Short form: The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities.
- Motto: plan, execute, and manage.
- Like Conference, God provides the overall direction.
- Like the Board, I get to implement that, through planning, execution, and management.
- Planning: developing the list of things to do and the schedule.
- Execution: implementing the plan.
- Management: monitoring progress and adjusting accordingly.
- Focus on the larger and more serious questions of policy, finance, group relations, public relations, and leadership.
- In my life, these are the five questions I must concern myself with:
- Policies: How am I going to live? What activities am I going to engage in? How?
- Finance: How am I going to resource my activities, in all senses?
- Group relations: if I am likened to the fellowship, group relations are my internal relations: my internal organisation and relationship with God.
- Public relations: if I am likened to the fellowship, public relations are my external relations with others.
- Leadership: in what ways am I going to lead in my life (see Concept IX)?
- Avoid: distraction by or interference or involvement in lesser matters.
- Some activities are carried out by me: these are like the activities of the Board acting through its sub-committees.
- Some activities are to be delegated: these are like the activities of the service corporations.
- This enables me to concentrate on what matters.
- Executive function is delegated.
- Some tasks I perform myself.
- Some I delegate: either within the family, group, fellowship, or workplace, or by contracting professionals.
- The Board's role with regard to the executive function is custodial oversight by electing and overseeing the work of directors.
- When I delegate, I retain custodial oversight and ultimate authority and responsibility in relation to the person or entity delegated to.
- The Board is the holding company; each of these operations is a subsidiary, with its own charter, working capital, executive, employees, offices, and equipment.
- This gives me guiding principles for any project:
- Projects are like subsidiaries: their bounds and ownership structures are clear.
- Projects must be governed by a set of principles: that is like the charter.
- Projects must have working capital: that provides the resources for the activity.
- Projects have executives: people in charge.
- Projects have staff: doers.
- Projects have equipment: physical or other tools.
- The Board only work part-time, so operational directorship must reside with someone employed full-time.
- When delegation takes place, the person in receipt of the delegation must be sufficiently responsible to be trusted (see Concepts III and XI).
- Custodial oversight ensures that this person is supervised.
- I must supervise any work I have delegated to professionals on an ongoing basis.
Inventory:
Looking at the above ideas:
Where am I currently falling down?
What can I do differently?