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Hi Matt,
Great question. And also some kind of 'eternal' question. Deciding who your owners are should be a topic of regular discussion within the board. Of course, there is not much discussion who your legal owners are. That should be clear from the paperwork. The important question for the board is, who its moral owners are. To which groups does the board think it has a moral obligation to be accountable? I think the question that you ask in the document are very appropriate to answer that question.
Secondly, it is important to decide what the focus of the discussion with owners is. It is important to let this be a 'transformational', long-term discussion on values, intentions and meaning. And not a 'transactional' discussion about interests that are being served on the short term. The latter is a discussion with beneficiaries, about whether they are satisfied with the results that the organization delivers. That is of course also an important question, but more operationally oriented.
It can be difficult to have an ownership discussion if the owners are also beneficiaries. It is important for the board to keep the discussion focused on the long term. it helps to use a far horizon: how the organization is doing in 10 years, for instance. Or to ask what the organization should be realizing for the next generation (or the generation thereafter): children and grandchildren. Using such visualization helps to make it at the same time close-by and future-oriented.
Hope this helps. --Hartger |
