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A Stateside approach to charity governance

Governance | Tesse Akpeki | 9 Nov 2011

Tesse Akpeki attended the BoardSource 2011 Leadership forum, and was left inspired by a new American approach to charity governance.

What will characterise your leadership as you govern toward the future? Upon attending American charity governance specialists BoardSource's 2011 Leadership forum in Georgia, Atlanta I came across a fresh approach: 'mindful governance'.

Mindful governance explores the development of nonprofit leadership for the future. It asks what the changing nature of nonprofit enterprise means for nonprofit leadership and begins with the fluid concept of leadership and how it appears through the lens of ‘mindfulness’.  Special attention is paid to Howard Gardner’s identification of key cognitive abilities – the Five Minds of the Future - as critical capabilities in the years ahead.  

Michael Daigneault of BoardSource and Bruce Lesley, master minders of the approach stress that mindful governance encourages more interaction and creativity in the boardroom and provides a basis for board members to act as greater ambassador to nonprofits. It puts the spotlight on the importance of board members to play a generative role and especially in this challenging terrain; effective board members are heralded to become futurists.  

While this approach rests on conceptual foundations it has practical implications for a fundamental nonprofit leadership shift.

The mindful governance mindset is a warm one confirming the significance of board members as team players, ‘none of us is as smart as all of us!’ 

Effective board members are active listeners who are creative as well as logical. Board members pay attention to what matters and dedicate themselves to continuous learning and improvement. The mindful approach calls for more liaison duties with other partners, members, communities of interest, the wider networks, and other key players. Building wisdom and a growth mindset through designing good questions is extremely beneficial in shaping good governance.

Here is a lecture by Howard Gardner on his Five Minds of the Future approach:

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Who's Who: Tesse Akpeki