Board Leadership Illustrated
Board Leadership Illustrated
Daily Operations: Fostering Staff Empowerment and Accountability
As we continue our year-long examination of the empowerment and accountability stream in food co-ops, the point in the sequence where the rubber really hits the road is in the day-to-day functioning of the co-op’s operations. This is the stage in the cycle where the vision gets implemented in myriad ways: through customer interactions, workplace culture and operational systems development. It’s the intersection between [...]
Empowerment of the Board and Accountability of the GM
At this juncture in our series examining the empowerment and accountability stream in food co-ops, we understand that at all points along the way co-op stakeholders need systems that allow for the clear flow of delegation and responsibility. However, it can be argued that the dynamism of the empowerment stream often hinges on the handoff of power from the board to the general manager, [...]
Power Triggers, Seesaw Battles and Handcar Cooperation
By Art Sherwood 154 May - June - 2011 Most would agree that a healthy board-general manager relationship not only makes the co-op run more smoothly, it is a critical connection between member-owners and operations in our democratically controlled organizations. Yet the health of this working relationship often remains elusive or at least can come under stress. It can "turn on a dime [...]
Boards Are Empowered by and Accountable to Members
Members are the foundation of all cooperatives. They are the source of capital and control as well as patronage of the co-op. The co-op’s purpose is built around their shared values and their needs, and based in the concept of democratic member control. As co-ops grow larger, some of these connections may not be as easy to see. How do thousands of owners exert [...]
Enact the Empowerment Stream to Build Shared Values
Looking to the Cooperative Principles, it is clear that cooperatives are by design set up to be empowering organizations. From the first principle to the last, from open membership to concern for community, all aspects of the cooperative’s control of resources are to be a model of trust and transparency. This is achieved when the people involved at all levels know their roles [...]
Starting Off Right With Your New General Manager
Guest Panelists: Melanie Reid, GM, Just Food Co-op Terry Bowling, GM, La Montañita Co-op
Meaningful Metrics: General manager reporting closes the accountability loop
By Todd Wallace 150 September - October 2010 Successful reporting is essential to maintaining a positive board-management relationship. A sound process—one that includes the creation of meaningful metrics—is a powerful tool that closes the accountability loop and demonstrates organizational accomplishment. Having these two components in place builds alignment, engagement, and commitment to the accomplishment of the co-op’s long-term goals. A board’s work includes two [...]
Acting on Ends Reports
When a board receives an Ends monitoring report from their manager, a thoughtful process can transform the report from just another document to file away into a valuable resource that helps the board, the manager and the co-op’s member-owners better understand the “story” of their co-op. The board wants to know: Does the report demonstrate reasonable accomplishment? Are we on track for multi-year goals/targets [...]