggressive Image Building
And therefore since I cannot prove a lover to entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain and hate the idle pleasures of these days. Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous….
Ah, King Richard III: how we love to hate him, how we shiver at his delicious villainy! He was Duke of Gloucester when William Shakespeare put these words in his mouth in the monologue that opens his riveting “The Tragedy of King Richard the Third,” and in the play Richard soon murders his way to the throne of England, his most infamous victims being his … Read the rest
CEO-Centric Leadership Targets Are Key to a Solid Board-Chief Executive Partnership
Around fifteen years ago I was retained to facilitate a half-day work session involving a transit board and its CEO. In our initial call to discuss the work session objectives, the board chair and CEO agreed that there was one preeminent objective: repairing a badly frayed board-CEO partnership that, in their estimation, was dangerously close to the breaking point. The one-on-one interviews I conducted with all fifteen board members and the CEO as part of my preparation for the event indicated a startling and dangerous divergence of opinion. Nine of the board members strongly believed that their CEO’s top leadership … Read the rest
Beware of the Emperor’s New Clothes Syndrome
“You’re pretty obviously over your head and can’t really understand what we’re doing. Instead of getting people riled up, why don’t you get yourself up to speed and join the team?” This is what I was told in so many words several years ago – early in my public management career – when I had questioned the progress that a consulting team reported it was making in upgrading the financial management system of a large public transportation agency. Reflecting on that experience years later, I think what was at work was a modern version of that classic cautionary tale, “The … Read the rest
CEO Andre Colaiace on Access Services Innovation in Response to Covid-19
In my experience, significant, well-planned, and capably executed organizational change is the exception to the rule, for a number of reasons, perhaps most importantly the normal human resistance to changing. Well, I’m pleased to report that Access Services in Los Angeles County has beat the odds.
When you watch Andre Colaiace, Executive Director of Access Services, describe the safety and service innovations Access has implemented in response to Covid-19 in the video interview I recorded with him recently, you’ll understand why Andre has been such a successful Innovator-in-Chief at the helm of Access Services. Four keys to effective change leadership … Read the rest
The Zoom Muzzle Syndrome Redux
My August 6 post at this blog, “Combatting the Zoom Muzzle Syndrome (ZMS),” begins by pointing out that Zoom has proved to be a very effective vehicle for holding virtual work sessions at which participants can reach consensus on complex matters, such as an updated board committee structure, without exposing them to Covid-19. I go on to say, however, that generating intense participant engagement in addressing really complex issues – the kind of participation characterized by robust discussion and really critical questioning – has proved to be a real challenge when employing Zoom video conferencing. As I say in that … Read the rest
The Change Investment Portfolio: A Practical Tool For Transformational Change Leaders
The November 6 post at this blog features Andre Colaiace, Executive Director of Access Services in Los Angeles County, CA, as a prime example of a new-style chief executive: the Transformational Change Leader. The post describes 5 key attributes of CEOs who succeed at leading transformative change, including being “laser-focused” on very concrete change initiatives that are the polar opposite of the “Christmas list” of goals found in traditional long-range strategic planning tomes.
My and David Stackrow’s book Building a Solid Board-CEO Partnership (www.governanceedge.com) describes a very powerful change-focused planning logic and methodology that have been developed and … Read the rest
Access Services’ Andre Colaiace: Transformational Change Leader Extraordinaire
Andre Colaiace, Executive Director of Access Services in Los Angeles County, CA, and a member of this blog’s CEO Advisory Committee, is a prime example of a new breed of public/nonprofit chief executive officers I’m encountering with increasing frequency around the country: the Transformational Change Leader. In a nutshell, the Transformational Change Leader spearheads one or more significant innovation initiatives that transform the organization she or he leads, making a substantial, lasting difference, in terms of organizational impact and, often, culture. In Andre’s case, his chosen innovation initiative was the transformation of Access Services’ governance function, primarily by updating the … Read the rest
Don’t Unwittingly Turn Your Board Members Into Victims of Poorly Designed Structure and Process
A transit CEO called me not long ago, asking if I’d be interested in presenting a governance training workshop for his transit board. He explained that several board members were coming dangerously close to “micro-managing,” and he wanted them to understand the boundaries between “executive” and “governing” work. The example he gave involved a discussion at the most recent board meeting about travel expenditures over the past six months, including how decisions were made about who would be taking what trips and what kinds of reports were required about travel.
I agreed that there did appear to be some micro-managing … Read the rest
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