Customer Reviews

The Perfect Board

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Perfect Board," is a book written for those who want to become an effective member of any Board of Directors. In essence it is a self-help book chock full of essential guidelines to be an effective leader.
However, this work is written in a cleaver way, as it is told in story form when a young woman named Rebecca is about to be promoted and is unsure how to proceed. In her quest to do the best job she can, she seeks out help and is lead to a man, EJ Cummings, who shares with her a book which he is about to release. In this book he shares the principals that he has learned through years of dealing with this facet of business. This information gives Rebecca the knowledge and confidence she needs to perform the task before her.
In giving this work a storyline with characters that are about to embark on this journey, author Calvin Clemons puts this self-help book many notches about any other. The personal touch it brings allows the reader to absorb more of the information in the work, allowing a relaxed read instead of feeling you must obtain every morsel, great move on author Calvin Clemons part.
I believe this book will help many and is definitely packed full of some great principals that definitely should be followed.

This book expertly and effortlessly summarizes the attributes of winning boards and board members. It's an appealing and comprehensive work-yet the book manages to be bite-sized, which is exactly what busy readers want these days. Its content applies to both the non-profit and for-profit worlds. Just about everyone serves on a Board of one kind or another, so just about everyone should read this book!

This book was given to me as a guide while I was serving on the Board of the Federation of Exchange Accomodators. The book is well-written and easy to understand. The author conveys the ideas is a simple, straight-forward manner. The writing style makes it easy to grasp the concepts. His ideas need to be instituted by all boards of non-profits. This book should be required reading for all new and old board members alike.

I attended the Professional Fraternity Association conference the summer of 2008 where I was first introduced to "The Perfect Board." After picking up a copy, I immediately bought 7 others to pass out to my Executive Board. The book provided a great foundation as to the duties and obligations that a Board member takes on in becoming a board member. From the fundamentals presented in this book, we will be forming a board orientation workshop that will be presented at the start of each new year. "The Perfect Board" does not bog the reader down in legal specifics, but explains the duties in terms of being a good person. I really enjoyed the quick read and highly recommend this book to others.

The Perfect Board is all about the Board of Directors of an
organization, and is a comprehensive resource on how to be a good
director and thus help in making the Board perfect. The author is well
equipped to write the book, having served on the boards of directors
as well as being an executive vice-president, executive director or
director of several associations.

The book takes an interesting form. The beginning and the end are like
a novel, with good narrative. The main part of the book is like a good
manual, telling the reader what to do and what not to do. The author
uses a well qualified and sincere lady as the main character (seeker
of knowledge) and a retired, highly knowledgeable expert as the teacher.

The book is well written and well printed (easy to read and easy on
the eyes). I did catch a few typos but let me assure you that they are
very minor and don't affect the understanding.

If you need to understand what being a director involves, or if you
were always curious to know what exactly your directors did (and more
importantly are supposed to do!) or if you are a student of business
organization course, this could be a good and useful read. The book
takes just a couple of hours to read and is handy to carry in your
bag, briefcase or coat pocket. Since the contents page covers all the
important points, lack of an index is not a big handicap. The
bibliography at the end provides more resources if you need.

All in all, an excellent book on the subject and highly recommended.

About the reviewer: The reviewer is a graduate physicist, metallurgist
and held senior positions in a large organization till recently and
more importantly served on several committees, and associations as an
office bearer and is thus familiar with most of the rights and
responsibilities of the Executive Committee or Board of Directors. He
retired recently after more than 4 decades of service on pension and
is sharing his own knowledge through lectures and articles.

I was introduced to this book by Bob Harris, the gentleman who also wrote the foreword. This book is essential for anyone who serves on a board, as I do, or works with his or her own board of directors.

Read this book and take it to heart if doing the best job and taking the highest road ethically is important to you.

It is easy to read, easy to handle and easy to digest.

It should be an essential in every board binder and on the shelf of every executive director.

Having served on several community and non-profit boards, I thought everyone always worked in harmony on these boards. But, I recently found out that's just not the case. After a couple of our board members did not see a vote go their way, they then went out of their way to "stir the pot" and not support the board decision. I needed help ... and found it in "The Perfect Board". The three pages dealing with respect and unity were woth the price of the book alone! This book should be required reading for any board member or potential board member. This primer is loaded with great wisdom!

Clemon's new volume is a wonderful tool for individuals who are about to enter a challenging and sometimes unknown world - the world of Board service. I have served on a number of Boards in my nearly 35 years of professional life, including 8 years service as an elective office holder, perhaps the most difficult of all Boards of serve on. How I wish that I had Clemon's insights during that time. Buy the book- its a gem.

The Perfect Board is a great resource and provides a list of requirements for my (future) Board Members, the legal necessities related to meetings, and decision making in groups. Most importantly, the writing style makes for a very easy and interesting read. Instead of a textbook and academic approach that typically puts me to sleep, the writing style is straightforward and practical, and this combines to keep it compelling.