Think of your Board of Directors as an Adult Leadership Program

When I was an Executive Director with the YMCAs, I had Program Directors who ran our programs – things like day camp, youth sports, teen leaders, etc. Other organizations probably have similar roles, people who run programs, services, do case management, etc. A couple of months ago I shared an article on effective board meetings. In it, I talked about how I think of the Board of Directors as an Adult Leadership program that the Executive Director leads. 

Our youth programs would teach kids things like teamwork, sportsmanship, and how to develop healthy relationships. Similarly, our Board of Directors helps adults to develop their presentation and collaboration skills, it teaches them how to problem solve and advocate for things that are important to them, and it gives them a connection to their community that they might not otherwise have. 

When we think about our boards in that light, it shifts how we think about the structure, functions and activities of the board. It also helps us shift from a one-way street to a two-way street. If we just think about the board as being there to serve our organization, it’s a one-way street – what can the organization get out of these people? When we consider our work with the board as a two-way street we start to think about how the work engages and develops the members of the board. 

In planning a youth development program, the director needs to consider these components: 

  • Objectives and Purpose
  • Target Audience
  • Program Structure and Activities 
  • Curriculum and Content
  • Resources and Materials
  • Staff and Volunteers
  • Budget and Funding
  • Outreach and Recruitment
  • Evaluation and Assessment
  • Safety and Risk Management 

Let’s look at each and see how these planning components can apply to running an Adult Leadership program, AKA the Board of Directors. 

  • Objectives and Purpose

    • Clarify what you want the organization to get out of the program AND what you want the participants to come away with. Will they experience skills development, personal growth, community engagement, network building, leadership skills, personal fulfillment, etc? 

  • Target Audience

    • Who and what does your organization need in order to advance the work on the cause? Think about the skills, passion, connections, characteristics, and demographics of the people you want on your board. If the people on your board do not possess the qualities that you need, how can you help them to level-up?

  • Program Structure and Activities 

    • What are you going to have your board members do? It’s not enough to just have them come to board meetings for a sit & get. Incorporate opportunities for every board member to speak and contribute. Think about engagement opportunities outside of board meetings; such as committees, task forces, program observations, community outreach, public appearances, and more. Ideas for engaging your volunteers at a higher level:
      • Provide experiential learning to help grow their knowledge of the cause
      • Give them research projects or reading to do and report back to the larger group
      • Have them interview experts in your industry and share their learnings 
      • Give them the opportunity to conduct mission moment interviews and share the impact the organization is having
      • Delegate the facilitation of a discussion topics to someone other than the board chair
      • Additionally: opening thoughts, timekeepers, and committee reports are all roles that volunteers can step into 

  • Curriculum and Content

    • The content of board work should tie back to the mission and strategies of the organization. By including volunteers in strategic planning and tying those plans back to the month-to-month work of the board, you actively engage your board in advancing the mission. In addition, consider the opportunities you are including for your volunteers to grow. You might include:
      • Formal or informal training on things like: board governance, community initiatives, leadership skills, industry trends, etc. 
      • Board mentoring
      • Presentation opportunities
      • Networking 
      • Mission education and connection

  • Resources and Materials

    • This involves ensuring that your volunteers have the information available to do their job as a board member effectively. That can include an onboarding process, access to historical information, agendas and reading materials distributed in advance, and staff or volunteer support.

  • Staff and Volunteers

    • In order to ensure that the adult leadership program is effective, it requires staff or volunteer monitoring. Often the Executive Director is the leader who ensures that the program runs according to design. A Board Development committee or a Board Governance committee can (and should) help with planning, executing, and evaluating the work of the board. 

  • Budget and Funding

    • Just like with any other program, potential expenses need to be considered. Do you need to rent space for meetings, provide meals or snacks, purchase name tags or shirts, host socials, etc? Meals or other refreshments can serve as a great strategy for bringing people together and providing informal networking. 

  • Outreach and Recruitment

    • I hardly ever talk to a nonprofit leader that doesn’t ask me how they can find and recruit good board members. It’s important to acknowledge the fact that a professional and highly productive board can be one of your best attraction and retention tools. When people are excited about serving on your board and they believe their time is being used valuably, they will want to get others involved. And, the opposite is true. If meetings are unproductive and poorly organized, they can repel prospective board members.

  • Evaluation and Assessment

    • Again, this is often led by the Executive Director, and it is great to enlist the Board Development committee with this process. Good questions for the group to discuss include:
      • How effective was our last meeting?
      • Did we engage all members?
      • Are volunteers actively contributing?
      • What can we do to make the next one better? 
      • Are there any “off-line” conversations that need to happen? 
      • Are we meeting our objectives in regards to adult leadership development? 
      • Are we moving the needle on the work of the board towards our strategic objectives? 

  • Safety and Risk Management 

    • Serving on a board is usually a fairly low risk program in terms of physical safety. Unlike providing swimming or camping programming! To make sure that your volunteers are protected, all agencies should carry Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance. Additionally, ensuring that you create a culture where it is safe for people to step outside their comfort zone is key to helping them grow. No one grows when they do not feel safe. 

There’s no question that our best volunteers are the ones who give their time and energy to our organization out of a passion and desire to give back. And that is still super important. But if we are only thinking about what we can get out of our board members, rather than what we can give them, we are missing an opportunity to further develop the adult leaders we interact with and who care about making our world a better place. 

Every nonprofit is different and has unique needs and challenges. Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call if you would like to discuss your organization’s Adult Leadership Program. 

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors, and helper of nonprofit leaders.
kim@athena-coco.com 

 

Launching an Executive Director Evaluation Process

When I thought about this topic for an article, I was thinking it would be geared towards younger, newer organizations. That was until I recently spoke with the Board Chair of a nonprofit that has been around for 16-years. They still do not have a system in place for providing feedback to their Executive Director, or helping to ensure that the Exec’s work aligns with the goals and strategies of the agency. 

