The Search For a New Nonprofit CEO Needs To Be Realistic
By Eugene Fram
Boardmember.com in its October 11, 2012 issue carries an op-ed item by Nathan Bennett and Stephen Miles titled, “Is your Board About to Pick the Wrong CEO.” Although targeted to for-profit boards, all of the five items listed can be applied to nonprofit boards. Following are my applications to nonprofit boards. (more…)
Can Nonprofit Boards Afford To Underinvest In Management Leadership Development?
By: Eugene Fram:
McKinsey & Company has just issued the results of a substantial study: To better understand the state of (nonprofit) leadership in the US social sector… The findings suggest that chronic underinvestment in (management) leadership development…(may risk) the sector’s capabilities to fulfill emerging missions effectively and to adapt to fast-changing demands.
(http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/social_sector/what_social_sector_leaders_need_to_succeed) (more…)
Time-Compressed Non Profit Directors – Recruit & Retain Them!
By: Eugene Fram
Every nonprofit board has had the experience of having board positions open and being unable to fill them with highly qualified people. The usual response from qualified candidates is that they are too busy to be accept a board position. However, the real reasons, never voiced if speaking privately, are that they perceive the nonprofit decision process to be too slow, board agendas loaded with minutiae, presentations that take up more time than they should, unfocused discussion, etc. (more…)
Once Again! Nonprofit CEO: Board Peer – Not A Powerhouse
By: Eugene Fram
Some nonprofit CEOs make a fetish out of describing their boards and/or board chairs as their “bosses.” Others, for example, can see the description, as a parent-child relationship by funders. The parent, the board, may be strong, but can the child, the CEO, implement a grant or donation? Some CEOs openly like to perpetuate this type of relationship because when bad decisions come to roost, they can use the old refrain: the board made me do it.
My preference is that the board-CEO relationship be a partnership among peers focusing on achieving desired outcomes and impacts for the nonprofit. (I, with others, would make and have made CEOs, who deserve the position, voting members of their boards!)
There are many precedents for a nonprofit CEO to become a peer board member, some without voting rights, some with full voting rights. One nonprofit group is university presidents, where shared governance with faculty bodies can be the norm. For example, when General Eisenhower became president of Columbia, he referred to the faculty in an initial presentation as “Columbia employees.” Later a senior faculty member informed him “With all due respect, the faculty is the university.”
Another nonprofit group is hospitals where the CEO may also be or has been the chief medical officer. The level of medical expertise needed to lead requires that a peer relationship be developed. Also if the hospital CEO is a management person, he and the chief medical officer must have a peer relationship, which extends to the board.
Hallmarks of a Peer Relationship
• The CEO values the board trust assigned him/her, and carefully guards against the board receiving surprise announcements.
• The board avoids any attempts to micromanage, a natural tendency for many nonprofit boards.
• When a board member works on a specific operating project, it is clearly understood that he is accountable to the CEO for results.
• The CEO has board authority to borrow money for short term emergency needs
• The CEO understands need for executive sessions without his/her presence.
• The CEO understands the need for robust assessment processes to allow the board to meet its overview duties.
• Both board and CEO are alert to potential conflicts of interest which may occurs.
• Both value civil discussion when disagreements occur.
• The board realizes that nobody does his/her job perfectly, and it does not react to occasional CEO modest misjudgments.
Summary
Elevating a nonprofit CEO to a status of board peer does not automatically make the CEO a powerhouse. The board legally can terminate the CEO at will. However, in my opinion, the following benefits can accrue to the organization.
The peer relationship help will:
• Help the organization to build a desirable public brand.
• Allow a capable person to interface with the media.
• Define a role for the CEO to lead in fundraising.
• Allow the organization to hire better qualified personnel.
• Allow the organization to present a strong management environment to funders. After all, top people readily communicate with people in similar positions.
My Nonprofit Governance Blog-Site has reached a Landmark at 500 Followers!
And here’s a sampling of the most viewed posts of 2014
By: Eugene Fram
Over the last several decades I have published about two dozen articles and four books related to corporate governance, most of them covering nonprofit governance. These have appeared in a range of publications including MIT’s Sloan Management Review and, more recently, in the Huffington Post.
