The remaining governance policy areas, Board-CEO Interrelationship policies and CEO Delegation policies, are discussed in detail in Step 3. Regardless of their placement in the Nine Steps model, they are, nonetheless, governance policies and sit alongside the Governance Process policies.
Once the board has established its governance policies, the chief executive should develop operational policies necessary to achieve and manage the results and risks respectively.
The board shouldn’t adopt or approve operational policies.
When a board adopts or approves operational policies this removes the chief executive’s ability to make operational policy changes when needed, without reference back to the board. The chief executive shouldn’t need to seek board approval for matters that should have been delegated. Conversely, the board shouldn’t have to do the chief executive’s job as well as its own.
This doesn’t mean the chief executive may not seek assistance from board members about operational matters. When, however, assistance is provided, board members put aside their governance responsibilities and are accountable to the chief executive.