Prepare to discuss your performance goals as CEO

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30662
• Published date: 01 April 2018
• Date: 01 April 2018

2 Board & Administrator

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

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From the Board Doctor

Getting rid of that ‘toxic’ board member

Joan Garry has written a terrific

article that contains sound advice

on ridding yourself of “toxic” board

members.

In “How to Fire a Toxic Board

Member,” Garry said it’s possible to

manage the toxic board member out

of the organization.

“Here’s how I think of it,” wrote

Garry. “Instead of dumping the

whole bucket of water on the Wicked

Witch of the West, just pour slowly.”

Garry writes that the chair and

CEO must combine forces to mini-

mize the toxic board member’s influ-

ence and power “until he disappears

(resigns).”

How can you go about that?

1. The board chair and CEO

must be in complete agreement.

“[The toxic board member] must

go and they both agree that it will

take longer than either of them will

like,” Garry writes. “They also must

agree that each of them will have

an extra burden of work to get it

done.”

2. The chair works through the

governance committee and obtains

its buy-in, Garry said. “Be sure ev-

eryone is on the same page,” Garry

said.

3. The chair and CEO identify al-

lies (three or four) that feel the same

way about the toxic board member.

Secure other allies. The board chair

and CEO go through the board list.

“What’s happening here is that the

Board Chair is building a support

team,” Garry said.

4. The group of allies gets more

power on an issue such as board

recruitment where the toxic board

member is in the wrong. “The power

dynamics continue to shift,” Garry

said. “TBM‘s melting away.”

5. The chair adds something to

the meeting agenda the toxic board

member will hate. “It has to be some-

thing that will pass without him—

ideally, something like raising the

give/get—but anything that shows

to the toxic board member that he

is terribly out of step and no one is

listening to him,” Garry said. “TBM

resigns.”

For more information, go to

http://goo.gl/ZFLLuE.

Sincerely,

Jeff Stratton, Editor

515.963.7972;

Jeff_Stratton@msn.com ■

Prepare to discuss your

performance goals as CEO

Once your proposed goals are

written, gather support materials.

When you discuss goals with your

board, you should have immediate

access to all survey results, needs-

assessment data, grant resource

information and any other materials

to reinforce the feasibility of what

you’re proposing.

It’s also a good idea to give board

members a written set of suggested

goals before the meeting in which you

expect to discuss planning. This will

give them a chance to study goals in

advance. And it will give you an op-

portunity to answer individual board

member questions and concerns be-

fore the meeting. ■