The Critical Alignment of Board Chair and Executive

In any nonprofit, strong working relationships often determine the success of the CEO and executive leadership team. However, there’s another equally important relationship that can easily be overlooked: the one between the board chair and the executive.

When these two leaders are in harmony and working together toward the future, the entire organization benefits. So how can you, as an executive, create and maintain a collaborative and productive relationship with your board chair?

Create a Communication Plan

As an executive, you lead a busy day-to-day life, and it’s easy to overlook unscheduled meetings or check-ins.

It sounds simple, but developing a clear communication plan with your board chair — both the format and the frequency — is crucial. Perhaps you’ll talk once a week via phone. Perhaps you have the luxury of meeting in person once a month. Each relationship is unique and there’s no best way to do this. The key is having a structured plan and sticking to it.

The second step of a communication plan, which is often more challenging, is determining what to communicate. Some board chairs may come in with deep industry knowledge and want to know everything going on. Others may prefer high-level updates focused on critical issues that affect the organization’s future and health.

I think the best boards focus the majority of their time on insight and foresight while entrusting the oversight to the day-to-day management of the organization. Still, no two boards and nonprofits are alike, meaning that it takes work to ensure that both sides are in alignment.

If you have a long and healthy tenure as an executive of your nonprofit, you’ll likely work with multiple board chairs, each with their own style of doing business. 

No board chair-executive relationship is plug and play. As a leader, you’ll notice that each new board chair will require a level of planning to maintain a strong, productive relationship.

Build and Maintain Trust

Building a trusting rapport with a board chair involves the same elements as any successful relationship — communication, transparency, integrity and honesty. 

One area that may take extra attention is establishing mutual respect for each other’s roles. For example, a common mistake that I witness as a governance adviser is a board chair getting too involved in day-to-day operations. When this happens, it can make it harder for you, as the executive, to openly share challenges or setbacks. Establishing a shared understanding about the board chair’s role requires intentional onboarding and education.

On the other hand, you as the executive, have a responsibility to minimize surprises. There are always going to be unexpected challenges within a nonprofit setting, or specifically with your board chair, but these issues should be addressed privately and with full transparency. 

Navigate Difficult Conversations

Nothing goes exactly the way you want, every time. 

As the executive, it falls in your court to initiate difficult conversations with your board chair when needed. Ideally, these conversations will lead to course correction and a plan for moving forward.

As an example, I once worked with a board that had populated the finance committee with strong board members — all with financial backgrounds. The board chair was also strong in financial matters and a frequent voice in the committee meetings. While all the recommendations and requests of the committee were solid practices, the executive began to feel that discussions lacked a voice to advocate for the mission from a mission-versus-margin perspective. She initiated a conversation with the board chair to voice her concerns, and ultimately an additional member of the board, who did not have a finance background and was very mission-driven, was added to the committee.

Sometimes, a solution is not quite that easy. When that happens, it’s best to revisit the commonalities between you and the board chair. Remember, you’re both committed to advancing the organization’s mission. By starting with that shared goal and initiating what may be a difficult but important conversation you can hopefully get on the same path. While your roles may differ, your ultimate objective is the same: ensuring your nonprofit succeeds and serves its mission successfully. 

Row in the Same Direction

The stability and strength of your nonprofit organization is dependent on strong leadership. When the relationship between the executive and the board chair is thriving, your nonprofit will be well-positioned to advance its mission.

From my experiences as an executive, board chair and consultant, I’ve seen how incredibly fulfilling it is when this relationship flourishes. Each board chair that you can partner with will teach you something new and help you grow personally and professionally.

Invest in building a healthy relationship with your board chair — for the benefit of your nonprofit and also your own leadership abilities.

The preceding post was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.