Better Boards for a Better World

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 efficient, effective, 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.

While Policy Governance may be understood as value neutral in that different boards can use the Policy Governance system to express differing values, it is also true that certain values including servant-leadership values are embedded in the very structure of the Policy Governance model and boards practicing Policy Governance are expected to express their ethical values in their policies. While servant-leadership writers beginning with Robert K. Greenleaf have not developed a detailed comprehensive board governance system model, they have expressed keen thoughts and insights for board governance inspired by servant-leadership values.

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.