Volunteering in Sport and Recreation

This week is National Volunteer Week. Volunteers play a important role in the day-to-day operations for many community and non-profit organizations. Research shows that over 25% of Canadian adults volunteer in a sport-related capacity. Volunteers aid in the delivery systems for sport, recreation and physical activity programming at all levels. The contribution of volunteers helps…

Effective sport governance

To govern effectively, a board must become more knowledgeable about its members and stakeholders and understand their values and priorities. Only after focusing on this primary relationship can the board lead. A steward-leadership approach can help sport organization boards to provide vision and direction for the organization while enabling staff to apply their expertise, exercise…

Digital future-proofing for sport organizations

“Organizations need to be dealing not just with the ‘now’ but to start to think about future-proofing themselves. Asking, what are you doing now? Not for next week, but to prepare for the next 3-5 years?” says Michael Naraine, an Associate Professor of Sport Management at Brock University. To him, future-proofing is dependent on good…

Teamwork in board leadership

Boards in sport organizations can improve their effectiveness by functioning as a team of equals. The importance of teamwork is easily appreciated in sport. For effective teamwork, individual board members need to recognize that their authority exists only as a group, with the board chair serving as the steward-leader to the board.

Accountability loops

Delegating without an accountability loop leaves an organization’s board of directors at risk. To delegate safely and support role clarity, the board can do 4 things: (1) specify the results it wants and boundaries for actions and decision-making that must be respected in pursuing those results, (2) document what happens, (3) implement a systematic, rigorous…

Gender equity and sport leadership

Gender-equal boards are associated with higher revenues and more financial resources. In Canadian sport, the number of board members who are women is increasing, with current estimates at 41% representation. That value is encouraging. After all, when at least 30% of board members are individuals from diverse groups, changes toward equality are experienced.

Sport research priorities

Promotion of safe sport experiences and sustaining volunteer engagement are two of the eight top research priorities identified by Canadian sport and physical activity stakeholders. By tailoring their research activities to fit the needs of knowledge users, sport and physical activity scholars can produce more impactful research.

Board accountability

A board of directors is 100% accountable for everything that happens in an organization. However, being accountable for everything doesn’t mean the board must do everything, or even specify how to achieve its purpose. When determining how the organization will best accomplish its purpose, the board must differentiate between responsibility, authority, and accountability. Check out tips…

Board governance

While management is about “getting the work done,” governance ensures organizations pursue the right purpose, in the right way, and continuously develop. In any sport organization, the board of directors’ role is to govern the organization. When board members are also on the management team, it can help to divide meetings into 2 parts. One part…

Gold medal governance: Embracing a steward-leader board

This is the fourth blog post in a series designed to increase sport organizations’ capacity to govern well in an increasingly complex world. Check out the previous posts about the role of the board, strategic foresight and the keys to gold medal governance. — In the first blog that I wrote for the Gold Medal…