e-Newsletter: CNE Board Member Quarterly

The Board and Chief Executive Relationship

The partnership between the board and the chief executive is the most critical one for any nonprofit, regardless of organizational size, years in operation, or budget size. This partnership can either truly enhance the organization’s probability of meeting its mission and being sustainable, or it can result in increasing communication problems that undermine every aspect of the organization’s operations and jeopardize its future. To ensure an effective board and chief executive relationship, the following five areas should be addressed.

Role Differentiation: The board has the responsibility of determining the mission and vision of the organization, whereas the chief executive’s role is to implement that vision. The board has various oversight functions – planning, financial resource development, legal compliance - and the chief executive ensures the operation of those functions. Some of the areas of responsibility are more distinct than others, and without clear communication that identifies those roles and responsibilities, and the definitions of success for all parties, there can be serious consequences.

Planning: A good relationship starts when the board discusses and agrees on the roles and responsibilities of the chief executive, so that members’ expectations are the same and there aren’t inconsistent messages transmitted. Usually the Governance Committee or a Personnel Committee would be charged with initial development of the executive’s job description. This committee should also take a lead role in developing the performance appraisal plan and process.

Communications: The best relationships are based from the onset on a specific plan for communication between the board chair and the chief executive. This may be bi-weekly face-to-face meetings for the first few months combined with phone and e-mail contact, which can then taper to monthly in-person meetings and as-needed phone calls and e-mail updates. The timing of meetings, the amount of information that is exchanged, the process for exchanging it, the parameters around contact (is the chief executive expected to be accessible to the board chair 24/7? Can the board chair be reached at work, on weekends?), what happens in the event of a crisis, what is the agenda for the meetings – discussing all of those issues up front will support development of a good communication relationship which will in turn enhance growth of trust.

Managing challenges: On the flip side, signs of impending problems may occur when the communication system can never be established or breaks down. Does the board chair refuse to return the chief executive’s calls? Is the chief executive unprepared for meetings or refuses to provide agreed-upon information? Those are red flags that should not be ignored. And when there are problems, how will they be addressed? Certainly the first step is to identify the concerns and clarify the problem – was there a miscommunication in information needed/requested? Is the board chair experiencing personal problems or time commitments that make the current schedule difficult to maintain?

If the situation can’t be readily addressed, it may be necessary to bring in a third party to assist. This could be a past board chair or member who has a positive relationship with both parties and can be seen as a neutral intermediary, or someone from outside the organization who has negotiation/mediation skills. The issue is to identify the source of the conflict, identify potential solutions, and come to an agreement about the timing and manner of resolution.

If the difficulty lies with the board chair, or other board members, then the chief executive needs a resource to address those concerns; the governance committee may be an option. If the conflict is with the chief executive, then identifying a plan for correction that is part of the performance appraisal process may be in order.

Sometimes the work of the organization simply grows beyond the capabilities and/or interest level of the chief executive. Use of an ongoing performance appraisal process can serve as an early warning system to identify areas of needed growth and development and a plan for achieving those changes, or it may identify the need for a change in leadership which can be accomplished appropriately for all parties.

Board Leadership: Leadership is also a key issue for boards. To ensure that there is continuing strong leadership on the board, there needs to be a process that begins with recruitment of members and continues with assigning of increasing roles of responsibility and mentors from more experienced board leaders to identified future leaders. This will help to avoid the problem of “leadership by default” of board members who don’t have the time, interest or talents to successfully carry out those responsibilities. If the situation involves a board member who is attempting to micromanage the organization, or consistently challenges and second-guesses the chief executive, the result can be too much time and energy devoted to that conflict to the detriment of the organization. A revolving door of chief executives is often a sign that there are basic conflicts on the board that are not being addressed.

Being a nonprofit executive is a tough job; the ability to manage the “double-bottom line” of meeting mission and maintaining sufficient financial resources requires talent and commitment – not always an easy combination to find. This is true for board leaders too - one nonprofit executive described working with multiple board chairs over several years was like “serial monogamy” – you just get used to each other and then you have to start all over again. Some nonprofit marriages are made in heaven, and others may need counseling, but a successful relationship between board and chief executive is truly at the heart of a sustainable nonprofit organization.

So it’s important for the board to first discuss and agree upon the role of the chief executive, then to translate that role into expectations that are the basis of the performance appraisal plan. There also needs to be a plan for leadership development for both the chief executive and board leaders so that the mission is consistently pursued and the organization can not only sustain itself but thrive.

Resources / Sources

This information is summarized from these resources:

1. Howe, Fisher. Great Expectations: What Boards and Chief Executives Need from Each Other.
2. Howe, Fisher. The Nonprofit Leadership Team: Building the Board - Executive Director Partnership. John Wiley and Sons 2003.
3. Brody, Weiser, Burns. Assessing the Nonprofit Board/Executive Relationship. 2003.