A Canadian nonprofit administrator said the issue of team building came to a head on her board. When the board didn’t want to do anything to improve the relationship with its exec, she listened to a headhunter’s call and decided to take another position. The story reminds me of the old Kenny Rogers’ lyric and its applicability to boards: “You got to know when to hold ‘em, and know when to fold ‘em.” For this administrator, it was time to fold ‘em. Here’s the story:
Twice a year, the administrator said, she brought in a consultant to work with the management team on teambuilding. “This was to support our leaders, help them grow and to positively head off disruptive behavior,” she said.
The exec had wanted to do something similar with the board, but had been shot down. Late last year, the administrator said her relationship with the board’s leadership became strained.
This problem started with a new development committee chair who wanted to have his meetings with the committee without the executive present. The board’s chair put the kibosh on this idea at the time, but over the summer a board battle erupted over the content of the annual retreat agenda. This fight was led by the same committee chair. The offshoot of the battle was a new committee led by the development committee chair that gave itself the assignment of creating a new strategic plan for the organization.
This about-face by the board was not done in a collaborative fashion with the exec. “The biggest issue for me was the deteriorating spirit of partnership and negative tone on the board,” she said.
“At the same time, a recruiter approached me about another job,” she said. “I took the position, and probably would not have if my relationship with the board hadn’t become so difficult. This was difficult for me because I was deeply invested in the agency.”
What’s the lesson learned for this executive director? “From now on, I will always provide annual board development,” she said. “I will insist on facilitation by a board development expert annually for preventative maintenance in the board relationship.”
That’s smart advice for all nonprofit execs.
Sincerely,
Jeff Stratton, Editor
515.963.7972;
jeff_stratton@msn.com
A Canadian nonprofit administrator said the issue of team building came to a head on her board. When the board didn’t want to do anything to improve the relationship with its exec, she listened to a headhunter’s call and decided to take another position. The story reminds me of the old Kenny Rogers’ lyric and its applicability to boards: “You got to know when to hold ‘em, and know when to fold ‘em.” For this administrator, it was time to fold ‘em. Here’s the story:
Twice a year, the administrator said, she brought in a consultant to work with the management team on teambuilding. “This was to support our leaders, help them grow and to positively head off disruptive behavior,” she said.