Governance Inspection
Explore the structures, roles, culture and practices guiding your association.
Inspect Your GovernanceCategory: Origin Story
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This morning, I was digging through several white papers looking for a little blog inspiration when I came across BoardEffect’s 2027 Governance Outlook. As you might expect, AI was a hot topic. So was the ongoing conversation about boards being strategic versus operational. But one statistic stopped me. Only 53% of respondents said their boards…
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In 1988, five Costa Rican fishermen survived 144 days aboard a disabled vessel after a storm swamped the cabin and the boat ran out of gas. They were eventually rescued by a Japanese fishing ship about 700 miles from Honolulu and nearly 4,000 miles from Costa Rica. Without power, direction, or a working system, even…
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Earlier this year, I did a webinar on my House of Governance™, and Ed Rigsbee, CSP, CAE, the host of the webinar, asked me a very pointed question at the end regarding one of the domains: Culture, Candor & Accountability. This domain highlights the norms, behaviors, and expectations that shape how leaders engage, disagree, make…
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A member is not just a data point in the AMS. Associations that want stronger engagement need to slow down, ask better questions, and become more intentionally curious.
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Nearly 15 years ago, a gentleman by the name of Stan Phelps entered my world. He had worked for years in marketing and had recently written a new book. He was looking to make an entry into the association community. His book? Purple Goldfish. There have been numerous books that have stayed with me over…
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This week, I will travel to Durham, North Carolina, to sit down with key leaders from three nonprofit organizations whose mission is to help move people experiencing the crisis of homelessness into stable housing as quickly and responsibly as possible. These discovery conversations are part of a project I am working on through Moss &…
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Am I the only one who still geeks out walking the aisles of Office Depot or Staples? It completely takes me back to my days of going back-to-school shopping. I remember hoping to find the Trapper Keeper in my favorite color or the cool Matchbox-branded pencils with the case and built-in pencil sharpener. And there…
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Football fanatics have the Super Bowl and now the expanded college football playoffs. Basketball fans have the Sweet Sixteen and the Final Four. Golfers have the Masters and the U.S. Open. Music and film lovers have the Grammys and the Oscars. Well, for me, as an association geek who truly geeks out on membership statistics,…
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Several months ago, I unveiled my House of Governance™ framework during a webinar hosted by Ed Rigsbee, CSP, CAE. During the Q&A portion, Ed asked me about one of the domains of the House: Culture, Candor & Accountability. The question was really more like a challenge. “How do you maintain a positive culture on a…
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Over the last few weeks, I have been talking about the role of the interim in a nonprofit organization. I have broken down what an interim does, and does not do. I have talked about the costs, not just to the bottom line, of not having an interim. And I have touched on why a…