Good Governance is a Choice

Dr. Randy Quinn served for 30 years as executive director of two state school boards associations, in Alabama for 19 years and in Colorado for 11 years. He has written more than 400 articles for publication in various journals, and has served on the boards of directors of numerous state and national organizations. He too benefited from the high visibility of the Colorado board training programs, and co-founded AGI: Aspen Group International LLC in 1993 to extend his work throughout the United States and internationally.Linda J. Dawson has more than 35 years of experience as a skilled author, consultant, coach and facilitator with a career in teaching and administration, agency public relations, and association leadership. As an executive with the Colorado Association of School Boards, she developed widely regarded governance training programs recognized at the national and international levels. The ensuing demand for her services led to her decision to co-found AGI: Aspen Group International LLC in 1993.

Good 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 matters-whether 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 work-unencumbered by past practice and tradition. They draw from their combined 60-plus years of experience in working with public and non-profit boards as they present their state-of-the-art governing model.

ForewordPrefaceChapter 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 CultureChapter 5: The Board¿s Relationship With its CEO--Part 1Chapter 6: Controlling Operational Decisions Without Helping the CEO ManageChapter 7: Becoming a Results Driven OrganizationChapter 8: The Board¿s Relationship With its CEO¿Part 2Chapter 9: Monitoring¿Everything!Chapter 10: Systemic Application and AlignmentChapter 11: The Process and The Reasons for Adopting Coherent GovernanceChapter 12: Governing Coherently: How Can a Board Transform Itself?GlossaryAbout the Authors