Extraordinary Board Leadership : The Seven Keys to High-Impact Governance (Aspen's Nonprofit Management) [Paperback]

Doug Eadie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0834217953 | ISBN-13: 978-0834217959 | Edition: 1st

This book reveals the power of high-impact governance. The author helps nonprofits reach beyond success to develop dynamic leadership that makes the board a true asset in leading change and achieving unprecedented results.

Product Details

• Paperback: 243 pages
• Publisher: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc.; 1st edition (September 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0834217953
• ISBN-13: 978-0834217959
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,265,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Doug Eadie is a writer and consultant based in Tampa Bay, Florida. President & CEO of Doug Eadie and Company (www.DougEadie.com), Doug specializes in developing the governing capacity of nonprofit and public boards and in building high-impact board-CEO partnerships. He has worked with over 500 clients in diverse fields, including aging, association management, economic development, education, social services, and transportation, among others.

Doug has written 19 books, including Meeting the Governing Challenge, Building a Rock-Solid Partnership With Your Board, Five Habits of High-Impact School Boards, The Blind Visionary (with Virginia Jacko),and his most recent: Leading Out-Of-The-Box Change. His over 100 articles have appeared in a number of national publications.

Before founding Doug Eadie & Company, Doug served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and he held a number of senior executive positions in the nonprofit and public sectors. Doug is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and he was awarded the Master of Science in Management degree from the Weather School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Doug and his wife, Barbara Krai, who is a prominent interior designer, reside in Oldsmar, Florida, in a home they are renovating on Old Tampa Bay.


Doug can be reached at: [e-mail] or 813.814.9274.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Top Notch Blueprint, July 29, 2001

By 

Byron C. Lewin "a747drvr" (University Place, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Extraordinary Board Leadership : The Seven Keys to High-Impact Governance (Aspen's Nonprofit Management) (Paperback)

Doug Eadie's book contains important "how to" information for all those school boards out there who are trying to bring stability to their district. The plan is clear and the argument is convincing. My suggestion is that every school superintendent and every board member read the book with an open mind. Then, go for it if your board needs improvement. Mr. Eadie's insightful treatment of human interactions is without equal in this realm. My only criticism is that the publisher needs to employ a talented editor to go through the text of the book for the next edition.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Practical Guide to High-Impact Performance, April 9, 2001

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Extraordinary Board Leadership : The Seven Keys to High-Impact Governance (Aspen's Nonprofit Management) (Paperback)

This is a book which should be read by anyone who is a member of the governing board of an organization. Eadie examines what he calls "seven keys to high-impact governance." He organizes his excellent material within six chapters, several of which conclude with "A Closing Word", "In Conclusion" or "In Closing" commentary which summarizes key points. Here are the six chapter titles:

Getting a Handle on the Work of Governing

Developing the Board as a Human Resource

Building and Maintaining the Board-CEO Relationship

Developing Your Board's Structure and Performance Management Capacity

Involving Your Board in Leading Innovation

Involving Your Board in Operational Planning and Management in the External Area

Eadie then provides a "Suggested Bibliography" for those in need of additional information sources. The book is primarily intended for those who are members of what Eadie calls a "strategic leadership team" such as a governing board member, CEO, or senior manager.

As promised in the Preface, he provides practical, down-to-earth guidance that will help them build governing boards of directors and trustees that are extraordinary at doing their basic job: governing. Eadie acknowledges that his book is based on several "critical assumptions": boards are organizations that can produce significant impact if they are systematically designed and developed; boards are above all else people; building extraordinary, high-impact boards is a team activity; and finally, the CEO should be the prime mover in developing a high-impact board. What Eadie provides is a comprehensive and cohesive guide. With regard to the aforementioned seven "keys" to extraordinary board leadership, they are: understanding in depth what governing is all about and generally how to develop a board's governing capacity; getting the right people to serve on the board and developing their governing skills; building and maintaining a strong board-CEO relationship; assembling a well-structured board which manages its own performance; having the board play a leading role in the organization's process for regularly generating significant innovation in an ever-changing, always-challenging environment; having the board play a strong, creative role in operational planning and budget preparation as well as operational oversight; and finally, having the board also play a creative role in external relations and financial resource development (i.e. fundraising). With eloquence and insight, Eadie explains HOW.

After many years of either serving on a governing board or reporting to one, I am convinced that this book will also be of substantial value to staff members who have little (if any) direct contact with governing board members. In an ideal world, everyone involved in an organization (top to bottom) should think and behave as if she or he were entrusted with the authority and responsibility which almost all governing board members now have. In a less-than-ideal world such as ours, the value of this book is even greater. You may also wish to check out "What Business Can Learn from Nonprofits", one of the essays anthologized by Nan Stone in Peter Drucker on the Profession of Management. I also highly recommend Dan McCormick's Nonprofit Mergers which examines the power of successful partnerships and explains how such power can be developed and then leveraged.