90 Strategic Leadership
THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNING BOARD
The responsibilities of the governing board for strategy and strategic leadership
have often been neglected. Although board members may or may not be represented
formally on an SPC—it depends on circumstances—the governing board is an
essential participant in the total strategy process. Beyond whatever involvement
board members may have by reason of talent or interest in some aspects of the
work of strategy, the board’s active endorsement of strategic governance is essen-
tial to the total process. The authority and prestige of the board needs to be
evident in the creation and oversight of the strategy process, and in its active
consideration of the reports and plans that come to the board for endorsement
and final approval.
The governing board should consider the creation of an SPC as essential to
effective decision making and of leadership in the university. The board’s author-
ity in these areas is often peculiarly absent. As a consequence, faculty and admin-
istration often churn in conflict over the fine points of shared governance while
fundamental strategic issues are handled episodically and incoherently. How
can the board’s ultimate legal authority and fiduciary responsibility have any
meaning unless it is actively involved in shaping the institution’s capabilities to
respond effectively to the world around it? What could be more relevant than
the board’s direct involvement in a consideration of the mechanisms that shape
the institution’s mission and identity and its strategic position and vision? There
may be times when the board can legitimately be active or even proactive in
addressing the strategic governance process. If there is unresolved conflict about
the effectiveness of the strategy process or the role of a group like an SPC, the
board can and should address the issues to ensure that the methods of strategic
decision making are effective and coherent. As Chait, Holland, and Taylor put
it in their study of the characteristics of effective governing boards, “competent
boards cultivate and concentrate on processes that sharpen institutional priorities
and assure a strategic approach to the organization’s future” (1993, 95).
One of the board’s critical roles is to make sure that the processes of decision
making in the institution are functioning in a constitutional, balanced, and
effective manner. It does not interfere in the decisions on programs and personnel
but ensures that good policies and processes are in place to make them. When
it sees deficiencies or recurrent problems such as fragmentation, dysfunctional
conflict, or loss of a strategic focus, it has a reason to be concerned and to raise
the issue. Without denying a proper place for each element in the governance
process, it can seek to connect them all in a coherent framework through a process
of strategic thinking and leadership.
The way the board fulfills this strategic role will vary enormously by context. In
many situations, the board will be a repository of wisdom about the organization’s
narrative of identity and can be a testing ground for an emerging vision (cf. Chait,
Ryan, and Taylor 2005). The mission and vision of the organization are inalien-
able leadership responsibilities of a governing board, and its active initiative and