SUMMARY
Research shows the single strongest indicator of a healthy nonprofit is the quality of the relationship between the Board Chair and CEO, since alignment between them drives governance, accountability, and stakeholder confidence throughout the organization.
What Separates the Best from the Rest?
Recent research reveals that the single best indicator of a healthy nonprofit organization is a strong relationship between the Board Chair and the CEO.
Think about that for a second.
It’s not your financials.
It’s not your donor list.
It’s not your war chest.
Sure, all those things are important.
But the latest research reveals that the thing that separates the best charities from the rest is the quality of the relationship between the Board Chair and the CEO.
Here's Why the Board Chair/CEO Relationship Matters Most
Put simply, the reason this relationship matters most is because, when your charity’s Board Chair and CEO are on the same page, your organization is in perfect alignment. This means that the board’s oversight syncs up perfectly with the CEO’s management priorities—and this is what ensures everything runs smoothly!
But there’s more!
... Do each of you do what you say you will do?
When your charity’s Chair and CEO relationship is firing on all cylinders, some serious magic happens.
Specifically, you experience:
Alignment of Vision: A cohesive vision between the Chair and CEO ensures that all organizational actions and decisions are consistently moving toward overarching goals.
Effective Governance: A strong CEO/Chair partnership improves the Board’s ability to provide strategic oversight, make informed decisions, and thus ensure that the organization is adhering to its mission.
Enhanced Accountability and Transparency: An open dialogue and mutual trust between these two leaders creates a culture of accountability and transparency throughout the organization. Said differently, when the CEO and Chair are functional, so is everyone else.
Optimized Strategic Decision-Making: Effective collaboration allows both the Chair and the CEO to combine their unique perspectives, thus creating a “force-multiplier” effect.
Stakeholder Confidence: A harmonious relationship between the Board Chair and CEO instills confidence in stakeholders, including donors, employees, and clients.
Successful CEO Evaluation: Last but certainly not least, the Board Chair’s leadership plays an important role in evaluating the CEO’s performance and setting compensation.
The 5 Secrets to Building a Great Board Chair/CEO Relationship
As with any essential relationship, there are a number of “non-negotiables” that need to be attended to if you want to establish a world-class Board Chair/CEO connection.
Here are the five most important:
Relationship Secret #1: Be Professional.
Make no mistake, building a strong Board Chair/CEO relationship requires a serious level of professionalism. And the best way to do this is to keep “the main thing, the main thing.”
Said differently, when the Board Chair/CEO relationship becomes casual and puts friendship and socializing before the needs of the organization, problems are soon to follow.
Relationship Secret #2: Establish Trust.
The second key component of a great Board Chair/CEO relationship is trust. And while a lot of “experts” offer up mountains of advice on this topic (mostly word salad!), trust always comes down to two words: Follow through.
Put another way, “Do each of you do what you say you will do?”
If this is the modus operandi, your confidence in one another will continue to grow—and then the sky’s the limit.
But be warned: It only takes a couple of missed important deadlines and your relationship will be right back to square one.
Relationship Secret #3: Courageous Conversations.
To be effective, the Board Chair and the CEO need to talk about hard things. Topics might include underperforming directors, missed deadlines, and budget shortfalls. But the bottom line here is that the Board Chair and the CEO need to be able to address any topic in a straightforward, honest, and deliberate manner.
With this in mind, ask yourself this question: “Can we speak candidly and forthrightly no matter what the topic?”
If the goal is establishing a world-class relationship, your answer had better be a resounding “yes!”
Relationship Secret #4: Unity.
After decisions are made, the Chair and CEO should present a united front to the rest of the organization. In fact, nothing will destroy this essential relationship faster than talking smack behind each other’s backs after critical decisions have been made.
Now it’s time to get serious.
So far, we’ve covered four of the five key components of establishing a best-in-class Board Chair/CEO relationship. But this is the one that matters most.
Relationship Secret #5: Time in the Saddle.
Do not miss this. Perhaps the most important priority in establishing a world-class Board Chair/CEO relationship is spending time together.
Here’s why this matters.
When the CEO and Chair spend a lot of time together, each of you will have to make your way through those “awkward” moments.
For example, think about those deafeningly quiet moments when there’s a lull in the conversation and neither of you has anything substantial to say. Or consider the moments when you reveal something deeply personal and you suddenly feel like you are teetering on the edge of TMI (too much information!)
Believe it or not, these moments are worth their weight in gold.
Why? Because you have to work through them together—and the more you do, the better your relationship becomes.
But here’s one more thing to consider.
By spending time together, we don’t just mean having lunch or attending community functions together.
Rather, we are referring to the amount of time you spend together working on charity-related business (e.g., reviewing the strategic plan, perfecting your next meeting, having conversations with donors, and/or recruiting new board members—just to mention a few!).
Extraordinary Impact
Never forget: The most important thing that separates a great nonprofit from a good one is the quality of the Chair/CEO relationship.
And to make sure that your Chair/CEO relationship is checking all the boxes, you’ll need to be:
- Highly professional in all your interactions.
- Trustworthy in that you do what you say you will do.
- Communicating courageously.
- Unified in all your decisions.
- Spending copious amounts of time together.
The good news is this: If you do these things, the science tells us that not only will you have a bulletproof relationship, but you’ll also have a relationship where you truly enjoy one another and all that each of you brings to the table.
Until next time: Dream bold dreams, deliver brilliantly, and unleash your burning desire to serve others.
