Ever feel like you're just spinning your wheels in the boardroom? That you aren't on the same page with other members of the board and senior staff? Do you sometimes wonder if you're really accomplishing the purpose for which the organization was created? If so, please realize this: You are not alone! The Intentional Board was written specifically with these frustrations in mind. It's written in a the conversational style common to all In the Trenches books published by CharityChannel Press. Intentional vs. Accidental Board Kent Stroman coined the term "accidental board" to describe the governance condition he has too-frequently encountered in his decades in the nonprofit field. It makes no difference how old or new. Large or small. Sophisticated or simple. Local or international. Boards tend to fall prey to the same reality that plagues every other entity: Left to their own devices, they will decay. And, unfortunately, most don't have to decline very far for the decay to become noticeable. Accidental boards result from the forces of human nature. A handful of well-intentioned individuals with a boatload of passion joins together to solve a specific problem. They form a nonprofit organization, and someone tells them they must have a board. No problem. Several of them know attorneys (maybe someone who practices family law) and ask for assistance. These kind and generous attorneys provide pro bono services--well beyond their area of expertise--to help get the organization started on the right foot. The formal structure for governing a charitable entity is born, and everyone goes happily about their respective business. But trouble is brewing. It's invisible. It's just below the surface. The governance capabilities of the board are not keeping up with the demands of the mission. The governance framework laid out in the bylaws is not aligned with the structure required of a charitable entity. And just like a Kansas tornado, the winds are shifting, and the shift goes unnoticed. Initially. Next thing we know Toto is flying. And, we're not in Kansas anymore! Yikes! Unless an intervention occurs, the result will be the formation of one more accidental board. A roomful of dedicated, generous, passionate members will gradually create a governance structure that does not work. If left untreated, this will eventually become a major distraction from the charitable programs and threaten the very existence of the organization. The intentional board, however, is the result of purposeful, deliberate action. In The Intentional Board, Stroman expertly weaves his powerful but easy-to-grasp 17 Laws of the Intentional Board to give you a framework for getting your board back on track. The intentional board is a journey--not a destination. It involves a collective striving for excellence. And it's a rewarding endeavor for all who are involved. No one who has served on an intentional board will ever be content returning to an accidental board. Rather, these enlightened board members will become change agents for transforming other organizations from survival to significance in their governance practices. Who Will Benefit? The Intentional Board is for anyone who wants a healthy, well-governed organization. It's indespensible for: Executive Directors Aspiring Executive Directors Board Chairs Board Members Prospective Board Members Governance Consultants Emerging Leaders Young Professionals Students of Nonprofit Leadership

High-Impact Church Boards can help your board revolutionize its leadership and management—and discover how to make church leadership easier and more fulfilling. Learn how to develop healthy elders, deacons, pastors, and board members who practice intentional leadership within empowering governance structures. This book will help your local church chart a path toward healthier, more intentional, and empowered leadership and in the process help your church become more effective and missional.

How to rebuild higher education from the ground up for the twenty-first century. Higher education is in crisis. It is too expensive, ineffective, and impractical for many of the world's students. But how would you reinvent it for the twenty-first century—how would you build it from the ground up? Many have speculated about changing higher education, but Minerva has actually created a new kind of university program. Its founders raised the funding, assembled the team, devised the curriculum and pedagogy, recruited the students, hired the faculty, and implemented a bold vision of a new and improved higher education. This book explains that vision and how it is being realized. The Minerva curriculum focuses on “practical knowledge” (knowledge students can use to adapt to a changing world); its pedagogy is based on scientific research on learning; it uses a novel technology platform to deliver small seminars in real time; and it offers a hybrid residential model where students live together, rotating through seven cities around the world. Minerva equips students with the cognitive tools they need to succeed in the world after graduation, building the core competencies of critical thinking, creative thinking, effective communication, and effective interaction. The book offers readers both the story of this grand and sweeping idea and a blueprint for transforming higher education.

Break down the barriers that keep professional learning from sticking! Real professional learning takes place when there is a permanent change in practice. This book outlines what it means to intentionally interrupt the status quo in order to overcome barriers to learning that impede permanent change. The authors explain the psychological processes involved in learning and which biases get in the way of making professional learning stick. Staff developers will find tools and strategies for: * Moving professional learning beyond activities to deepen conceptual change* Enabling new learning by building three key capacities: a learning focus, collaborative inquiry, and instructional leadership* Embedding and sustaining a true learning culture in schools.

Do you want to reignite your passion for the local church and see your congregation live out the Great Commission by growing and making disciples? If so, implementing the revolutionary Intentional Growth Planning™ operating system will benefit you, your church, and your community! Just as laptops and smart phones have an operating system, the church needs a biblically based operating system where its various programs and activities can effectively plug in to. In Intentional Churches, Doug Parks and Bart Rendel combine their 35 years of executive church leadership experience and unveil a proven and practical operational system that will help you: Clarify your unique vision Filter trends and new ideas through your mission Improve implementation abilities Maintain unity and alignment around what matters most This is a repeatable and transferable process any church can learn. Start today and be ready to go and grow through God’s power for God’s glory.

Nonprofit leadership is messy Nonprofits leaders are optimistic by nature. They believe with time, energy, smarts, strategy and sheer will, they can change the world. But as staff or board leader, you know nonprofits present unique challenges. Too many cooks, not enough money, an abundance of passion. It’s enough to make you feel overwhelmed and alone. The people you help need you to be successful. But there are so many obstacles: a micromanaging board that doesn’t understand its true role; insufficient fundraising and donors who make unreasonable demands; unclear and inconsistent messaging and marketing; a leader who’s a star in her sector but a difficult boss… And yet, many nonprofits do thrive. Joan Garry’s Guide to Nonprofit Leadership will show you how to do just that. Funny, honest, intensely actionable, and based on her decades of experience, this is the book Joan Garry wishes she had when she led GLAAD out of a financial crisis in 1997. Joan will teach you how to: Build a powerhouse board Create an impressive and sustainable fundraising program Become seen as a ‘workplace of choice’ Be a compelling public face of your nonprofit This book will renew your passion for your mission and organization, and help you make a bigger difference in the world.

Some people seem to be born with a mental makeup that predestines them for success. But anyone can master their mindset. Dave Anderson shows you how. In Intentional Mindset, LearnToLead founder Dave Anderson shows you how to purposefully develop both killer instinct and mental toughness by cultivating and strengthening ten specific traits. The author of 15 books and host of the popular podcast The Game Changer Life, Dave's guidance has impacted readers and listeners in more than 145 countries. Now, he shares a unique blueprint for developing the mindset you need to succeed, presenting foundational strategies for intentionally developing and strengthening what he calls the ACCREDITED traits: attitude, competitiveness, character, rigor, effort, discipline, intelligence, tenacity, energy, and drive. Throughout the book, readers will follow the progress of three "case studies." The frustrations, progress, and victories of "Fred," "Frank," and "Frances" will replace the sterile or academic approach so common in personal development books with a more readable, personal, and actionable experience. What's more, Anderson provides an optional 70-day follow-up course to integrate the book's lessons into one's daily routine and accelerate results. All materials for this course, including a downloadable workbook and 70 supporting videos—one for each day—are provided at no cost on the LearnToLead website. Intentional Mindset is a true game changer—a book that gives you the tools to shape your future by shaping your mind.