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The BoardExecutive Director Relationship
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Enhancing the visibility and image of the organization ... Gene Wenner; Arts & Education Consultants in the American Philanthropy Review ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation
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Title: The BoardExecutive Director Relationship
1
The Board/Executive Director Relationship
- Judith W. Harvey, Ph.D.
- President, Non-Profit Strategies, LLC.
- Dublin, Ohio
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The Evolving Role of the Director in Modern
Management
- No single relationship in the organization is as
important as that between the board and its chief
executive officer. Probably no single
relationship is as easily misconstrued or has
such dire potential consequences. That
relationship, well conceived, can set the stage
for effective governance and management. John
Carver, 1990
3
Todays Environment a few new twists
- Finances are still tight
- Staff still must be recruited, trained retained
- Board members still require frequent
communication occasional nudges to fulfill
responsibilities - Technology speeds communications,
data-processing, and record-keeping, but adds
complexity expense
4
- Need for community-driven outcomes credible
impact reports - Need for annual and
- longer-range planning
- with quantifiable, measurable goals
- Need to look to the bottom line
- (efficiency results at little cost )
- Need to look like a non-profit, but
- function like a for-profit
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- Need to focus on continuous quality improvements
- Need to develop public/private partnerships and
collaborative initiatives
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- Need to attract public support via positive PR,
media coverage and information campaigns - Need to meet private public funders
expectations and endure site reviews.
7
Directors face Intense Challenges
- Increased instances of short-term solutions
- driven by funding problems or other crises
- Increased complexity in organizations
- without increased staff capabilities
- Increased scrutiny need for greater public
accountability
8
- Increased costs for an effective IT system
- Reduced resources during recessionary times
- Reduced discretionary dollars
- Corporate layoffs
- Philanthropic funds and public attention diverted
to crisis-driven needs - Fierce competition for scarce dollars from
private sources (September 11 impacts)
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Evolving Role of Director
- More than ever, todays Executive must be a
Visionary/Futurist, a Leader, a Manager, - a Great Communicator,
- a Conflict Resolver,
- a Techie-Wizard,
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- He/She Must ADD VALUE by
- Increasing resources via fund-raising,
grant-writing, fee-for-service contracts
partnerships, levies.. - Enhancing the visibility and image of the
organization - Enhancing/developing the board for optimum
effectiveness - Preserving and growing assets (stewardship)
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- Encouraging/developing staff
- Prioritizing work for the board and staff
(keeping eyes on the highest priorities)
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Board Executive Director
- Effectiveness of this relationship depends on
maintaining delicate balance - Boards govern / Staff manage,
- BUT
- Confusion tension can arise because the
distinction between management governance is
not absolute - Must have CLEAR and ACCEPTED expectations for
both Director and Board members .
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Division of Responsibilities
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Can Boards Be Too Involved?
- Board members can become too intrusive
- in daily management activities
- (see Board member Code of Ethics - handout)
- Executive Director can help Board
- Govern MORE and Manage LESS
- HOW?
19
- Use a Board-developed, comprehensive strategic
plan with regular progress reports - Provide Board with relevant materials before
board meetings include cover memo explaining
relevance and what type action to be taken - Support Chair in facilitating discussions that
remain focused on priority issues discourage
straying into managerial territory - OTHER ideas?
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Can Executive Director Be Too Controlling?
- Beware the Founders Syndrome
- Founder is dynamic, driven decisive carries
clear vision of what organization can/should be - Highly skeptical about planning, policies
procedures - Makes reactive, crisis-driven decisions does not
seek input from others - Very focused on finances and fund-raising
- Hand-picks staff and board members
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- Highly values loyalty accessibility
- Rarely holds staff meetings
- Wants to remove board members who disagree
- Has difficulty changing to new strategies
- What worked to start and grow the organization is
no longer the best strategy for the next phase - - Allows the organization to become dependent on
him/her (sees self as irreplaceable) fails to
create succession plan
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Boards Can Address Founders Syndrome
- Encourage Director to change leadership style
- Insist on focused board training and yearly
self-evaluation (sample evaluation is available) - Conduct annual key risk management exercise
- Ensure job descriptions are up to date require
regular staff meetings require a succession plan
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- Conduct regular realistic strategic planning
- Develop highly participative finance committee
- Meet consistently and make decisions based upon
mission, plan and goals (not on urgency or
crisis) - Support the Founder with coaching, affirmation
- and emphasis on plan priorities
- Monitor implementation
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- Regularly set goals and evaluate performance of
Director - Encourage and reaffirm when Founder is able to
make changes
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Moving to New Leadership Style
- Executive Director Takes Pulse of Organization
- Do board members seem detached or burned out?
