My consulting work over the last few years has brought an interesting phenomenon to my attention. I have coached several Executive Directors and spent time working through extreme issues that some Executive Directors have had with the Board Chairs. I have come to define this issue as a Toxic Board chair/ Executive Director relationship. I have discovered that there is very little on the topic that comes easily to hand, so I want to share my perspective with others to create a greater online knowledge base.
Being the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization can be an exciting, galvanizing, stimulating, and downright exhausting role. You hold the reins for directing the entire agency. It is your responsibility to see that operations function effectively and that your support to and from the Board Chair and the Board is seamless.
But what if working with the Board Chair is overwhelmingly difficult? I don’t mean that there are personality difficulties; but that there are instances of excessive micromanaging, finding continuous fault over simple matters, changing details of assignments in mid-stream, blaming you for not completing the revised assignment, and/or speaking critically of your performance in front of the board or staff, frequently without you present.
This type of behavior by the Board Chair is what I label Toxic – meaning that the behavior has the effect of a poison that causes unpleasant, harmful feelings and ultimately seriously disrupts viable operations. This behavior goes far beyond a person who is just difficult to work with. In many cases, this personality type can be personable in some situations and then poisonous in the next.
Examples of toxic behavior:
· Creating opportunities to highlight perceived or real failures or less than satisfactory performance of the Executive Director.
· Sarcastic, rude remarks to the Executive Director.
· Dismissive of the Executive Director’s authority.
· Manipulating perceptions of the Executive Director’s performance.
This toxicity gradually undermines the Executive Director’s credibility within the organization and in the community. More importantly, it undermines the dignity and self-esteem of the Executive Director. Typically, by the time the situation comes to a head, there is too much water under the bridge, and the Executive Director is left feeling vulnerable.
What can you do as an Executive Director if you are faced with this situation? How can you respond?
At this point, you have four choices of action:
A. Be Loyal: Be faithful to the agency, take a deep breath, keep going, ignore the behavior and wait out the term of the board chair. Do not bring the behavior to anyone’s attention so as not to upset the flow of the organization’s work; the concern is that bringing it to the attention of others could divide board members because of each individual's thoughts and/or allegiances.
B. Exit gracefully: Resign, give notice, and graciously exit an extremely difficult, and mentally taxing situation. Consider requesting an exit interview with a neutral third party from the board to express the real reason for leaving.
C. Give Voice: Bring the challenging behavior to the notice of the Board and, if one exists, the agency’s Human Resources department. Whenever one gives verbal attention to a situation like this it risks creating havoc and unpleasant reactions. It is a difficult step to take but may just be the saving of the agency and your future.
D. Hire out: As a follow-up to A. Be Loyal - Consider an executive coaching solution. A coach can be an objective, “silent partner” to you so that you have a confidant in which to receive advice as to how to be most effective in your role with this lack of Board leadership.
Most likely at this point, you are questioning how to handle the situation. Your credibility as an Executive Director and your character as a person are being questioned. You feel defeated. As you are considering your actions, you should begin to document the instances of this behavior. If another staff member witnesses’ the behavior perhaps he/she will sign off on the documentation. If possible, ask the Board Chair to give you work assignments in writing, or summarize your conversation with the Chair and email those notes and ask the Chair to confirm that you have ‘understood’ the directions correctly. Any documentation you can create will help if you decide to voice your grievances.
The difficulty in revealing this situation is how to start. Now that you are in the middle of the storm how do you find the protection to bring credibility to the situation? Typically, as Executive Director you have formed relationships with board members, and you could turn to someone you trust and who you know will keep your confidence. Between the two of you, you should find some solid ground on which to proceed.
A suggested solution is that the nonprofit could have a committee to address governance grievances, established before the agency needs such a committee. The committee should be comprised of the most impartial members of the board and, if feasible, a professional consultant from the community who is familiar with the work of the agency. This committee might be titled the Employee Grievance Committee, and be established at the beginning of each year, and only called to order when needed in situations that require the utmost confidentiality, integrity, and openness to all perspectives. A prime example is exactly this situation of a toxic Board Chair.
Fortunately, the situation of a toxic board chair does not occur frequently and most likely you will never be in this position. When and if this does occur in your nonprofit career remember, that there are steps that you can take to protect yourself and your career.
What are your comments, ideas, or insights on the topic? Is it that this situation does not occur frequently or is it that this situation is not discussed by Boards or the Executive Directors? Typically, neither the Board nor the Executive Director would discuss this publicly so how frequent is it? Has it happened to you? Let us know.