Beyond the Balance Sheet: Leading with Three Modes of Governance

The question before us was deceptively simple: should we rebid for one of our nursing homes?

The home had been running a deficit—close to a million dollars a year. Some voices in the boardroom said, Cut losses. Move on. Others countered: This is our core mission. Caring for the vulnerable is what we exist for.

As chairperson, the room looked to me. Yet the board was split, and the debate circled without resolution. I eventually paused the meeting and asked that we reconvene another time. Sometimes leadership is not about pressing harder but stepping back.

That pause gave us the space to shift frames. It reminded me of Cathy Trower’s The Practitioner’s Guide to Governance as Leadership, which describes three mental modes for boards:

Type I: Fiduciary – ensuring accountability and stewardship of resources. The million-dollar loss squarely belongs here.

Type II: Strategic – shaping direction, aligning resources with mission. The argument that nursing homes are “our core job” is a classic strategic call.

Type III: Generative – going beyond numbers or even strategy, to redefine the very problem we are solving. It asks: Are we framing the right question? What is the deeper meaning behind this decision?

When we reconvened, the frame of the question changed. Instead of debating only, Should we rebid this one home? we asked, How does this fit into our overall plans?

Was there room for synergies? Could this home, though costly in isolation, add value as part of a group? Could shared staffing, centralised training, or stronger partnerships transform it from a burden into a contributor?

This is the essence of Type III: boards shift from being problem-solvers to meaning-makers. It is not just about what we decide, but how we think about the issue itself. It opens space for questions of identity, synergy, and future vision.

Eventually, we put in a bid—not just because it was a “yes” to one home, but because it was a “yes” to a bigger design. The decision became less about numbers versus mission, and more about how we imagine the shape of our care in the years to come.

Good boards do Type I. Better boards do both Type I and II. The best boards do all three.

That day reminded me: governance is not only about protecting assets or even setting direction. At its best, it is about creating meaning—helping organisations see beyond today’s dilemmas to tomorrow’s possibilities.