The following skills help boards develop their thinking toward policy and strategy rather than focus solely on operations and management:

Cognitive skills

• Context: the board understands and takes into account the culture and norms of the organization it governs
  • Adapts to the distinctive characteristics and culture of the institution’s environment
  • Relies on the institution’s mission, values and tradition as a guide for decisions
  • Acts so as to exemplify and reinforce the organization’s values
• Education: the board takes the necessary steps to ensure that trustees are knowledgeable about the institution, the profession, and the board’s roles, responsibilities and performance
  • Consciously creates opportunities for trustee education and development
  • Regularly seeks information and feedback on its own performance
  • Pauses periodically for self-reflection, to diagnose its strengths and limitations, and to examine its mistakes
• Analytical: the board recognizes the complexities and subtleties of issues and accepts ambiguity and uncertainty as healthy preconditions for critical discussions
  • Approaches matters from a broad institutional outlook
  • Dissects and examines all aspects of multifaceted issues
  • Raises doubts, explores tradeoffs, and encourages the expression of differences of opinion
• Strategic: the board helps the institution envision a direction and shape a strategy
  • Cultivates and concentrates on processes that sharpen institutional priorities
  • Organizes itself and conducts its business in light of the institution’s strategic priorities
  • Anticipates potential problems and acts before matters become urgent or issues become crises.

Affective or relational skills

• Interpersonal: the board nurtures the development of trustees as a working group, attends to the board’s collective welfare, and fosters a sense of cohesiveness
  • Creates a sense of inclusiveness among trustees
  • Develops group goals and recognizes group achievements
  • Identifies and cultivates leadership on the board
• Political: the board accepts as a primary responsibility the need to develop and sustain healthy relationships among major constituencies
  • Respects the integrity of the governance process and the legitimate roles and responsibilities of other stakeholders
  • Consults often and communicates directly with key constituencies
  • Attempts to minimize conflict and win/lose situations