Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards

– by Richard P Chait, William P. Ryan, Barbara E. Taylor

This is yet another book that was not written for the church. Yet, this book is a helpful read for pastors and sessions. The position of the book is that boards have three essential functions. Those functions are fiduciary, strategic, and generative.

In my experience with sessions, boards, and even leaders, we do okay with the fiduciary function. We do marginal with the strategic, and the generative function is all but absent.

To grow the generative function is to grow the leadership. Leadership is done in the generative.

Book Topic: Systems