Asking Powerful Questions: Co-op boards open up possibilities through conversation
By Thane Joyal 145 November - December - 2009 “A vital question, a creative question, rivets our attention. All the creative power of our minds is focused on the question. Knowledge emerges in response to [...]
Thinking Strategically: Learning owners’ needs, expectations through study and engagement
By Marshall Kovitz 144 September - October - 2009 When we look at the future for the co-op, what do we see and how do we express it? These are vital questions for board members [...]
Capital Campaign Workbook
UPDATED: March 2016
Perpetuating a Strong Board
A director should be equally as concerned with the future of the governance of their co-op as they are with the issues of the present day. Recruitment and orientation of new directors is the role [...]
Evaluating the General Manager
By Mark Goehring, Carolee Colter 143 July - August - 2009 A board evaluating the general manager (GM) of a food co-op…now there’s a process that directors should be able to describe, defend, celebrate [...]
The Cycle of We
Some economists theorize that business activity runs in a cycle where the benefits of greater collaboration are embraced, but eventually shift toward greater individualism. When the self-interest model leaves too few with tangible benefits, the [...]
GM Evaluation
with guests John Hatton, board president, Brattleboro Food Co-op, and Sharon Murphy, GM at Whole Foods Co-op, Duluth CG -- Evaluating the GM by Colter and Goehring
Executive Sessions
An Executive Session (sometimes called a “closed session”) is a meeting, or portion of a meeting, open to only members of the board of directors and individuals invited by the board of directors. All meeting attendees are [...]
Taking Policy Governance to Heart
A great cooperative thinker, Sid Pobihushchy, wrote an article in 2002 to help us understand the 10 cooperative values, “The Cooperative Values: Their meaning and practical significance” (find it at The Columinate Library). In his [...]