My paper outlines the six principles of shared governance applied in my family;

A charter, including outlining the boundaries of decision-making; my family is a typical example of where I experienced the use of the shared governed principles first hand. We had a very organized family structure and my father’s position in our home could be likened to that of a manager while my mother occupied the position of co-manager and I and my siblings were the staff members. Everyone in my family had a say in the way in the family was run. I was the last child in the family however I was not less significant than my older siblings. We were all involved in making small and big decisions in the family. I recall one time my father had a job offer that was going to take him away from the state where we lived and he sought the opinion of everyone before relocating the whole family. I was 12 at the time of the move and my father was concerned about how we would cope in a new environment. On the contrary, we were all excited to move from the state where we had lived all the years because we wanted to move to a big city anyway.

Collaboration between staff co-chairs and the area manager; there was great collaboration between my parents. I and my siblings watched them work hand in hand and carry us along. They were both highly educated, my father was an electrical engineer and my mother was a nurse but they knew when to step down for each other. I recall after the move, my mother volunteered to stay home for a few months while she decorated our new home and took care of other important family matters that arose with the move. In the same token, at one point my father had to work remotely because my mother had a training oversees that took her away for about 6 months. During this period, my father assumed her responsibilities to ensure the home front was in order.
Regular meetings