Recreation Nova Scotia’s Board of Directors will cultivate a sense of group responsibility. The Board, not the staff, will be responsible for excellence in governing. The Board will initiate policy, not merely react to staff initiatives. The Board will use the expertise of individual members to enhance the ability of the Board as a whole rather than substitute individual judgments for the Board’s values. The Board will allow no officer, individual, or committee of the board to hinder or be an excuse for not fulfilling board commitments.
The Board will direct, control and inspire the association through the careful establishment of written policies reflecting the Board’s values and perspectives about ends to be achieved and means to be avoided. The Board’s primary policy focus will be on the long-term results outside of the organization, not on the administrative details of attaining those results.
The Board enforces upon itself whatever discipline appropriate to govern with excellence. Discipline will apply to matters such as attendance, preparation, policy-making principles, respect of roles and Board education.
Continual board development will include the orientation of new board members in the board’s governance process and periodic board discussions of process improvement.
The Board will monitor and discuss the Board’s process and performance at regular intervals. Self-monitoring will include a comparison of Board activity to policies on Board Governance and Board-Executive Director Linkages.
Governance Model
The Board governs with an emphasis on the following:
- Outward vision rather than internal preoccupation
- Encouragement of diversity in viewpoints
- Strategic leadership is more than administrative detail
- Distinction of Board and Executive Director roles
- Collective rather than individual decisions
- Future rather than past or present
- Proactive