June 20, 2014

Getting Better at Doing Good by Gerald Meck

During the past four years, as well as in previous leadership experiences with nonprofit organizations, I’ve become very aware of the scope of responsibility boards of directors have to assure they protect an organization’s mission and follow fiduciary and governance requirements.

I’ve drawn much from Doing Good Better, a book by Edgar Stoesz and Chester Raber, both of whom have extensive experience working with boards and upper level management. Their main thesis is this: Nonprofit boards, established to do good, have the capacity to do much better.

They tell us there are two main components to improving: The first is for the board to understand and fulfill its governance role, and the second is to maintain a productive working relationship between the Board Chair and the CEO.

Several years ago, events at Penn State University gave us a stark reminder of the importance of leadership at the board and executive level.  While there may be organizational policies, procedures and codes of conduct for leadership and employee accountability, there is no substitute for doing the right thing.

One aspect of doing the right thing means paying more attention to the important role a board chair plays within an organization. Most experienced observers on nonprofit governance agree that board chairs can have considerable influence on board and organizational operations.

The major leadership positions within an organization include the board chair and the chief executive officer. The CEO is expected to support staff and the board chair maintains a supportive/supervisory relationship with the CEO. Supporting the CEO is one of the most important non-meeting responsibilities of the board chair.  A positive and productive working relationship between these two individuals is critical for a successful organization. To achieve this, a high level of leadership skills from each person is required.

Research has identified several personal qualities of exceptional board chairs. These include trustworthiness, intelligence, and good listening skills. Being dictatorial, critical and motivated by self-interest are the lowest qualities (NPQ, The Best and Worst of Board Chairs, June 21, 2007).

As a community we need to identify and support board chairs that have the qualities needed to be effective leaders.  Our nonprofit organizations will be able to service our communities more effectively when board chairs and the CEO work well together.