How Good is Your Executive Director?

by Susan Detwiler | Mar 20, 2014 | leadership, management, nonprofit, Standards, work

Does the quality of the Executive Director make a difference?

You bet it does.  Or, at least in the corporate world, a great CEO seems to have an outsized impact on the strength of the corporation.

Walter Frick, reviewing work by professors Quigley and Hambrick at Penn State and University of Georgia, makes the case that in corporate America, when business is more dynamic and less predictable, the CEO has a disproportionate effect on the success of the corporation. They looked at data spanning more than 60 years – the equivalent of 18,000 firm-years, that is, the combined years that the firms had been in existence – and found that the effect of the CEO almost doubled from 1950-2009.

What does this mean for the nonprofit world?  Look carefully at this quote from Frick:

“an increase in business dynamism has amplified the impact of CEOs over time, but that effect is at its highest in companies where industry and economic constraints still limit the firm’s options.”

Picture of KamehamehaWhile I wouldn’t make one-to-one comparisons between for-profit and nonprofit organizations, you can’t deny that by its very nature, the nonprofit world is continually under economic constraints, with limited options, facing increased competition for support, higher needs, and declining resources. How well you manage these constraints is a function of the Executive Director and the Executive-Board partnership.

One of the most important functions of a Board of Directors is to hire, evaluate and, if necessary, replace the Executive Director.  The quality of the partnership between the Executive and the board has an enormous effect on whether the board’s vision is achieved, or whether the board and Executive spend most of their time on minutiae.

Hiring well, and putting in place a sound evaluation system based on relevant criteria, can make a huge difference in the future of your organization. And, if there is any similarity to the for-profit world, it is even more important in uncertain times.

Consider it an investment in the future of your agency.

For more hallmarks of transformational boards, or to find out more about achieving nonprofit Standards for Excellence™, get in touch. Let’s have a conversation.

Susan Detwiler

An Open Letter to Nonprofit Board Presidents

by Susan Detwiler | Mar 6, 2014 | governance, leadership, mission, nonprofit, philanthropy

Dear Nonprofit Board President,

Your board members need to hear this.

In person… From you.

“Thank you for all the time and wisdom you’ve been contributing to our organization.  We have a firm foundation now, with a great executive at the helm.

Our clients rely on us to change their lives. You’ve heard their stories; and I’ve heard how passionate you are about what we do.

Every time we’ve invested in making our dreams happen, we’ve had a great return on that investment. We invested time and energy into finding a path out of debt. We invested time and energy into finding our new executive.

And in the last year, we’ve made great plans for the future.

Now we have to make those plans a reality. When you joined the board, you made a commitment to invest in our future. It’s time to fulfill that commitment so we can start the new year knowing we can make those goals come true.

Please join me in making this organization, that I know you passionately love, your top philanthropic priority.“

If your board members think the only reason for 100% participation is so other funders will give to you, then you need to rethink who’s on your board.

Donors give money.

Volunteers give time.

BOARD MEMBERS GIVE BOTH!

 

If you’d like to hear more about inspiring your board members – please get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.

Susan
sdetwiler@detwiler.com