Interim Leadership to Operationalize Change
A governance review identified a gap that new policies and procedures could not fill. It needed a strong governance leader who had done the job before.
SECTOR
National Healthcare Organization
Size
17 directors; 50+ staff
Pathway
Embed → Outsourced governance support
Engagement
18 months (ongoing)
01
The Situation
Following a governance review in 2024 that identified the need for significant governance change, a national organization needed sustained, hands-on capacity to actually carry that plan forward.
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Real governance change meant jumping in and rolling up our sleeves.
02
Our Process
We embedded directly in the organization, taking on several roles over q two-year period of governance modernization:
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As Interim Corporate Secretary for 24 months:
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Designing board/committee annual workplans
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Setting up and running a new board and committee calendar
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Redesigning committee structure
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Redesigning how meetings took place, to performing corporate filings
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Maintaining board records and confidential files
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Onboarded new CEO and new directors
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Director elections / Member appointments
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As Program Manager for 18 months:
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Comprehensive 3-year implementation plan, with scoping, cost estimates, and resourcing plans
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Monitoring and tracking key deliverables and outcomes of governance modernization across workstreams and projects
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Monthly status and financial reporting to the Governance and Nominations Committee
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As governance advisors throughout this engagement, we facilitated collaborative governance visioning, intense stakeholder engagement, an external CEO search, one-to-one coaching to the board chair and committee chairs to support them in facilitating good governance discussion. We completed about 30 unique governance projects related to policies, role descriptions, new processes, director onboarding materials, and much more.
03
The Outcome
The board today is barely recognizable as the one that started this journey.
IIn addition to having a shared vision for its governance model and practices, the directors have grown to have real confidence.
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The board now engages at a strategic level, asking sharper, more informed questions and challenging ideas respectfully and holding all accountable. A new strategic plan is bolder and more thoughtful than anyone could have imagined in the past. The board and committee chairs are excellent facilitators of appropriate governance discussion, and support directors in developing and making the changes stick.
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None of this happened by accident — it reflects the board's own determination to invest in the process and see it through, even when the work was hard.
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The organization's overall governance culture is more robust and sustainable as a result.
We will wrap up our involvement in the coming months, with great pride for this organization.
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What began as a set of recommendations from our review has become the organization's actual governance culture, an exciting new strategic direction, and greater assurance of its long-term relevance.