- Is there high turnover among board and/or staff?
- Do board members constantly resist changes in
organization or in leadership style? - Are there efforts to micromanage?
- Is there a lot of blaming?
- Are there too many rubber-stamps?
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- Director can develop more effective leadership
style by - Requesting/accepting a mentor from outside and an
advocate within to help him/her change style - Set direction with board and staff participation
- (via planning not crises)
- Conduct regular staff meetings, develop staff
skills, delegate responsibility to staff
evaluate them - Set goals with staff and hold regular
- performance evaluations
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- Think TRANSITION
- Get board and staff to undertake regular
contingency planning - Help create plan of succession
- Whats involved in creating a plan of
succession? - .
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Effective Utilization of Executive Director
- Retention may be a key issue in todays
non-profit world - Recently, the Chronicle of Philanthropy cited a
growing problem of turnover and talent drain
among Americas non-profit executives - Executives were not just changing jobs, but
leaving the field --- WHY?
29
- Salary/benefits issues
- Disappointed expectations (felt misled)
- Disagreements with board about goals and mission
of organization - High Stress and Burn-out
- (intensity of job)
- Better opportunities to advance career outside
the non-profit world - See Leadership Lost A Study on Executive
Director Tenure and Experience from the Support
Center for Nonprofit Management
30
What can be done to attract, retain and better
utilize talented Directors?
- Assure a credible, authentic hiring process
- Consider utilizing an Executive Transitions
Specialist - Review job description Be sure organization
knows what it needs! Determine if organizational
structure works effectively. - Make sure board and job expectations are
realistic - Take the time to find the RIGHT person
- Offer incentives such as solid retirement
benefits and flexibility (maybe some
benefits-salary tradeoffs, a car, help with
relocation or whatever can be made negotiable
to enhance the attractiveness of the position)
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- Invest in training, networking opportunities, and
growth experiences (reduce myopia) - Offer coaching or mentoring services (executive
leadership is lonely and isolating) - Provide regular, written, credible performance
evaluations and goal assessments-Including - Input from all individual board members
- Input from peer staff
- Self-evaluation
- An open-ended discussion of career goals and paths
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- Evaluations should cover
- Performance against job description and
established goals in areas of Staff relations
satisfaction Administration Planning
Leadership Fiscal management External or
Community relations Obtaining resources to
support plan Effectiveness working with board - Executive should be given parameters of
evaluation beforehand and asked to respond in
writing as well as set his/her own goals for
next year
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What other tactics work to retain and utilize
executives to maximum effect?
- Expect Board Chairperson to be available to
Executive for strategizing, agenda-setting, etc. - Board members attend meetings as regularly as
possible (75 of time) - Help the Director to make connections with
significant leaders/funders/supporters - Other tactics???
34
Resources used in this presentation
- Guidelines on Board and Staff Relations and
Responsibilities Gene Wenner Arts Education
Consultants in the American Philanthropy Review - Board and Staff Responsibilities Carter
McNamara, MBA www.mapnp.org - What to do when the board gets too involved? A
Code of Ethics for Board Members
www.nonprofits.org - Sustaining a High-Quality Relationship Between
Board Chair and Executive www.mapnp.org
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- Founders Syndrome Carter McNamara, MBA-Ph.D
www.mapnp.org - Nonprofit Cyber Accountability Harriet Mograd
www.byway.net - Charities Face Mounting Challenges in Hiring and
Retaining Executives Domenica Marchetti
www.philanthropy.com - Managing Turnover at the Top Domenica Marchetti
Chronicle of Philanthropy www.philanthropy.com - How Do We Evaluate the Executive Director?
www.nonprofits.org
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