Kelly Sloan and the relationship between nonprofit
board and CEO
By Nicole Zummach
EDMONTON, AB // Any married couple will tell you that
relationships have their ups and downs. A solid foundation of mutual
respect helps during the rough times, as can a good dose of laughter.
And when all else fails, there's always the option of marriage
counselling. But what about the marriage between nonprofit CEO and
the board of directors? This relationship is as complex and
multi-faceted as any romantic connection, not to mention incredibly
important to the success and effectiveness of a nonprofit organization.
Yet, too many executive directors and boards are locked in a
dysfunctional dynamic. That's why Kelly Sloan,
executive director of the YWCA Edmonton, decided to spend her year as
a Muttart Fellow researching nonprofit board/CEO
relationships to find out what it takes to make the 'marriage' work.
CharityVillage: The relationship between board
and CEO is such an important one. What were you hoping to achieve
through your work as a Muttart Fellow?
Kelly Sloan: I was hoping to create something that
had practical applications so that board members and CEOs and
executive directors in the nonprofit sector could pull out strategies
from the research I did and apply them in their own organizations. I
did a bit of theory so they have the theoretical context, and then
there are practical suggestions for what they can do to improve the
relationship.
CV: And were you prompted by your own experiences
or those of your colleagues?
KS: Both, actually. Every executive director,
especially when you've been one for a number of years, now and again
has individual board members who are challenging. But, by and large,
I've had quite a positive relationship with the overall board of
directors over the years. Yet, I heard a great deal in the sector
that many organizations weren't as fortunate. They were constantly
losing staff or losing board members and I just thought to myself,
"It's really draining valuable energy from the sector to deal with
these issues." It is energy that could be put to better use
elsewhere, furthering the mission of organizations. That really was
my motivator.
CV: What is the biggest challenge or hurdle that
most organizations encounter?
KS: The people I interviewed, and the literature
said that one of the most important keys to having a good
relationship is the level of emotional intelligence that the people
have. The other area that is very important is having agreement
between the board and executive director on what kind of governance
model is in place. That goes far beyond everyone just giving tacit
approval to, "Yes, we're a policy governance board." So those were
two of the more important things that emerged from the research.
Another theme throughout the research, regardless of what
topic I was looking at, is that in organizations that have a
successful [board/CEO] relationship, the executive directors are far
more involved in board work than some of the traditional research
suggests we should be. For example, much of the traditional research
says that for board nominations, board business, the ED should butt
out. Well, that's not really the case. There is a degree to which you
can participate without controlling, and it's the manner in which you
participate and offer assistance and guidance that really matters.
Rather than just saying, "That's the board's role; let them muddle
through it," the theme in the research was that executive directors
need to be a bit more hands-on and offer more tangible support to
their boards than we traditionally have been lead to believe.
CV: So it's a much more cooperative approach?
KS: Very cooperative. In my research I looked at
the question of power. So, in organizations with a successful
relationship, is it because the board and the executive director view
themselves as sharing power? There was a real negating of my
hypothesis. In fact, people were very uncomfortable with the word
'power'. They said it wasn't about power at all. They used words like
teamwork, shared partnership, and various other more collaborative
terms.
CV: Your research will soon be published in a
book. How will the average nonprofit be able to benefit from your
work?
KS: I felt it was a little unfair to say, "Here's
all the information you need, now go and work out your relationship,"
because part of the challenge that exists in relationship conflict is
difficulty in communication. So, what I did at the end of my research
was include questions to start from. I thought I could offer a leg up
by giving people questions as a starting point. So a board president
could say, "I think we have difficulty in the area of governance so
I'm going to use these three questions to start a conversation with
my board and with my CEO."
There is a proportional relationship between how
effective an organization is in its functioning and how successful
the relationship is between an ED and the board. For example, if
there are problems in finance or HR problems or public image problems
it places more stress on the relationship. One crucial mistake that
some organizations make is not ensuring that there is a solid
relationship between their board chair and their CEO, not putting
time into that through things like regular contact, even if it's by
e-mail or telephone. One of the mantras that I always try to remind
people of is that people are people first and employees second. In
executive director/board relationships we need to remember that too.
CV: How did your year as a Muttart Fellow impact
you and the work you do?
KS: The research showed me things I wanted to try or
things that we, as an organization, are doing really well. I guess in
the back of my mind I was doing a self-assessment of our
organization's relationship as I was doing the research. I came back
with my eyes open to what things you can change about a relationship
and what things you just have to let go of.
On a personal level, about a month after I started my
fellowship my dad was diagnosed with non-treatable cancer. For the
whole year I was away on fellowship he was going through that, and
actually died the month before I came back. So the year for me,
strangely enough, reminded me of the whole spiritual thing - that
things happen for a reason. I came back to work in a different
headspace, but still ready to come back.
Kelly Sloan began her career as a teacher in rural
Saskatchewan. After leaving teaching in 1990, she began working with
the YWCA in Saskatoon and was appointed as executive director of YWCA
Edmonton in 1997. Kelly received the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005
for her contributions to the community and to advocacy for women. Her
forthcoming book will be published by the Muttart Foundation and
distributed by the Resource Centre for
Voluntary Organizations (RCVO).
To learn more about the Muttart Fellowship program, visit: www.muttart.org/fellowsprogram.htm.
