Overview: Steven Bowman, a leading international adviser in corporate and nonprofit conscious leadership, is presenting an intensive 1 day Masterclass that will shake long-held beliefs about strategy, risk and governance. CEOs, senior executives, Chairs and Board members should not miss this event. Do you have new Board members who would benefit from the latest in strategic thinking and governance practices?
Would your Board benefit from renewal of energy to facilitate them to be even more strategic? Would you like the latest and most powerful strategies to get your Board truly engaged and making the decisions that create the future for the community you serve? Click here to view the full program for the day
All registrants receive a free copy of the nonprofit e-book “The Conscious Chief Executive”
Cost: $595 AUD (GST incl) for one person OR $550 AUD (GST incl) per person for two or more people from same organisation.
AuSAE Member Discount: There is a 10% discount for AuSAE Members. Please quote your AuSAE membership number when booking.
To Register: Download the registration form here.
Enquiries: This course is run externally to AuSAE (however offers a discount to any AuSAE member). If you have any questions about this course please direct your enquiry to Leonie Gliddon: mobile 0409 503 841 Tel: (03) 9509 9529 or by email at leonie@conscious-governance.com.
Presenter: Steven Bowman is acknowledged as a pioneer in the field of Conscious Governance, risk and strategy in the USA, Asia and Australia, Steven Bowman has transformed the prevailing understanding of the meaning of governance and strategy. He began to envision a conscious governance philosophy, which has quickly spread throughout the world, based upon the premise that governance is about the choices that people make and not just about compliance, policy and procedures.
The Australian government has provided a large Federal export grant to facilitate taking his work to international markets. He is a director of Conscious Governance, based in Melbourne, Australia. He is sought after by businesses around the world as an expert adviser on conscious leadership, strategic innovation, and awakening the power of consciousness within organizations.
Steven has held numerous senior executive and CEO positions with some of the USA and Australia’s most prestigious organizations. He has authored and coauthored over fourteen books on nonprofit governance, strategy, risk and executive leadership.
Among his clients are: Craigs List Foundation, CPA Australia, CEO Institute, Aged and Community Services, Mental Health Association, Australian Sports Commission and Make a Wish Australia.
He currently consults with over one thousand nonprofit and corporate organizations each year in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a Fellow of the Corporate Law and Accountability Research Group, Monash University.
Steve is a warm and engaging conference keynote speaker and dynamic workshop/seminar facilitator. He brings over thirty years of hands-on experience and delivers it in a down-to-earth style that speaks to everyone throughout an organization. He leaves his audiences inspired, with practical tools and tips that they can apply at work, at home, and in their communities.
Testimonials from recent Master classes in Advanced Strategy, Risk and Governance
"We attended this course not knowing quite what to expect, given that it was a “Master class” and that we already had some Governance experience. In essence, it was EXCELLENT. Steve’s ability to make sometimes challenging concepts appropriate and relevant to our types of organizations and all experience levels was invaluable. Following this day, we have a long list of strategies that I am working through to implement, some quick and easy, others will take time. All will make us a far better organisation. I would highly recommend this day to any board or senior staff member." Wendy Lamotte Executive Director Community Sector Services Inc
"What a refreshing and practical approach to strategy, risk and governance! Your innovative Masterclass gave us an entirely new perspective of risk which we put to good use at our subsequent strategic planning workshop. It yielded more focus, participation, productivity and enthusiasm than ever before - and the checklists were invaluable. Our Strategic Planning Chairman and I can highly recommend your program to all NFP organisations." Peter J. Snow Executive Chairman The Jaycees Community Foundation Inc.
