In this interactive session, explore how effective leadership and governance can be critical to organizational performance and sustainability. Learn about pitfalls to avoid and walk away with practical strategies and best practices to offer support to organizational leadership and governance.

1. How effective leadership and
governance influences organizational
performance and sustainability
Capacity for Humanity Conference
Arusha, February 2018

2. Developing effective boards
“The motion has been made and seconded
that we stick our heads in the sand”
“perhaps it would help if I go over it
one more time”.

3. • Learn and share
experiences on
supporting leadership
and governance
• Share Pact’s approach,
and lesson learnt in
supporting
organizational
leadership and
governance
session
objective

4. When you hear the phrase
organizational leadership
and governance
what comes to mind?

5. Extensive research and practice in
nonprofit governance is based on the
premise that:
Well performing boards
coincide with well preforming
organizations

6. Pact’s capacity
development approach

7. organizational sustainability
Colloquial definition of sustainability:
Being able to “keep the business going” or “future proofing” of organizations
(Colbert & Kurucz 2007)
Ford Board of Directors Sustainability Committee
Charter focuses on sustainable growth, which it defines as:
“The ability to meet the needs of present customers while taking into account
the needs of future generations” (Ford 2012)
Key questions for organizational sustainability:
Is the organization able to maintain itself at optimal level?
Can it endure the changing environment?
Can it influence its environment to bring about desired change?

8. pact’s theory of change for
capacity development
Outputs
Change in the
internal systems,
skills and policies
of organizations,
networks and
systems
Outcomes
Improved external
performance of
organizations,
networks and
systems
Impact
Improved health,
environment
and/or livelihoods
in the communities
served by
organizations,
networks and
systems
(a)Stronger local organizations
(b)Improve their performance
(c)Have greater impact in their target communities
OCA OPI Evaluations

9. effective governance

10. organizational governance is pivotal
“The board should exercise compelling and relentless
leadership and should not underestimate the power of
leading by example - evidenced by high levels of visibility and
integrity, strong communications, and demanding
expectations. This leadership should be clear to ALL within
the organization, as well as shareholders and other
stakeholders.”
Boardroom Behaviours
A report prepared for Sir David Walker
by the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, UK
June 2009

12. leader and leadership...?
DAC model by Center for Creative Leadership
Leadership
The process of
influence
Direction
A shared vision of what
we are trying to achieve
Alignment
The coordination of our
resources and activities
Commitment
We all make achieving
collective success a
personal priority

13. Who is a leader?
Someone who engages in
leadership as per the DAC
model

14. governance...?
From the Latin steer or guide
Use in an organisational context goes back to 16th or 17th Century
A mechanism through which boards and directors are able to direct,
monitor, and supervise the conduct and operation of the corporation and
its management in a manner that ensures appropriate levels of authority,
accountability, stewardship, leadership, direction, and control
Leadership for efficiency
to compete in the global economy, create jobs
Leadership for probity (moral principles; honesty and decency)
because stakeholders require confidence
to provide assurance of management's integrity
Leadership with responsibility
to take account of broader stakeholder interests
Leadership that is accountable and transparent
to build trust in organization !!

16. attributes that contribute to an effective
board
Skills and knowledge
What are the skills that are
needed for the board to
effectively execute its
responsibilities?
Process
What processes are
necessary for the board to
both understand and
properly oversee the
activities of the
organization?
Information
Is the information received
by the board adequate to
support effective oversight
and decision-making?
Behavior
Does the board’s behavior
support and reinforce strong
oversight?

17. Ideally, the board:
• guides long-term organization strategy
• puts the key staff in place to implement it
• monitors performance against the
strategy set out
Consequently, bad organization
performance and governance begins
with a board not fulfilling its key
responsibilities.

18. underlying assumption
The best management practices
adopted by the best managers
cannot succeed in an environment
characterized by poor
governance!!!!

19. Lets Share!!!......World Café
Table 1: How do leaders and leadership influence
organizational performance for organizational
sustainability?
Table 2: How does organizational structure influence
organizational performance and sustainability?
Table 3: How can we offer better organizational support to
leadership and governance to ensure organizational
performance and sustainability?