With that, this article is for any organization that does not have an executive evaluation system in place, or whose system isn’t really working for them. You may be wondering why a business would not have a system in place for evaluating their highest staff leader. The biggest reason I see occurs when the founder of the organization is the Executive Director. The board often does not know their role with providing feedback for them. It can also be hard and sometimes awkward to get started. 

Technically, the Board of Directors of a nonprofit organization supervises the Executive Director. However, the unique structure of nonprofits means that the Board and the ED have to work closely in partnership to effectively lead the organization. The challenge can come from the need to maintain a collaborative relationship, while also providing the leadership, guidance and growth opportunities of a supervisor. My recommendation is always to start this process in the same way that you lead the organization, as a shared project. 

Depending on the size of the organization and the number of employees, there may already be a system in place that the Exec has established for evaluating staff. If so, this is a great place to start. I don’t mean that the board should just take the tools that the staff is using, and apply them to the ED. What I mean is, if there is already an evaluation cycle or timeline, look at how to roll into it. Look at the tools that are being used to see if any of them make sense for your task. Get an idea of how the current process looks and feels. 

If no process exists, or the board doesn’t really like the one that is there, it actually gives you a lot more freedom. Here are some questions to think about as you start planning: 

  • What is the culture of the organization and how should it inform the evaluation process?

Is the organization formal and serious? Playful and fun? Relaxed yet determined? All processes and procedures should link back to the values and the brand of your organization. That’s not to say that if you have a playful culture you do not take the process seriously. Supporting your ED is important work. But your system may be relaxed and conversational. 

  • How should the timing look?

Many organizations tie the executive evaluation to their fiscal year or the calendar year. Since you may be starting from scratch, it’s worth evaluating the best time of year to conduct the evaluation process. The end of the fiscal year can be a very busy time for nonprofit professionals. They may be wrapping up fundraising efforts, creating plans and budgets for the coming year, and measuring the impact of the work for the past year. If the fiscal year lands at the end of the calendar year, there are all the additional commitments that come with the holidays. Consider holding annual evaluations during a slower time of year, so it’s not one more thing for staff to commit to. 

  • Who should be involved?

This depends on the size of your board. If you have a board of three people, it may make sense for one person on the board to conduct the whole thing. If you have a larger board, the Human Resources committee should drive this process or an ad-hoc task force. Ideally, more than one person provides input about what will be shared with the Exec. Additionally, the meeting should be conducted with at least two representatives from the board. This communicates that the feedback is coming from a united front. At the same time, it’s not a huge group making the ED feel ganged up on. 

  • What are the preferred outcomes? 

Conducting an executive evaluation is not just about checking something off a list. It’s about deepening relationships, providing opportunities for growth and improvement, advancing the work of the organization, and respecting the staff leader of the nonprofit. Going into the process with this mindset ensures a positive outcome. 

Once you think through these questions for your organization, you come to the matter of starting the process. Often boards struggle here because they have not put any measurements or expectations in place. It begs the question – how do you evaluate someone when you haven’t really outlined their expectations? That’s a fair question. My recommendation is two-fold: 

  1. Start out as a two-way conversation, and
  2. Base the conversation on generally accepted executive competencies. 

Rather than going into the meeting with measurements and clearly defined deliverables, approach it as a conversation. Granted, it should be a conversation that both parties are well prepared for; however, it should be a transparent discussion. Acknowledge the fact that the agency has not had a system in place for evaluating the ED. Note that getting started is difficult, and you’re more focused on getting it implemented than ensuring a perfect process from the start. Share plans for improving it in the future. 

Base the conversation on general expectations of nonprofit staff leaders. This includes things like: 

  • Operational effectiveness
  • Team leadership
  • Community presence
  • Fundraising
  • Administration & Human Resources
  • Financial sustainability
  • Mission impact
  • Board of Directors leadership 

The unique needs of your organization may lead you to add something different or remove some of these categories. This isn’t an exact list, just a good place to start. Come to an agreement with the Executive Director on what items are relevant to their role. Both parties should take some time to think through the Exec’s performance in each category, documenting their thoughts. Then, for that first evaluation, it should really be a discussion where both parties compare notes and talk about any discrepancies. Document how the conversation goes, any action steps to be taken, and start planning for next year. 

As you prepare for the future, think about how this process went. What were the positives and what should be improved. Consider any concrete measurements that should be put in place for the coming year. Be sure to tie measurements to the big picture and strategies. Then communicate them to the ED right away, so they know what they will be evaluated on the following year. 

The last point that I would like to make on implementing an executive evaluation is to keep the conversation high level. If the ED made a mistake 6-months ago, it should have been addressed at that time. Did they learned and grew from the experience? Then there is no need to include it in the year end evaluation. If anything, they have shown that they are coachable and growth minded. The evaluation is an opportunity to look big picture at the effectiveness of the Executive Director and their role in advancing the mission of the organization. 

A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. Initiating an executive evaluation process is an important first step in ensuring effective leadership and organizational success. Approaching the task with the mindset of having a conversation, rather than needing to have a formal process can help to get the ball rolling. By establishing a framework for comprehensive discussions, feedback and support, boards can foster a culture of continuous improvement and promote the long-term sustainability of their organization. 

Every nonprofit is different and has unique needs and challenges. Email me at Kim@Athena-CoCo.com, or schedule a Discovery Call if you would like to discuss how to get the executive evaluation process started for your organization. 

Kim is a mom, lover of being active and the outdoors, and helper of nonprofit leaders.
kim@athena-coco.com