Let's have a talk about your board

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30633
• Date: 01 March 2018
• Published date: 01 March 2018

2 Board & Administrator

DOI 10.1002/ban © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved

Board &

Administrator

Board

Issues

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From the Board Doctor

Boards that don’t understand their role create

problems for the executive director

Defining the respective roles of

the board and administrator is

admittedly not an easy task—nei-

ther is taming a lion. The secret

to doing both successfully is the

amount of time and training that

go into it.

The consequences of leaving ei-

ther task undone can be fatal—both

to the lion tamer and the nonprofit

executive director’s longevity at the

organization.

A California administrator tells

me his board fired an employee

improperly and landed the organi-

zation in court. “My role is to hire

and fire employees and I have the

expertise to perform this responsi-

bility effectively and appropriately.

Unfortunately, board members took

it upon themselves to fire a long-

time employee without consulting

me first,” he said.

The organization was sued by the

fired staff member for wrongful ter-

mination, lost and ended up paying

out a lot of money in damages.

This board learned the hard way

that personnel decisions are best

left to the executive director. And

this administrator and the organi-

zation learned that you can never

do too much when it comes to get-

ting board members to know and

understand their role.

Unless the CEO spells out

board responsibilities to trustees,

a board member’s view and your

view of what a board can or can’t

do may be completely in opposi-

tion. That’s why I recommend the

following:

1. Set boundaries for board

members and review them twice

a year. Jointly discuss board-role

issues and come to agreement on

how they should be handled in

areas such as finance and staff

management.

2. Use a short-range plan to

emphasize your responsibilities

as an administrator. Your annual

plan should include several objec-

tives related to your role as CEO of

the nonprofit. This will clearly spell

out your duties and keep the board

in tune with its role. The board

should approve your annual plan

so there is no conflict about who

does what, as both parties will sign

off on it.

Sincerely,

Jeff Stratton, Editor

515.963.7972;

jeff_stratton@msn.com ■

Let’s have a talk about your board

Give me a call on the Hotline

(515.963.7972; jeff_stratton@msn.com)

if you are facing a difficult situation

with your board. Access to the Hotline

is one of the benefits of your subscrip-

tion to Board & Administrator.

Let’s chat!

Jeff ■