Profiles in Disaster: Choosing a Board President

I recently wrote a blog addressing some of the classic profiles of those wrong for the position of executive director (The Accidental Executive Director).  Not wanting to play favorites, it’s time to pick on board presidents and expose some of the classic profiles of people ill-suited for this role.

The relationship between the executive director and board president can make or break an organization, at least for the period that those particular individuals fill these positions.  In any nonprofit, this relationship is the lynchpin of the organization; the nature of it – balanced, uneven, respectful, etc.- determines so much about the work of the board and the success of the organization.

In general, boards elect a person to the position of board president, paying little to no attention to the substance of that person.  Electing a president is more about popularity than consideration of what is needed for the board and organization based on what’s on its horizons and who is the person who most possesses what is needed.

Electing a president is often a vote of gratitude and relief – “Phew!  Dodged that bullet and I don’t have to do it!”- than it is an examination of who is the best candidate.  Ironically, selection of the other half of this key relationship – the executive director – is rarely handled in any process remotely similar to that used to find a board president.

(There is, however, often one similarity – the “Phew!” factor:  “Phew! We found someone…may not be the best person, may be the one we can afford not the one we need, etc.- but we don’t have to continue to work harder while we continue the search.”  So, settling for who is willing is all too frequently common in selecting both halves of this key relationship.)

With little attention, it is no wonder that there are some classic profiles-in-disaster of board presidents.

Profile #1:  Alpha dog.  All too frequently this board president is, actually, the last person you really should have as board president.  This is the person who thinks being board president actually means you have all the power.  But the reality is that board presidents have no more power than any other board member and, in some lights, they may have even a little less.  They have much more work, but no more power.

One of the primary functions of a board president is to facilitate the work of the board.  This facilitation happens in numerous ways.  For example, it happens at board meetings by setting a productive agenda and helping to move the work of the board along by literally facilitating a good meeting (which is where they may lose power, as a good facilitator doesn’t dominate or control the conversation, but rather silences her/his voice and brings out the voices of the others).  It happens by holding others accountable for the tasks assigned and those which they volunteered to do.  It happens by making sure the organization adheres to the work outlined in the strategic plan and that the board fulfills all of its responsibilities.  And this list goes on.  It is not a board president’s prerogative, as one board president once told me, as he dissed the value of a strategic plan by saying, “We all know the next board president is going to do whatever he wants.”  Read any job description of a board president and I can guarantee you “Doing whatever you want” is not there!  Rather, as the leader of the leaders, a board president is to do everything that s/he can to facilitate the work of the board, which is fundamentally a collective dynamic.

Another primary example of a board president is to lead by example.  A board president should be the first to fulfill her/his annual pledge, the first to have the house party or sell a table or offer to go out on a donor ask, etc.  A board president should set the example of being an ambassador, being accountable, minding confidentiality.  When it is “all about me” setting the tone and leading by example too quickly fall by the wayside, if they ever appear at all.

An alpha dog, by virtue of its definition, is incapable of having that essential shared partnership with an executive director – or anyone else for that matter.  This causes endless struggles and strife, too frequently stalling an organization and diverting time and attention away from mission and to making things better.

Profile #2:  Where’s Waldo?  You just can’t ever find this board president when you need him/her.  They volunteered for the position, but election just might be the last time you saw this person.  The position of board president cannot be done by an absent leader.  I recently was told of a board president who, immediately upon being elected, went on a planned, extended (months) vacation.  And, as one would hope happens on vacation, he was not readily reachable by anyone; but meanwhile, back home, the organization was going through a leadership transition with the former executive director gone and troubled negotiations with the hoped-for replacement.  The vice-president was, as bylaws dictate, doing his best to fill the void, but the absent president wasn’t ceding any authority.  This is not how a presidency works.

As noted, a board president has more work- not more power – than other board members.  That work includes being present and stepping up during pivotal moments in an organization’s lifecycle, such as leadership transition or other major organizational change.  It includes being available to immediately start building a solid, working relationship with the executive, be s/he new to the position or just new to the board president.  It includes being present to push the board to swing to its side of the pendulum when the situation necessitates that and then to come back to the middle when that is appropriate.  It includes being around to meet with donors and collaborators or represent the organization in the public arena when appropriate and/or necessary or handle issues that occur between, or among, board members.  And it includes, as previously mentioned, modeling good behavior; being absent and incapable or unwilling to exercise your assigned duties is not modeling good behavior.

A missing board president creates some of the very problems that a board president is charged with addressing.

Profile #3:  Hot and Cold.  Now you see me, now you don’t; now you hear from me, now ….  Not to be mean, but this board president – the one who runs really hot for a few weeks and then disappears for twice that much – is like an abuser:  a seller of mixed messages.  I care; OH, NO I DON’T.  This is no more a way to run a board than it is a relationship.  One of the key attributes of a solid relationship is dependability:  one half can depend upon the fact that the other will be there – today, tomorrow, next week, next month.  But with the Hot and Cold board president, the full reliance on dependability never happens.  Comes close, for example, when the board president is running hot, doing a really great job at fulfilling his/her responsibilities as a board president, and a rhythm is just getting developed in the relationship when the board president disappears and the executive director is left with – well, really nothing but expectations.  Expectations don’t help set the meeting agenda, don’t address problems with a rogue board member, don’t help push forward a strategic planning process.  Unfulfilled expectations, however, do force the development of alternatives.  And these alternatives just start getting into their own pattern when the board president resurfaces.  Full of apologies – and probably excuses – and is ready to step in as if s/he never disappeared.  So, out go the adjustments made to accommodate the disappearance and in comes…well, who knows and who knows for how long?

This is no way to run a board or an organization that wants to see sustained progress towards goals.  Boards need stable leadership with a continuity of approach that allows them to hone their knowledge and execution of their roles and responsibilities.  With a “now I’m here, now I’m not” board president, the calm that is needed to perform well is never achieved.

Profile #4:  I’m important.  This is the person who actually wants the board presidency not to do the job, but to have the title.  The fact that there is an actual job associated with the title, with real responsibilities and on which others depend, doesn’t frequently enter into consciousness.  But this same person won’t miss an opportunity to mention to anyone and everyone that s/he is board president.

Why other board members allow any of these characters to become board president in the first place and then continue to be the titular leader of their organizations for more than a year, on the assumption that it does take about that long to see the true colors, is beyond rational.  Looking and listening carefully, it is very apparent that none of these profiles provides for a functioning environment in which true board governance – that collective process that plays an essential role in helping nonprofits maximize their potential – can happen.