"The Advanced Strategy, Risk and Governance Masterclass which I attended with an Executive member of our Board is my professional development highlight of recent years. Steven is a highly engaging presenter with a capacity to pitch to the varying needs of the participants. His material is clearly evidence-based, very practical and readily ‘implementable’. I am already using his ideas to engage staff more in the roll out of our strategic plan; and at Board level we are tackling recruitment of new Board members with far greater analysis and preparation" Lynette Moore Executive Director Alzheimer’s Australia Vic
"May I say first up how refreshing it is to attend a course presented by someone so knowledgeable, and obviously passionate about the subject matter. Two nights after the course, I was talking to a friend who is a group facilitation educator ( we trained together). She had attended a course that day that was very poorly presented by someone promoted as a much sought after presenter. She was lamenting that that there are so many people out there these days who think, that just because they can talk a lot, or have had training as educators, that they must be good presenters and facilitators. I was able to assure her, from my experience in your course, that there are still some good ones out there.Five people attended your master class from my organisation, myself and four board members. Two of the board members were new at governance and one was attending training for the first time. All of uscame away with a wealth of practical information and helpful materials. We had already implemented the Strategic Agenda at our board meetings, because you had sent it to me, on request, some months ago after I read your E-zine. Your course will help us to refine this tool further to get the very best from our board meetings. We also now have some new ideas on recruiting, inducting and retaining new board members. I loved the ideas on the "three lies of scarcity" and will put this into use on another board that I chair. "Being the question" another wonderful concept I have taken away with me. I have also used the Gantt chart and risk management spread sheet as tools to help with setting up a business venture I am involved in. Thank you Steve, for a very informative, interactive and stimulating day. It was time very well spent." Judy Fraser Chief Executive Officer GP down south
"I am on the board of the NSW Youth Accommodation Association and attended your Master class in Sydney in March. It was an excellent workshop and I found the ideas and strategies for board members on "being the question' as particularly helpful. The concept of every situation being an opportunity connected well with how I work and allowed me to consider this in some new areas including strategic planning of YAA regarding restructuring the organisation. I will also be utilising some of the web sites and Twitter sites you suggested and found these a terrific resource concept to have available. Thanks for the opportunity and I will be using more of the information you made available in all of the topics in that workshop."Brian Tranter Coordinator The Bridge Youth Service Inc
"Both my Council chairman and I believe that the 1 day Masterclass session on corporate governance was one of the most useful and interesting professional development days we have attended (and there have been a lot!) We have already implemented several ideas particularly those related to running a strategic development process and relating the outcomes to the everyday operation of the Council. Well done Steven on an excellent product." Tim Oughton Principal Scotch College - Adelaide
"The things I particularly appreciated in your Masterclass were your legal knowledge blended with pragmatic experience. The way we were encouraged to know what the ‘text book ‘ answer might be, but also what/when might be a good solution that respects the way people are working together. For myself – other than those excellent templates and take-out materials, was the clarity I got about the importance of having strategic thinkers on the board and on some of our reference groups and committees, ahead of ensuring all the sub-sectors are represented or ensuring seniority of the representation. The other thing I have done a lot since the workshop was demonstrate your definition of ‘strategic’, it is very compelling and memorable! We are about to go into a new strategic planning cycle so the class really helped focus my mind on how to feed the process." Cath Smith CEO Victorian Council of Social Service
"The Master class was indeed a productive experience, and I believe in turn this will prove to be exceptionally important to our organization in the future. We are currently in the midst of redefining our strategic plan. Your insights on strategy, risk and governance will be utilised to strengthen our organization's capacities further with means for developing our core business in building healthy communities. It was a great workshop group and I am confident that the resonating eclectic voices under your guidance will certainly have an impact upon our maturity as an organization." David Sprigg President Cobaw Community Health Service
"I attended the Master class in Advanced Strategy, Risk and Governance facilitated by Steven Bowman. I am never sure what to expect when I attend workshops, as I too often walk away with nothing practical. Steven's session was in every way a pleasant surprise. The workshop was conducted in a relaxed but purposeful manner, such that all the participants (from a wide range of industries) felt free to contribute and to learn from Steven and each other. Steven provided us with an excellent booklet, full of practical ideas and guidelines, as well as some very good links that provide additional information. I genuinely enjoyed the workshop and left feeling well prepared to facilitate the strategic planning work that I am about to start with my own board. I have no hesitation recommending the workshop to others." Jamie Dorrington Headmaster Saint Stephen's College
"Being brand new to an EO position that reports directly to a Board, the Masterclass training was for me, extremely timely! Whilst I had served on several Boards in the past, it was interesting for me to look at things from a totally different perspective. An immediate outcome of the training has been the formatting of reports to the board; if it doesn’t relate to the Strategic Plan, then the question needs to be asked – why it is there? Our Strategic Plan has also now become a document that ALL staff are not only aware of, but is a reference point for our activities.
Additionally, I have come away looking at risk management as an opportunity to grow our business and/or make it a better operation." Donna Wroth Executive Officer South West VETlink Inc
"I thought that the Masterclass was fantastic. The best training I have been to in years. As I have been in management for a long time it is hard to find a course that is challenging and stimulating. Your course was both. I have taken back new ideas to our CEO and we have developed a stakeholder survey for our strategic planning.
