Finding Freedom in Discipline

• Date: 01 September 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/bl.30167
• Published date: 01 September 2020
• Author: Jannice Moore

Finding Freedom in

Discipline

By Jannice Moore

Jannice Moore is president of The Governance Coach, a Calgary, Alberta, Canada–

based rm that specializes in Policy Governance® consultation and coaching. In

this article, Moore discusses how a disciplined commitment to following Policy

Governance® principles can free up a board to explore new possibilities and

improve its performance.

Boards sometimes decide against

implementing Policy Governance®

because they say it is “too hard.” What

they really mean is that they don’t wish

to exercise discipline. Many boards

tend to shy away from discipline. Per-

haps it’s because the word evokes men-

tal images of punishment—when our

parents or teachers disciplined us, we

did not always appreciate it (at least not

at the time)! However, there are several

positive meanings to the word. The

Merriam-Webster Dictionary includes

these: “a field of study”; “training that

corrects, molds or perfects the mental

faculties or moral character”; “orderly

or prescribed conduct or pattern of

behavior”; “self-control”; “a rule or

system of rules governing conduct or

activity.”1 The definition of discipline as

a verb (such as to exercise discipline)

includes “to train or develop by instruc-

tion and exercise, especially in self-con-

trol.” Finally, self-discipline is defined as

“correction or regulation of oneself for

the sake of improvement.”

Boards have a moral and fiduciary

responsibility to govern responsibly

on behalf of an organization’s owners.

Therefore, they should be constantly

seeking to improve their ability to gov-

ern by having an orderly approach to

their work, by training and developing

their governance capabilities, and by

correcting and regulating themselves

for the sake of improvement—in other

words, exercising self-discipline as a

board.

The exercise of self-discipline,

rather than being a set of “rules”

under which boards chafe, is actually

the path to freedom!

Merriam-Webster includes in the

definitions for freedom these con-

cepts: “ease, facility,” “boldness of

conception or execution,” and “unre-

stricted use.” Rather than thinking of

discipline as restraining, let’s consider

it as a key to freedom, the key to

allowing boards to boldly conceptual-

ize what could be in the future.

Examples of Discipline as the

Path to Freedom

Joel Weldon tells the inspiring story

of a young man whose goal was to

qualify for the Olympic trials in the

marathon. Here’s what he said about

the discipline of running 26,000 miles

NUMBER 171, SEPT.–OCT.R 2020

www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/bl

BOARD LEADERSHIP

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO GOVERNANCE

View this newsletter online at wileyonlinelibrary.com

Board Leadership • DOI: 10.1002/bl • Sept.–Oct. 2020

(continued on page 2)

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CALENDAR

OF EVENTS

November 12–14

ARNOVA 2020 Annual

Conference—Virtual Event

The Association for Research on

Nonprofit Organizations and Volun-

tary Action will hold its 2020 Annual

Conference Nov. 12–14 online in

lieu of its originally planned venue

in Indianapolis.

According to organizers, this

conference aims to create a public

conversation on, as well as oppor-

tunities for presenting research

about pressing issues and vital

opportunities facing the voluntary

or nonprofit sector. It is both a

showcase for the best and most cur-

rent research, as well as a seedbed

from which new research is born.

This three-day event includes two

plenary sessions, over 180 panel

and/or paper presentation sessions,

a poster session, and numerous

opportunities for networking/idea

sharing.

The theme for this year’s con-

ference is “From Climate Change

to Social Justice: How Citizens are

Re-Shaping Nonprofits and Philan-

thropy in an Age of Disruption and

Transition.”

Conference tracks will include:

•Accountability, Effectiveness,

Evaluation, and Program

Outcomes.

•Boards and Governance.

•Civil Society, Community, and

Grassroots Associations.

•Collaboration: In, Between,

and Among Sectors.

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