20. What strategies have
been most effective…?
lessons learnt from
Pact Kenya’s programs

21. “Effective Boards should think deeply about the
way in which they carry out their role and the
behaviors they display, not just the structure and
process they put in place.”
Financial Reporting Council (FRC. UK)

22. 1. governance system and structure
Systems and structures can
provide an environment
conducive to good governance
practices, but at the end of the
day it is the acts or
omissions of the people
charged with relevant
responsibilities that will
determine whether
governance objectives are in fact achieved.
Governance systems have to support the membership. For
example, the identification of the background, skills and
expertise of the people who walk into the board room is a good
start, but it is what they do when they get there that is
critical.

23. 2. board composition
(who and what they bring)
Quality of recruitment
Most board members are appointed based on their individual status
and not necessarily their skills and the competencies.
Quality of board orientation and development
Little is done to get them to operate as a
team, i.e., how do their individual skills
compliment one another to fulfill the
governance role?
Board capacity
A great team of high caliber managers/
management experts with no or
limited governance experience.
Board diversity

24. 3. quality of board meetings
The only structure legally provided for a board to deliberate and make
decisions on behalf of the organisation
The cornerstone of how the board carries out its governance role
Must be effective and focused
If an organisation persists in a pattern of unproductive, listless,
unclear, or dreary meetings, it will soon begin to lose commitment
from its board members.
Effectiveness strongly correlates to the quality of its conversations
Quality of conversation is dependent on:
• Quality and management of agenda
• Quality of information: management and committee reports
• Board’s understanding of strategy
• Preparations, planning, involvement, appropriateness,
timeliness, quality of members, passion, trust,
integrity, commitment
• Common purpose and comfort within the board

25. 4. quality of board chair
• Ability to lead the board
• Ability to listen to all voices
including dissenting voices
• Ability to manage the meeting and
agenda process and content
• Candid enough to address sensitive
issues, yet respectful and supportive
of the CEO (the critical friend)
• Sets the tone for the way the board
operates
• Ensures individual board members’
accountability for personal and
collective performance
• Does not usurp board responsibility,
is inclusive

26. Courtesy of ActionAid International

27. 5. quality and timeliness of
management reports
• What the board needs
to know, not what you
think the board should
know
• Simple and focused on
the real question/issue
• Generates/mines the
board value
• Bridges management
action and board
requirements

28. 6. board decisions
• Well‐informed and high‐quality
decision making is a critical
requirement for a board to be
effective and does not happen
by accident.
• Flawed decisions can be made
with the best of intentions,
with competent individuals
believing passionately that
they are making a sound
judgment, when they are not.
• In a board, what you say or don’t say has an impact on
the final decision and ultimately the quality of
direction given for mission accomplishment.

29. The irony of leadership is that people
don’t equip you with the knowledge to
make the right decision, and yet they
expect you to make great decisions and
think you’re an imbecile if you don’t.
The single biggest problem in
communication is the illusion
that it has taken place.

30. 7. ambition
vs. capacity
Fatick, Senegal Truck Loaded with Peanuts
Image by © Sandro Vannini/CORBIS
ca. 1985-1998
A danger often faced by
boards is trying to do
too much with too
little information.

31. 8. board members’ behavior

32. Research has shows the real problem in boardroom leadership is
never was in the process, system, or structure—it was board
behavior.
The key to real change lies not in implementing a new process,
but in getting people to hold one another accountable to the
process. And that requires Crucial Conversations skills.

33. 9. governance and
management interface
• Research on effective non-profit CEOs argues that the
board-centered executive is likely to be effective because
he or she has grasped that the work of the board is
crucial in adapting to and affecting the constraints and
opportunities in the environment.
• Just as the board has the responsibility to support the
CEO, the CEO has a reciprocal responsibility to
support the board.
• There must be mutual respect between the board and
management with appreciation of the value that
each brings to the success of the organization.

34. governance performance versus
organizational performance
• There is a strong consensus that you cannot separate the
two: inefficiency grows out of inadequate board
governance. Inadequate board governance also creates
the conditions that lead to mismanagement of funds that
can result to poor organizational performance.
• Therefore, the issue is not whether good governance is a
lynchpin to organizational success but how to get
board members to govern to ensure institutional
performance.

35. The greatest threat to the not-for-
profit sector is the betrayal of
public trust, the disappointment of
public confidence…
Joel, F. (1999)

36. Thank You!
Onyango Cynthia Adhiambo
Capacity development, Pact Kenya