After providing monthly Tips for Effective Boards for more than nine years, I’ve decided that this Tip will be my last monthly Tip for Effective Boards. While I may send out an occasional Tip in the future, the regular monthly Tips end with this message.

It has been a pleasure to provide these Tips for Effective Boards over the years. I thank you for your interest and engagement in these Tips. I will continue to be available to respond to any board governance questions you may have, especially related to Policy Governance®. Just respond by email to one of these Tips for Effective Boards or email me at jpbohley@gmail.com. Also, I will continue to be available to provide consultation services for boards considering implementing Policy Governance or fine-tuning their practice of Policy Governance. You can reach me via email at jpbohley@gmail.com or via my website: https://www.BoardsOnCourse.com. I wish all of you much continued success in your board governance journeys.

I thought that a fitting way to conclude this series might be to provide you with a list of my favorite resources for improving board performance. I could have tried to provide an exhaustive and exhausting list but I don’t think that would be particularly helpful.

So, here’s my list of favorite resources from my experience as a board member, as a CEO reporting to boards, and as a consultant working with boards and organizational executive leadership.

Policy Governance Resources

John Carver. Boards That Make a Difference: A New Design for Leadership in Nonprofit and Public Organizations. Third Edition. San Francisco, California: Jossey Bass, 2006. The classic work by the creator of the Policy Governance Model. A must-read for anyone wanting an in-depth understanding of the model.

John Carver and Miriam Carver. The Carver Policy Governance® Guide Series. San Francisco, California: Jossey Bass, 2009. Series of six brief booklets. All the booklets are very clearly written and very practical. I recommend to my client boards that they provide all current board members and all future board members with a copy of the first booklet of this series: “The Policy Governance Model and the Role of the Board Member.” This booklet provides an excellent brief overview of the model.

John Bohley and Larry Spears. Better Boards for a Better World: An Integrated Practice of Policy Governance® and Servant-Leadership. Pennsauken, New Jersey: BookBaby, 2023. Of course, my own book is one of my favorites.

https://www.GovernforImpact.org. This is the website for Govern for Impact (formerly, the International Policy Governance Association). It is an international association of board governance practitioners, researchers, and consultants furthering the understanding and use of Policy Governance and other advanced governance systems as they emerge.

https://www.BoardsOnCourse.com. My consulting website.

https://www.GovernanceCoach.com. Numerous excellent books and other governance resources available through this website. Excellent practical workbooks (REALBoard Tool Kit) for all Policy Governance boards and governance books specifically for school boards, health systems, associations, churches, etc.

Board Governance Resources for Non-Profit Boards Whether They Use Policy Governance or Not

Mark Friedman. Trying Hard Is Not Good Enough: How to Produce Measurable Improvements for Customers and Communities. Victoria, Canada: Trafford Publishing, 2005. Excellent practical book for measuring service outcomes and broader population outcomes.

Barbara J. Streibel. Manager’s Guide to Effective Team Meetings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. A very helpful guide for all types of meetings, including board meetings.

https://www.BoardSource.org. I have purchased numerous governance books through BoardSource and have found these to be quite helpful, for example Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards (2005), Culture of Inquiry: Healthy Debate in the Boardroom (2007), and The Handbook of Nonprofit Governance (2010).

Resources for Everyone Wishing to Live Servant-Leadership in the Boardroom and in Everyday Life

Robert K. Greenleaf. His three seminal essays introducing the servant-leader concept: “The Servant as Leader,” “The Institution as Servant,” and “Trustees as Servants.” These are available as separate booklets from the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership (https://www.greenleaf.org) and as the first three chapters in Robert K. Greenleaf. Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness, 25^th Anniversary Edition. Larry C. Spears, ed. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2002.

James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick, Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership: Practicing the Wisdom of Leading by Serving. Revised and expanded version. New York: Paulist Press, 2015.

Larry Spears. “Ten Characteristics of a Servant-Leader.” Available on his website (https://www.SpearsCenter.org) and in Better Boards for a Better World. (See below.)

John Bohley and Larry Spears. Better Boards for a Better World: An Integrated Practice of Policy Governance® and Servant Leadership. Pennsauken, New Jersey: BookBaby, 2023.

https://www.greenleaf.org. This is the website for the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. The Center offers a broad spectrum of resources to bring the servant-leadership community together, to learn, think, connect, share, and grow.

https://www.SpearsCenter.org. This is the website of Larry C. Spears, President and CEO of the Spears Center for Servant-Leadership and editor and/or co-author of over forty books on servant-leadership including Better Boards for a Better World.

To learn more about the Policy Governance® model, please click https://www.BoardsOnCourse.com/policy-governance.