Where do you draw the line between types of policies? What distinguishes member policies from Board policies and then Board policies from GM policies?
A4: The short answer to your question is that the line between policy types is drawn by the higher authority. The members determine what they want as their policies, i.e., their directives to the Board. The Board then decides what decisions it will make for the club and what it will delegate to the GM. The Board can make any policy that is within the authority given it in the bylaws. That policy can be as broad as simply passing all of its authority to the General Manager, i.e., “the Board delegates the full authority given it in the bylaws to the General Manager to carry out the mission of the club.” At the other extreme, the Board may take responsibility for all rules and decisions within its authority, leaving the GM to be nothing but an order-taker. The challenge is where to draw the line between what the Board decides and what it leaves to the GM to decide. For example, some club Boards allow their GMs to make all decisions on staff salaries and bonuses. Other Boards may say that
