Better Boards for a Better World An Integrated Practice of Policy Governance® and Servant-Leadership

In Better Boards for a Better World, Bohley and Spears bring together the comprehensive system of board governance called Policy Governance that was developed by John Carver and the constellation of core values embodied in the servant-leadership concept articulated by Robert K. Greenleaf. Policy Governance provides the logical governance framework promoting effective, efficient, accountable governance while servant-leadership provides the altruistic values that can drive the system. Policy Governance may be seen as the head while servant-leadership may be seen as the heart of the powerful synergistic approach to board governance that they are envisioning.

The authors see Better Boards for a Better World as providing an introduction to Policy Governance for organizations that embrace servant-leadership and an introduction to servant-leadership for boards that practice Policy Governance. They see Better Boards for a Better World as providing an introduction for all boards to a powerful approach to board governance that integrates the system of Policy Governance and the values of servant-leadership.

Better Boards for a Better World provides detailed guidance for implementing and sustaining board governance that is effective, efficient, accountable, and compassionate. It is filled with sample forms, planning tools, sample organizational performance reports, board self-assessment questionnaires, and the latest set of Policy Governance board template policies developed by John Carver and Miriam Carver.

Founder of Boards On Course governance consulting firm (Cincinnati, Ohio). Assisted a wide range of boards of directors develop and fine-tune their practice of the Policy Governance® model (also known as Carver Governance) and operationalize servant-leadership values in the boardroom. Former board member of the International Policy Governance Association (now called Govern for Impact). A leading world authority on servant-leadership. Author and editor of numerous books and articles on servant-leadership. Served as President/CEO and as Senior Fellow and President Emeritus of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center from 1990 to 2007. Since 2008, he serves as President/CEO of the Spears Center for Servant-Leadership (Indianapolis, Indiana) and Servant-Leadership Scholar teaching graduate courses on servant-leadership at Gonzaga University (Spokane, Washington).