One of the most unique elements of nonprofit organizations is the interrelationship between the staff leadership team and the voluntary Board leadership. For me, successful shared governance includes:

1. A comfort with and commitment to stepping outside the traditional boss/subordinate hierarchy to forge a true partnership between the staff leadership and the Board.
2. A close and collegial working relationship between the Board officers and the CEO. Officers may even become "kitchen cabinet" resources and mentors for the staff leadership.
3. A willingness by all Board members to provide one-to-one advice to both the CEO and other senior staff leaders outside of schedule Board meetings when needed.
4. A shared and well-rehearsed elevator pitch and agency presentation so that community messaging is always on point.
5. A commitment by the staff leadership team and the Board to keep Board and committee meetings focused on mission, engaging and interesting.
6. A mutual understanding that Board and staff leaders represent the organization 24/7/365 (not just at meetings) and a commitment to leveraging "off-hour" opportunities to benefit the organization whenever possible.
7. A recognition that Board members volunteer their service because they are passionate about the mission and vision of the organization and that, as volunteers, they need to be cultivated, rewarded, and honored for their service.
8. A willingness by the CEO to be a servant leader with a focus on empowering all Board members and staff to lead. More about servant leadership.
9. A commitment and focus on transparency and building trust between Board and staff. More about transparency.
10. A recognition that shared leadership can only occur when there is open,honest and frequent communication between Board members and staff and that each share the responsibility for ensuring that there is.

What does successful "shared governance" look and feel like in your organization?

We recently stumbled across a summary of a presentation given by Bill Ryan, Research Fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University, at a seminar sponsored by The Pew Fund for Health and Human Services.

In the session, Ryan talked about the importance of true shared governance as the best operating model for organizations. Below is an abridged excerpt from the summary:

There are costs and barriers for organizations that do not have "shared governance." Costs include: the board functioning only on committees; board disengagement; a lack of strategic thinking; less funding (at least from the board); a polarized board and staff; and costs to the organization of remaining in the status quo. Barriers include: not enough time at board meetings, the complexity of organizational purpose, the pace of change, lack of term limits for board members, fear of loss of control by the organization’s CEO and a lack of creativity and bravery. Ryan outlined several strategies for overcoming the barriers, including:

• Have a consent agenda to free up time for other discussions.
• Use silent starts. Give everyone a minute to think about important matters and write something down before discussion.
• Use one-minute essays. Ask people to write down what they would like to say about the issue if there were more time.
• Include time for mini executive sessions where the board works for ten or fifteen minutes without an agenda. These brief "board reflection" sessions interrupt the usual pattern of following an agenda and/or having the CEO always take the lead.
• Promote robust discussions, including those with multiple interpretations by board members about what a situation is or what requires attention.
• Have as few standing committees as possible. Instead, have task-driven committees that address specific issues, gather information about those issues, and then report to the whole board about what they have learned for full board discussion.

Read the full eight-page summary here.

In the November 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review, there's a terrific article by Susan Wolf Ditkoff and Susan J. Colby from the Bridgespan Group.

Although it's specifically focused on galvanizing funding organizations, the decisions faced by funders are the same as those faced by nonprofits and NGOs because we're all community benefit organizations.

Based on the article's list of questions for funders, we've created our own modified list of seven questions for community benefit organizations:

1. What program areas are our priorities, and how will we allocate resources?
2. How will we ensure that we have strong leaders, and what authority will they have?
3. Which principles and approaches must be consistent across our organization and which should allow staff discretion?
4. How will we set annual goals, and how will we respond and prepare for emerging opportunities?
5. How will we cultivate partners?
6. How will we communicate our brand?
7. How will we influence public policy?

We think these are powerful opportunities for dialogue with staff and board teams. How about asking and answering these questions with you Board/Staff team?