Leadership Through Governance

A large proportion of organisations in the cultural sectors are governed by charitable boards and trusts with non-executive directors. Notwithstanding many examples of excellent governance practice, there are widespread concerns about the effectiveness and fitness for purpose of many governing bodies and their relationship with their Executive.

CLP has undertaken a suite of projects exploring the leadership aspects of governance and ways of addressing its development. This has focused on: developing good signposting; strengthening organisations’ understanding and knowledge of legal frameworks; the development of ‘business’ and risk assessment skills; creating a ‘cultural annexe’ to the Governance Hub Code of Good Governance; and offering customised opportunities for the boards and senior executives of individual organisations to review the effectiveness of their governance.

CLP will maintain its priority investment in this key area of sector leadership through:

· Information Advice & Guidance – CLP has commissioned a range of papers to strengthen the awareness and knowledge base for governance practice. See 'Adopting Good Governance'.  In addition to the suite of papers currently available, further areas of research will be commissioned including The Relationship between the Chair and the Chief Executive; ‘Do Boards allow Leaders to Lead?’ and the documentation of the case studies supported through the Carver Policy Model in 2007. See 'Caroline Felton's Report'.

· Clore Governance Programme - The Clore Leadership Programme in partnership with CLP, will be delivering a suite of opportunites for Boards and Chairs. The programme offers an organisation the opportunity for the whole Board, together with the senior executive team, to spend a day discussing and considering how they are operating as a Board, how their relationship with the Executive has developed, how they are tackling issues such as artistic risk, strategic planning, diversity, financial information and analysis, legal responsibilities, recruitment, and succession planning.

· Governance Conference, March 2009 – A conference highlighting key issues and themes for Governance, bringing together theory and practice through the launch of the Governance Publication and skills development/knowledge sharing workshops covering varied aspects of the governance agenda.