For Good Board Presidents Only

This is an open letter to good board presidents only.  Define good board presidents as those who really understand their role as a board president, as well as the role of the board.  They are the ones who are in it for the right reasons (ensuring the best delivery on mission promises as possible) —and not the wrong reasons (ego, power-trip, etc.).

Embed from Getty Images

When was the last time you sat with your executive director and asked him/her how things were going?  Asked in the way you would an old friend whom you haven’t seen in a while, in the way that shows you really want to the truth—good, bad and ugly.  Not the kind of chat a boss has with her/his supervisee.  That’s not a comfortable conversation, not one that leads to a truthful, heart-to-heart with no fears of retaliation like being fired, demoted, cut in pay, if the supervisee admits to things not being perfect and in total control.  You need to have that honest heart-to-heart.  Why?

I am really tired of hearing executive director after executive director tell me how stressed she is, how he isn’t sleeping at night because he is too busy waking up adding something else to his to do list, how she is so overwhelmed she literally doesn’t know where to begin so she sits staring off into space, immobilized by the Sisyphean task that has become her job.  Seriously, though, the real reason you need to have this heart-to-heart is because, whether you are aware of it or not, you have an urgent need to know how your top staff person is really doing because that answer is directly tied to how well the organization is delivering on its mission promises.

Absolutely, there are some executive directors who are overwhelmed and in over their heads because they lack the skills and talents to do the job and do it well.  But, more often than not, an overwhelmed executive director is a sign of an under-resourced organization.  The executive director is trying to do all the jobs of the positions that are needed but don’t exist, all the while trying to do his own job.  And, in case you were wondering, that just doesn’t work!  Which is why, board president, you need to understand the real situation and brainstorm with the executive director about solutions.  Then, you need to take this reality to the board and make them,not the already overwhelmed executive director, accountable to work in collaboration with the ED to find the financial resources to address all of the other under-resourced areas in the organization.

I love talking to newly minted executive directors who have left the corporate world for the nonprofit one.  Most will admit that they thought they would get two things in this new career:  a happy heart and soul and a cakewalk for a job, as compared to their corporate one.  What you see in their faces and hear in their voices are the amazement at how hard the job actually is and admiration for those who have toiled in the position for years.  These encore careerists apparently had never realized how much their executive secretaries/administrative assistants did for them to make their jobs, and their lives, easier and more manageable.

They didn’t realize what happens when you can’t call up the CFO and her multiple staff to answer a question about the financial status of program.  They had never stood at a copy machine to make their own copies, let alone doing that while three people were waiting in line with important questions, papers to sign, problems to fix.  They never had to train a new employee or be involved with each and every hire in the organization, and they certainly never had to unclog the toilet, buy the paper towels or change the toner in the copier.  And we haven’t even gotten to the hard stuff!  But those who have never had to work without adequate supports and resources have absolutely no idea what life is like when all of that is gone.  It impinges on your ability even to think straight.

A board needs to know more from an executive director than what monies are coming in and how, the number of people using which services and the budget for the coming fiscal year.  They need to understand the circumstances under which the person responsible for ensuring that money comes in, services are provided, budgets are prepared is working.   But getting to the truth of this situation isn’t going to happen simply because, good board president, you propose a heart-to-heart conversation.  It will only happen if you’ve already established a relationship of mutual trust and respect, where it is understood that judgments won’t be made but solutions will be sought, where the desired end of serving the mission is equally shared, and it is unquestionably understood that you are partners in this dance, and together you will take the reality to the full board.  After all, you are all in it together, and those who aren’t should get out.