Thanks" Anne Parkes Knox Community Health Service
"The Master class provided me with an interactive exploration into applied strategic practise in critical focus areas such as risk, strategy and governance, being aware of how to manage these areas strategically by analysing and integrating self, process, and frameworks. The significant and specific techniques (and templates) to improve Board Agenda and Board Reporting processes will allow our Board to focus on important issues (compliance, governance, strategic plan progress, Board professional development), but also importantly opportunities to identify, discuss and explore strategic changes in our business environment. We will certainly be applying these learning’s to our Board function. The Master class provided compelling course material, access to a huge resource library, and used case study examples to embed this knowledge with participants. We will now review and assess reasons why our Strategic Plan had lost momentum by applying techniques such as back casting, and SWOR, and being willing to explore all the possibilities with the difficult “why” question. The predicted outcomes; realistic time frames for our strategic initiatives, and potentially a change in some initial strategic initiatives due to changes in the economic environment. It’s now not just about the document, it is about how the strategic planning integrates our organisation’s vision and how we serve our community." Wayne Stevenson General Manager Communicare Inc
"The Master class was an invigorating and simulating day of open discussion and learning, and has made our group appreciate the seriousness of being on a Board of Management and how the active governance of our organisation's activities and staff are essential for it's continuing success. We now also appreciate the dangers of a Board that just sits back and lets the organisation travel on autopilot, and are currently re-writing our governance policy and procedures so all of our team (management and staff) will have clear guidelines for their responsibilities, duties, procedures and behaviour."Raoul Dunk Deputy Chairman Northern Adelaide Business Enterprise Centre
"The Master class provided me as a CEO of a non-profit the opportunity to refocus and refresh on concepts in advanced strategy, risk and governance in an environment away from day-to-day operational matters. A number of the concepts presented and discussed at the Master class will form the basis of our organisation’s critical strategic thinking and actions in the future." Chris Luz-Raymond CEO Golf SA Inc
"Steve Bowman's workshop makes the complicated, simple, and the overwhelming, achievable. Since Steve's workshop we have re-structured our meeting papers and introduced the more creative and "conscious" aspects of the meeting into the agenda. 3 years on from our original class with Steve, we still allow his clarity to permeate all processes in our organisation. Using Steve's teachings, our work is more purposeful and certainly more fun!" Dr Zoe Love President Chiropractors' Association of Australia (SA)
"I actually found the Master class in Advanced Strategy, Risk and Governance informative and refreshing. I certainly enjoyed the day and went away re-assured that strategic planning is not to be feared but flexible and simple. The second part of the day was interesting and refreshing. In these difficult economic times we are all trying to maintain best practice in all areas and your manner of delivering the message was informative, light and easy." Carolyn J Smale Chairman The Hills Grammar School
"From previous experience I had high expectations of the Master class and these were exceeded. Early in March, the top three items on my Task List were “Prepare governance proposals for Board meeting; Review Strategic Plan, propose extension; Prepare Risk Management papers.” Priorities were adjusted when the Master class invitation was received. Not only did the Master class, material provided and the Day’s discussion give the support to address this organisation’s major current issues but they made it Organisations with both similar and complementary goals; these valuable contacts will be continued."Mrs Vivienne Lowndes Chief Executive Beehive Industries of W.A. (Inc)
"The Master class provided a fantastic opportunity to really “ get “ strategic planning through the use of great material and insightful examples - as a result I felt equipped to immediately implement new skills in relation to planning and questioning techniques - the results have been pleasing and immediate!" Wendy Sturgess CEO Crisis Support Services
"As a CEO of a middle sized not for profit that has grown in the last few years I found Steve’s Presentation to be thought provoking and challenging. One of the key issues the board and I will be addressing is the issue of board renewal and board engagement in the development of the organisation. A worthwhile use of a day in the life of busy Board members and CEO’s" Peter Symonds General Manager Ability Employment Group inc
"From the Masterclass I gained a number of useful strategies for building a culture of strategic awareness amongst board members, utilising the vision/mission as a filter or checklist for new activities and identifying risk and how to "treat" it. The need to be acutely aware of the environment in which the organisation is operating and the types of processes you can employ as early warning systems such as Google Alerts ,scenario planning. Asking "what if "was an important take home message for me from the workshop" Ian Dobbie Executive Officer Barossa Division of General Practice Focal Extended Inc
