Authority and intimacy in the boardroom.

• Author: Tropman, John
• Position: Book review

From Nonprofit Governance by John Tropman and Thomas J. Harvey. Copyright 2009 by the authors. Co-published by Corby Books and University of Scranton Press (www.corbypublishing.com).

THIS PRACTICAL BOOK will repeat, over and over again in different contexts, that the power of the board to act and lead is not found in individuals nor in individual responsibility, but in the social interaction of the group. Thus, if directors search for theories that can assure the best organizational behaviors and successful outcomes, they would be well served in reviewing the basic dynamics of group process.

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Throughout this text, there runs an underlying assumption that the most successful boards function well as a "group." Group theorists hold that any group must deal effectively with two challenging problems if it is to function well. They are the problem of authority and the problem of intimacy.

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