In a Nonprofit Board Forum discussion on LinkedIn, the above statement was more of a question than a description of best practice in governance. The discussion reflected the ambivalence in the nonprofit sector on the role of the board chair beyond being a facilitator of meetings. Many of the participants recognized that if you have a weak board chair and a strong chief executive you may create a rubber stamp board. On the other hand,  a strong board chair might negatively affect the collective nature of the board where all members are leaders.

In the middle of the discussion Nathan Garber had this to say:

For boards to be effective, someone must be charged with the responsibility for ensuring that the board is able to do whatever work is necessary for the organization to fulfill its mission and achieve its vision. Most organizations expect this person to be the chair of the board but this is never made clear in the chair’s job description, policies or bylaws. As a result, many board chairs think their job is simply to chair meetings. They don’t know that good governance requires good leadership just as the CEO must provide good leadership for the organization’s programs and services to be effective. Too often, it falls to the CEO to provide leadership to the board, a role that inevitably leads to board members feeling accountable to the CEO and ultimately to deeper problems of accountability and authority.

Mike Burns, in a recent post on his blog Nonprofit Board Crisis, stated it much more directly:

…I believe that the nonprofit board chair is THE most important person in a nonprofit organization.  Let me say this again… I believe that the nonprofit board chair is THE most important person in a nonprofit organization.  Why?  The Chair is responsible for keeping the board members together, making sure the board is results-focused….

Comments by Nathan and Mike  help us move from a question: Is the board chair the leader of the board? to a statement: The board chair is the leader of the board!

In the Board Source publication titled The Board Chair Handbook, author Mindy Wertheimer described the role of the Board Chair:

• as the senior volunteer leader of the organization
• is responsible for leading the board in the responsibilities that are critical to good governance
• empowers the board to move forward and build organizational capacity
• cultivates a working partnership with the chief executive

We, as governance and organizational development practitioners, have the opportunity to significantly improve boards of directors by clarifying and enabling the board chair as the leader of the Board.  According to Alice Korngold, a Fast Company blogger,  building a better board is all about the  board chair.

Let’s move from ambivalence to confidence. Let’s commit to putting the following governance partnership premises into action:

• Every nonprofit organization has two key leaders
• The board chair is a volunteer and is the elected leader of the board of directors
• The chief executive is employed by the board of directors to be the leader of the organization
• The board chair and the chief executive must work in partnership to lead the entire organization

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The fact that was a great article is not just my opinion… even though the article was about my role as the CEO of ChildServe.  Numerous  board members, staff, supporters and friends of ChildServe have contacted me via email, written notes, telephone calls and comments in the hallways expressing how great the article was and what a wonderful job Lynn Hicks did in talking about ChildServe. I trust their opinions…they have all been part of the team of people who have the growth and development of  ChildServe possible.

I encourage you to check out the online version of the article by clicking here. If you get a chance,  let me know what you think about the article.

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1. Before you commit to serving on a board make sure you have a passion for the mission of the organization.
2. Don’t be shy with your ideas on the vision and strategy of the organization. Your input is important for the board to hear!
3. Make sure you offer your ideas on how your board can become the most effective board in the community.
4. Work hard to help your board define how the organization can improve its performance and mission effectiveness.
5. Make sure you financially support the organization. Be the first one to make a financial commitment and do it every year while you serve on the board.

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The new leadership model for nonprofit organizations, according to the theory of  governance partnership, is based on the following premises about the board chair and the chief executive:

• Every nonprofit organization has two key leaders.
• The board chair is a volunteer and is the elected leader of the board of directors.
• The chief executive is employed by the board of directors to be the leader of the organization.
• The board chair and the chief executive must work in partnership to lead the entire organization.

If the board chair and the chief executive want to develop an effective governance partnership, they must address the following dimensions of the governance partnership relationship:

1. The Structure of the Relationship. The roles and responsibilities of the board chair and chief executive describe the structure of the relationship.  If  job descriptions are not in place for one or both of these leadership positions, the board chair and the chief executive must begin the process of establishing a clear and a mutual understanding of their respective roles and responsibilities. If the structure of the relationship lacks clarity, the relationship will not develop into an effective partnership.
2. The Culture of the Relationship: The relationship between board chair and the chief executive must be based on mutual respect for each other and the organization. A commitment to mutuality creates a culture that enables the relationship to develop into an effective partnership. A culture committed to mutuality builds trust which leads to increased levels of openness and transparency between the board chair and the chief executive. The development of trust between the board chair and the chief executive fuels the expansion of organizational trust which can have a dramatic impact on the culture of the board and the organization.
3. The Process of the Relationship:  There are a number of processes in the governance partnership relationship that must be managed. The processes include:  the patterns of communication and interaction, decision-making and consensus building, and conflict management and resolution. It is the responsibility of the Chief Executive to ensure that these processes meet the needs of the partnership.  In many regards it is the chief executive’s responsibility to nurture, encourage and equip the relationship to become a governance partnership. The chief executive must be a faithful presence.
4. The Outcome of the Relationship: The outcome of an effective governance partnership, according to the theory of governance partnership, impacts the culture of the board and the organization. It creates an alignment between the work of the board and the organization enabling the organization to achieve shared mission outcomes and improve organizational performance.

An effective governance partnership relationship between the board chair and the chief executive will enable the nonprofit organization to significantly improve its mission impact and organizational performance.  The theory of governance partnership is a new leadership model for nonprofit organizations!

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Here is my answer to these questions.

It  is important because nonprofit organizations and its leaders are concerned about making sure that the mission will make a difference in the community. It  is important because nonprofit organizations and its leaders are concerned with improving organizational performance.

Much of the guidance offered to nonprofit leaders today comes from books, conferences and consultants. Books focus on the importance of leadership and management and its role in improving and revitalizing organizations. Conferences offer name brand speakers who offer hope and inspiration to nonprofit leaders in search for new methods and solutions to attain organizational excellence.  Consultants focus on individual and organizational improvement strategies.

Much of this guidance is based on the following leadership premises:

• Organizations will be successful with the right leadership.
• If  you can recruit, hire and/or equip the Chief Executive or Executive Director with the right vision, skills, abilities, and charisma, the nonprofit organization will not only be successful, it will thrive.
• Effective leadership leads to mission success and positive organizational performance.

These premises,  according to the theory of governance partnership,  are only partially true. They are only partially true because of its singular focus on the organizational leader. This focused approach excludes the board of directors.  By excluding governance,  the potential benefit and impact of the board of directors and what it has to offer is diminished. The current heroic model of leadership marginalizes the board of directors.

The theory of governance partnership is based on an alternative premise:

• Every nonprofit organization has two key leaders.
  
• The board chair is the leader of the board of directors.
• The chief executive is the leader of the organization.
  
• The board chair and the chief executive must work in partnership to lead the entire organization.

The theory of governance partnership offers a new leadership model for nonprofit organizations.

At the very core of  governance partnership is the possibility of a dynamic relationship between the Board Chair and the Chief Executive. If the board chair and the chief executive are committed to constructing an effective and dynamic governance partnership, they will be creating the cultural context for the board of directors and the organization to be aligned around a shared mission and common commitment to organizational performance. The quality and strength of the partnership, according to the theory of governance partnership, makes impact the overall success of the nonprofit organization.

That is why Governance Partnership is important to nonprofit organizations.

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Think of the many highway intersections you have encountered. Some are simple and unmarked , others have four way stop signs or stop and go lights. Some intersections are more complex having five or more roads coming to a central point controlled by a traffic circle. The most complex intersections are those that involve multiple Interstates coming together in an interchange of concrete ribbons intersecting each other like a pretzel.

The relationship between the board chair and the chief executive has been described by Sandy Boyd from the Iowa Nonprofit Resource Center as being at the intersection of governance and the organization. This governance intersection has been described by Maureen Robinson in her book Nonprofit Boards that Work as “…one of the most complex and perplexing relationships in the nonprofit sector”.

Similar to the variances in road and highway intersections, governance intersections vary by organization as well. In many small start-up nonprofit organizations, the intersection between the board of directors and the chief executive is quite simple, much like an unmarked road intersection in a rural area. Negotiating this intersection is simple and clear, and if there is no traffic present, you might not even need to stop. In larger and more mature organizations, the intersection might be more complex and confusing, much like the Interstate interchanges  in large urban centers like Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth or Seattle.  Traveling through these intersections successfully involves following signs, making no sudden turns, and having faith and confidence that you will get through the intersection safely.

The ability of the Board Chair and the Chief Executive to build a governance partnership early on in their tenure together will increase the chances that they will successfully navigate the governance intersection. In doing so, they will be able to successfully lead and guide the organization as it implements the mission and works for positive organizational performance.

The essence of the governance partnership is based on the intersectional paradox of governance and organization.

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The Chief Executive acts on behalf of the board to ensure that the organization is effectively engaged in making the mission come alive within the parameters established by the board. The chief executive leads the day-to-day process of creating a mission-directed culture that engages staff, volunteers, supporters, and the community. The Chief Executive leads the day-to-day process of promoting a performance-based culture that builds organizational health and sustainability.

The Chief Executive acts on behalf of the organization to ensure that the board of directors is engaged in effectively governing the organization.  The board looks to the Chief Executive to demonstrate day-to-day compliance with the shared  mission and organizational expectations.

This governance intersection can be a very difficult and complex place.  It is this place from which the Chief Executive must constantly  focus on building the governance partnership.  If this relationship is based on a shared mission,  if there is a common commitment to mutuality and the building of trust, and if there is an effective pattern of communication, the governance partnership will grow! If, on the other hand,  this relationship is characterized by mission drift or confusion, lack of trust and transparency, and a poor pattern of communication, the governance partnership will fall apart and the organization will drift into mediocrity or irrelevance. Worse case scenarios include organizational crises that may involve the dismissal of the Chief Executive. There are numerous examples described in the media where this has happened.

In a book entitled To Change the World, James Hunter describes a way of looking at cultural engagement that might help Chief Executives as they negotiate this difficult governance intersection while  nurturing the governance partnership. Instead of trying to change or fix  governance and/or the organization during times of difficulty, Chief Executives might  practice what Hunter calls  Faithful Presence. Faithful presence is not about change.  Instead, it emphasizes cooperation between individuals and institutions to serve the common good. It is this cooperation that is central to the idea of governance partnership.

Perhaps the best the Chief Executive can do in the governance intersection is practice Faithful Presence.

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1. Who do you want to talk to and where are you going to get good intelligence?

2. How are you going to gather that intelligence?

The answer to the Who question is really about the nature of your nonprofit organization. Are you a brand new organization? Or are you a legacy organization that has been around for a long time? This is a key question because helps you think about the organizational stakeholders.

Every organization has stakeholders…the board and the staff, volunteers and donors, consumers and customers that benefit from the organization, community members and  business, public agencies and other nonprofit organizations . As a young organization, this collective group is likely to be very small and homogeneous. As an older organization, this group could be very large and diverse. All of these individuals and groups have a stake in your organization and likely have  opinions about what the mission and vision. They are likely to express their voice about the nature of the organization’s values and what areas of focus should be considered strategically as the organization moves forward.

The strategic plan development design should address The Who — Who do we talk to as part of the information and intelligence gathering process.

The second question focuses on The How.  The How question is a methodological question. What methods are we going to use to collect the intelligence and how will these methods ensure that the information collected is good intelligence.

Let me offer several methods for your consideration:

1. Individual and group interviews
2. Focus groups
3. Future search conferences
4. Open space conversations
5. Individual Questionnaires — mailed or emailed
6. Telephone surveys
7. Retreats
8. SWOT analysis
9. Town hall meetings

While list of methods can be quite long, your strategic plan development design should address how you want to collect information and how you can use that process to engage your stakeholders as you are gathering that information.

Remember….good strategy requires good intelligence. If you choose effective methods, you can engage your stakeholders. This engagement process not only helps you gather good intelligence, it also is the first step in eventual implementation of your new strategic plan.

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When I asked governance experts this question, without hesitation they say 25%! After that first response, the often pause and then add this statement, They should spend more than 25%, but that might be unrealistic. This is the response from experts at three national conferences I attended for board members and chief executives in health care, colleges and universities, and nonprofit organizations.

When I asked a similar question to Chief Executives, How much time do you spend on governance? their response was only 5% to 10%. They justified this time allocation to the reality of their jobs and the amount of time it takes to run an organization.

Clearly there is a lack of alignment between the current reality of chief executives and the expectations of governance experts.

Peter Drucker, in his 1990 article entitled Lessons for Successful Governance, answers the question with a question and then provides his view.

Who should be responsible for an effective board, for the relationship between board and executive officer, and for the structure of governance in the nonprofit institution? The standard answer is, the board’s chairperson. There is only one thing wrong with this; it does not work. What works is to assign responsibility for the effective governance of the organization to the (chief) executive officer and to make it one of his or her key duties.

Peter Drucker avoids the time question. He creates clarity by re-framing the question about how time the chief executive should spend on governance by stating that the chief executive is responsible for effective governance. To be clear, Peter Drucker also stated in this article that the chief executive must work with the volunteer board chair to ensure effective governance.

Blue Avocado, a  popular nonprofit blog, asks a similar question, Who is responsible for the board doing a good job? They look to Peter Drucker for advice as well.  We agree with Peter Drucker: The responsibility for the board’s effective work — both governance and support — is ultimately the responsibility of the executive director.

The chief executive and the board chair must forge the governance partnership. That not only takes time…more than 25%…it takes commitment! The chief executive must do what it takes to ensure that the governance is effective!

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• How large is the board? Is there an optimum size for the board to be more effective?
• How many committees should the board have and are the roles and responsibilities of those committees clear?
• Does the board have clear policies and practices about it’s role and the role of the chief executive?

You get the idea. With the right structure in place,  an improvement in the board’s effectiveness was a likely consequence. I think that the changes in the new IRS Form 990 are based on this assumption. The focus of the new 990 is on ensuring that certain governance policy and practices are in place. My research on governance and the development of the governance partnership theory was based on this assumption as well.

Dr. Comb pointed out in a session on Governance at the 2010 American College of Healthcare Executives‘  Congress on Healthcare Leadership in Chicago, that there is a movement towards competency-based governance. And this focus is not on the competency of the board as a whole; it is on the competency of the individual directors and trustees.

The shift is from focusing on the right board structure to ensuring that we have the right people on the board. The central benefit of Competency-based governance is that with the right directors and trustees in place the board will work  together…effectively. This shift in  focus, according to Dr.  Combs, will help directors and trustees become more effective partners in the leadership of the organization.  The Center has released a copy of the  Blue Ribbon Panel report that focused on Competency-based Governance that you can download at no cost.

The bottom line is that effective governance is dependent on the full engagement of the board of directors. When boards are engaged, mission outcomes will be achieved and organization performance will improve. We should expect no less!

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