About two years ago, I decided to “become modern” and use social media to generate comments about my (sometimes controversial) ideas for improving corporate governance. There are now over 250 blog posts available on my site. I am amazed at social media’s drawing power and the daily reports of “likes” and professional comments about my ideas. The work has been fun and has allowed me to reach people worldwide, sometimes in as many as 12 different countries daily.
I am happy to share this list of my followers’ favorite posts. Feel free to forward it to others, especially nonprofit CEOs and board directors.
Blog site: http://bit.ly/yfRZpz
# Most Viewed Posts -1/1/2014 to 5/15/2014
Can Nonprofit Boards Suffer From Agenda Deficits? -272*
A Special Relationship: Nurturing the CEO-Board Chair Bond – 178*
Is Your Nonprofit Board Ready to Recruit a Transformational Leader? – 195*
Do Today’s Business Leaders Make Effective Nonprofit Directors? Revised & Updated – 145*
What Nonprofit Boards Are Not Doing – But Should! Revised & Updated -256
When Will Nonprofit Boards Learn to Plan for Succession? – 236
Does the Nonprofit CEO Need to Go?? – 469
Is Your Nonprofit Board Fundraising Committee Strategically oriented? Revised & Updated – 305
Nonprofit Boardroom Elephants and the “Nice Guy” Syndrome: A Complex Problem – 578
A Nonprofit Board’s Most Important Job! – 347
Major Donor Has Remorse — Nonprofit Board/CEO Failed to Meaningfully Engage Him? -350
Once Again! Should a Nonprofit CEO Become a Voting Member of the Board of Directors? – 208
Nonprofit Boards 2014 – Two Recurring Concerns of Directors & Managers – 326
A Nonprofit Board’s Best Friend — A Robust Business Plan – 276
An Action Agenda for Nonprofit Board Management Discussions -211
* Current posts receiving views and comments.
When Will Nonprofit Boards Learn to Plan for Succession?
By: Eugene Fram
The CEO has resigned with two weeks notice. Whatever the scenario, the pace of the organization will likely slow. Some senior managers may vie for the position or, in self-interest begin to look for new positions, as insurance. Staff members begin to speculate about the future of their department and their positions.
A search committee is cobbled together to explore possibilities for a replacement. According to a recent study, such turmoil is not unusual among nonprofits in transition periods. (more…)
A Nonprofit Board’s Best Friend — A Robust Business Plan — Huffington Post Article
By Eugene Fram
The key to long-term success for a nonprofit board is to seriously evaluate business plans on a regular schedule, even if a status quo plan is desired.
http://huff.to/1kAh1gU
Civil and Honest Discourse Needed for Nonprofit Boards
Huffington Post Impact Section – Posted: 01/03/2014 9:31 pm http://huff.to/1lIWFNM
By:Eugene Fram
In recent years, I have noted some nonprofit board meeting environments have been developing into two distinctly different types: (1) a board consensus resulting from directors’ desires not to develop conflicts with peers, or (2) uncivil discourses based on political beliefs, especially when the CEO and board chair subscribe to different political parties. (more…)
Management Expectations of the Board – The Nonprofit Story – Part II Revised/Updated
I am indebted to Dr. Richard Leblanc of York University for the action headings used in this blog. The blog uses headings developed by Dr. Leblanc for his blog: “What a Board Expects from Management, and What Management Expects from a Board, January 27, 2013, York University Governance Gateway Blog. (rleblanc.aps01.yorku.ca) For reading simplicity, Dr. Leblanc’s specific quotations, which can apply to either FP or NFP boards, are noted in italics. (more…)
Board Expectations from Management – The Nonprofit Story – Part I Updated/Revised
I am indebted to Dr. Richard Leblanc of York University for the action headings used in this blog. The blog uses headings developed by Dr. Leblanc for his blog: “What a Board Expects from Management, and What Management Expects from a Board,” January 27, 2013, York University Governance Gateway Blog. (rleblanc.aps01.yorku.ca) For reading simplicity, Dr. Leblanc’s specific quotations, which can apply to either FP or NFP boards, are noted in italics. (more…)
Nonprofit Management 