About New Strategic Directions

The key to organizational effectiveness is effective governance.  “Ninety-five percent (of boards) are not fully doing what they are legally, morally, and ethically supposed to do.”  The board-staff relationship has been at the center of the discussion, but trustee characteristics, board role in planning and evaluation, committee involvement, fiduciary responsibility, legal liability, and other topics persist.

Governing boards and senior leaders must ensure that the organization is fully prepared to deal with an increasingly turbulent, complex, and chaotic environment. The board must therefore increase the likelihood that management will be successful by setting clear direction, identifying roles and responsibilities and hold managers accountable. Responsibilities of the board include:

1. Creating and reviewing a statement of mission that articulates the organization's goals, means, and primary constituents served and define a vision of success.
2. Selecting the chief executive. Boards must reach consensus on the chief executive's responsibilities and undertake a
3. Supporting and evaluating the chief executive. The board should ensure that the chief executive has the moral and professional support he or she needs to further the goals of the organization.
4. Ensuring effective planning. Boards must actively participate in an overall planning process and assist in implementing and monitoring the plan's goals.
5. Monitoring, and strengthening programs and services. The board's responsibility is to determine which programs are consistent with the organization's mission and monitor their effectiveness.
6. Ensuring adequate financial resources. One of the board's foremost responsibilities is to secure adequate resources for the organization to fulfill its mission.
7. Protecting assets and provide proper financial oversight. The board must assist in developing the annual budget and ensuring that proper financial controls are in place.
8. Building a competent board. All boards have a responsibility to articulate prerequisites for candidates, orient new members, and periodically and comprehensively evaluate their own performance.
9. Ensuring legal and ethical integrity. The board is ultimately responsible for adherence to legal standards and ethical norms.
10. Enhancing the organization's public standing. The board should clearly articulate the organization's mission, accomplishments, and goals to the public and garner support from the community.

Creating and sustaining a high-performing, results-based organization can be a challenge for any organization, public, nonprofit or private. New Strategic Directions works with governing boards, senior leaders and managers to: