Lesson Three: Shared Resource
Title: Effective Board Chair-Executive Director Relationships: Not About Roles!
I chose this article published recently by the Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ) as a valuable resource because it touches upon the belief that the clarification of roles and responsibilities between the Board of Directors (specifically the board chair) and the Executive Director is the source of building an effective partnership. There is discussion that the roles and responsibilities of the board and Executive Director are distinct. This article states that trust is more important. With the highest trust among the board and Executive Director, it didn’t matter who was making the policies and who was involved in the day to day operations. This article highlights that non-profit leaders need to recognize that a relationship between the Board of Directors and Executive Director is important and powerful. You can’t be in this relationship just because you are in a specific position, but instead must develop and work on a relationship with trust and reliability. They should structure the work they do together instead of specifying roles and responsibilities. Each of them has individual strengths and interests that could be intertwined to ensure that primary values and principles according to the mission are met and exceeded. Could this end some of the conflict and confusion that arises between the Board of Directors and the Executive Directors?