"John Carver is a revolutionary of the very best kind. Carver's Policy Governance model has provided the means for trustees to live out Greenleaf's challenge to boards to act as both servant and leader."

—Larry C. Spears, CEO, The Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership; editor, Reflections on Leadership, Insights on Leadership, Servant Leadership, The Power of Servant Leadership; coeditor, Practicing Servant Leadership and Focus on Leadership

"It took an inspired social scientist to record and describe the fundamental principles of [the Policy Governance] model, which provides deep insight into the role of the Board in the modern corporation."

—Jeremy Booker, vice president, corporate governance, British Petroleum, London

"Dr. Carver's governance model has been the key in empowering the State Bar of California Board of Governors to focus on policy that would help our judicial system."

—Andrew J. Guilford, 1999–2000 president, State Bar of California

"An indispensable guidebook to leadership excellence."

—George Weber, executive director, Canadian Dental Association, Ottawa; former secretary general, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva

"Boards That Make a Difference explicates the model, which is simple, powerful, and above all, successful."

—W. H. Hann, former executive director, Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia

"This book's sound premises regarding proper role delineation and its practical advice provide an invaluable resource."

—Dr. John R. Seffrin, CEO, American Cancer Society, Atlanta

"Dr. Carver offers a visionary yet practical approach to governance design."

—Adalberto Palma Gómez, senior partner, Aperture S.C.; former director, Institute for the Protection of Bank Savings; chairman, Center for Excellence in Corporate Governance, Mexico City

"Policy Governance gives governing bodies and CEOs a clear insight into their mutual relationship and their distinct responsibilities."

—Jacques Gerards, CEO, Dutch Association of Governors in Health Care, The Netherlands

In this edition, John Carver debunks the entrenched beliefs about board roles and functions that hamper dedicated members and leaders. He revamps traditional approaches to virtually every aspect of the board-management partnership.

In this revised and updated third edition, Carver continues to debunk the entrenched beliefs and habits that hobble boards and to replace them with his innovative approach to effective governance. This proven model offers an empowering and fundamental redesign of the board role and emphasizes values, vision, empowerment of both the board and staff, and strategic ability to lead leaders. Policy Governance gives board members and staff a new approach to board job design, board-staff relationships, the role of the chief executive, performance monitoring, and virtually every aspect of the board-management relationship. This latest edition has been updated and expanded to include explanatory diagrams that have been used by thousands of Carver's seminar participants. It also contains illustrative examples of Policy Governance model policies that have been created by real-world organizations. In addition, this third edition of Boards That Make a Differenceincludes a new chapter on model criticisms and the challenges of governance research.

Boards That Make a Differencecan help your board empower both board and staff, eliminate trivia, establish a meaningful organizational direction, clarify roles, plan productive meetings, establish officers and committees that work, and provide the leadership for which governing boards exist.

This book should be in the library of everyone who serves--or aspires to serve--on the governing board of any organization, large or small, nonprofit or corporate. Better than any other available resource, it tells what the roles of board members are and what they must and shouldn't do. An indispensable guidebook to leadership excellence.

--George Weber, secretary general, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva

John Carver's Boards That Make a Difference was required reading for board members of the Calgary Philharmonic Society. It provided a clear and concise road map with which we carried out significant governance restructuring of the society.

James M. Stanford, president & CEO, , Petro-Canada, and past chairman of the Calgary Philharmonic Society, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

John Carver's groundbreaking Policy Governance model has influenced the way public and nonprofit boards operate around the world. Now, as widespread experience with the model continues to grow, Carver enriches his definitive exposition with updated policy samples, a new chapter on the process of policy development, and additional resources for various types of boards. He debunks the entrenched beliefs about board roles and functions that hamper dedicated board members. With creative insight and commonsense practicality, Carver presents a bold new approach to board job design, board-staff relationships, the chief executive role, performance monitoring, and virtually every aspect of the board-management relationship. In their stead, he offers a board model designed to produce policies that make a difference, missions that are clearly articulated, standards thatare ethical and prudent, meetings, officers, and committees that work; and leadership that supports the fulfillment of long-term goals.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-233) and index.

'John Carveris known internationally as the creator of the breakthrough  in board leadership called the Policy Governance Model.  He has worked with boards in the United States and Canada as well as on four other continents for over twenty-five years.  His clients have included the National Association of State Boards of Education, the National Ballet of Canada, the American Institute of Architects, the Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Lutheran World Relief and the American Cancer Society.  He is author of the bi-monthly newsletter workshop Board Leadershipand his books have sold over 250,000 copies around the world. '

Preface to the Third Edition.

Preface.

The Author.

Prologue: Beginning and Ending with Purpose.

Introduction.

1. Leadership by Governing Boards: A Vision of Group Accountability.

2. Policy as a Leadership Tool: The Force of Explicit Values.

3. Designing Policies That Make a Difference: Governing by Values.

4. Focusing on Results: The Power of Purpose.

5. Controlling Ethics and Prudence: What's Not OK, Even if It Works.

6. Strong Boards Need Strong Executives: The Board-Executive Relationship.

7. The Board's Responsibility for Itself: Governing Oneself Precedes Governing Others.

8. Officers and Committees: The Chief Governance Officer and Other Divisions of Board Labor.

9. Policy Development by Levels: Adding Details Judiciously.

10. Making Meetings Meaningful: Creating the Future More Than Reviewing the Past.

11. Maintaining Board Leadership: Staying on Track and Institutionalizing Excellence.

12. But Does It Work? Criticisms, Effectiveness Research, and Model Consistency.

Resource A. Varieties of Policy Governance Applications.

Resource B. Bylaws.

Resource C. Glossary.

References.

Index.