Study ED leadership styles while serving on a board

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/ban.30618
• Published date: 01 February 2018
• Date: 01 February 2018

4 Board & Administrator

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

continued from page 1

part the board may have questions about.

7. Remember: Each board member wants to

know that they make a difference. “How they

know they make a difference is as individual as

the board members themselves,” Jackson said. “It

is often different for each board member. A large

part of my job is learning that difference for each

board member to keep the relationship with our

board successful, and I am still learning.”

8. Educate the board about its role. “I do not

know how many years we have subscribed to the

Board & Administrator newsletter,” Jackson said.

“I do know it has helped very much in keeping our

board informed about their proper role and provid-

ed me with numerous ideas and suggestions that

have been very helpful.” ■

Study ED leadership styles

while serving on a board

Executive Director Rod Braun (Pella, Iowa)

finds value in serving on the board of another

nonprofit organization, and has for 30 years.

rbraun@christianopportunity.org.

“It’s something I’ve continued to do for 30 years

because I feel it is important,” Braun said. “One

reason is that it’s helpful seeing issues from a

board member’s perspective. I believe it makes me

better in my job—seeing other leadership styles

makes me a better executive director.”

As Braun prepares for his own retirement, he is

encouraging his chosen successor to get involved

with another board and in the governance role at

another organization.

Braun has made it his practice to watch how

other leaders operate, making mental notes about

actions he admires (“that was a great way to treat

someone”) or doesn’t find admirable. ■

Proper orientation rst step

in eliminating role confusion

Where do board versus executive director role

misunderstandings come from? For nonprofit

board consultant Carol Weisman (http://www.

boardbuilders.com), the answer is the lack of a

proper orientation for new board members.

“When you don’t have good orientation for board

members, they don’t know roles and responsibili-

ties at your organization,” Weisman said.

An example from Weisman: She works with a

small civic ballet company, and on this board,

trustees paint sets and make food for ballerinas.

“On the New York City Ballet board, members

don’t get involved in day-to-day operations,” Weis-

man said. “These are both ballet companies but dif-

fer completely in expectations for board members.

“As BoardSource says, ‘If you’ve been on one

board, you know one board.’”

Good governance practices such as new-mem-

ber orientation also help with “crazy” board mem-

bers, Weisman said.

“There are times the executive must deal with

a board member who is undermedicated or deal-

ing with a long-standing mental illness,” Weisman

said. “Governance is a team sport, and they are

not good team players.”

A board member who has been oriented well to

the organization and its mission will not want to

let personal problems detract from this. An ex-

ample from Weisman: The most impressive board

member Weisman ever met was dealing with Par-

kinson’s. He didn’t want to let his mental deterio-

ration affect the nonprofit he was serving, so he

gave a letter of resignation to his best friend on

the board and said that his friend would make the

decision to “fire” him when the time came, Weis-

man said. ■