I see this year's ACEVO annual conference is entitled "Governing the Future - The Roles of Chairs and Chief Executives" and will "help CEOs and trustees answer the tough questions they face:
- strengthening governance to meet future challenges?
- developing high-performing trustees?
- building better relationships between chair and chief executive?"
I will not be attending the conference. Not because I do not think the subject important. Likewise, I do not belong to ACEVO. Again, not because I do not think it would be useful to do so. It's simply that among the "tough questions" I daily face as CEO of a small, regional third sector organisation is managing my time by prioritising not simply what I think it important that I should be doing but prioritising where I consider I can have most effect.
This morning I have responded to an email regarding an away day for the Board of our local Community Forum. I have followed up a note about the Special Education Consortium. And I have pondered ACEVO and Governance. Each is a totally, brain-bendingly different sphere: neighbourhood renewal; special education and governance. In a very real sense, they only overlap in my head, and in organisations like Paces. To be effective as a CEO, and an organisation, we have to hold these disparate realms together, as a 'generalist' to meet with and converse with 'specialists' in these disparate fields.
We at Paces have been here before, considering governance. Our first foray into governance a couple of years ago was to consider the Carver Policy Governance Model. Carver was more complicated at that time than we were really ready for. Last month, Trustees approved our Strategic Plan which sets out a as the sixth of six Key Strategies "Establishing a comprehensive governance framework, which meets effective governance standards".
What is governance? The Governance Hub provides a useful working definition: "the systems and processes concerned with ensuring the overall direction, effectiveness, supervision and accountability of an organisation".
That is no small task. One that Paces Trustees must collaboratively get their heads around. But it must also be a priority for the CEO: good governance is a prerequisite of good management. Or, as the Governance Hub puts it: "Good governance is key to the health and success of an organisation".
Nonetheless, I shall not be travelling to London for ACEVO's conference. I have work to do.