The BoardExecutive Director Relationship

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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

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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

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• 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.

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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

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• 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?

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• 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?

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• 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

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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???

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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