Archives 2019

Board/Executive Director Tensions

This article was originally published on July 27, 2015, and has been updated.

In any traditional workplace, some level of conflict or tension is bound to arise at some point. Often, this workplace conflict occurs between the board of directors and the executive director.

It should be no surprise that when power is shared there is tension – and the board of directors’ oversight role brings a level of tension to the board/executive director relationship because of the fundamental sharing of power at its core.

There are no firm guidelines about where board oversight leaves off, and executive management begins. And in this grey area, struggles for power and authority naturally emerge.

But I would say that 99 times out of 100 the workplace conflict that arises between the board of director and the executive director boils down to a simple question:

Who is ultimately in charge here?

The power struggle and conflict between the board of directors and the executive director is a representation of this question being answered, as one body may ultimately prevail in the decision making process.

This process doesn’t have to be as difficult as it may have been in the past. There are plenty of tools for handling the conflict between the board and the executive director to maintain or establish a peaceful and productive workplace.

To help begin the process of resolving workplace tension, these are some of the questions whose answers will bring some clarity to the situation.

What does it look and sound like when these natural tensions become unhealthy?

1. When workplace tension becomes unhealthy, the members of the board might start saying to themselves:

• The executive director gets so defensive when I ask her for something.
• The executive director won’t let us exercise proper fiscal oversight.
• The first I heard about our funding cuts was in the newspaper.
• The executive director doesn’t recognize my authority.
• I’m not sure the executive director is right for the job, but I don’t want to say anything that would offend him.

The Executive Director’s Perspective

2. Or, the Executive Director starts saying to themselves:

• The board is questioning everything I do.
• I can’t even order stationery without the board wanting to get involved.
• I don’t want the board breathing down my neck when things are so tough right now.
• The board chair doesn’t recognize my authority.
• The board doesn’t trust me.

Why is There Tension in the First Place?

I wrote about much of this in the first two posts of this series: What Matters Most! 2 things you can do to stop sucking the life out of your Board of Directors and four things you can do not to be bored by your board experience!

But to summarize, that tension is caused by:

1. Lack of information or clarity about roles and tasks.
2. Change
   • Board and executive director roles shift.
   • The needs of the organization have changed and/or are unclear.
3. Board practices do not support their oversight work.
   • Board members lack focus.
   • There are no appropriate mechanisms for evaluating the executive director.
   • There is not a way to effectively communicate priorities and decisions from the board to the executive director.
4. Incompatible assumptions and styles.
   • Some executive directors do not want to be held accountable by the board.
   • Board members behave in ways that make collaboration difficult.
   • Personalities clash.

Roles In Moving Forward When Managing Board/Executive Director Conflicts

As always, how you proceed will depend on the true cause of the tension(s).

What follows are some alternatives based on those causes:

1. Are you the board chair?

• If you are part of the conflict with the executive director, assign another board member to take the lead on the situation and be willing to follow his/ her leadership.
• If you think that the conflict is rooted in a poor understanding by board members of their role(s), propose a board self-assessment process.
• If you think that the conflict is due to personalities, meet individually with the people involved to mirror your observations, and help to broker a relationship between the executive director and the board member(s) involved.
• Get more information about executive director evaluation from outside sources, and propose a process back to the executive director and the board.
• Initiate a strategic planning process to clarify where the organization is headed and what kind of leadership is needed to move it there.
• Get help from a knowledgeable nonprofit professional or board member of another organization that has gone through something similar.

2. Are you on the executive or personnel committee?

• Talk to the board chair and work with him or her to develop a solution.
• Report your observations in executive session and work with other committee members to plan a way of addressing the issue.
• Get help from a knowledgeable nonprofit professional or board member of another organization that has gone through something similar.
• Get more information about executive director evaluation and propose a process back to the executive director and the board.

3. Are you a board member?

• Talk to the board chair and work with him or her to develop a solution.
• If you are not part of the conflict, talk to the executive director to see how s/he is experiencing the situation and develop a game plan for addressing what is going on.
• Name what you are seeing at a board meeting to get people to acknowledge the tensions and start to find a way to work on them.
• Get help from a knowledgeable nonprofit professional or board member of another organization that has gone through something similar.

4. Are you the executive director?

• Talk to the board chair, particularly if s/he is not involved in the conflict, and ask him or her to speak with the board member(s) involved.
• Give the board chair and other board leaders information about board roles, board self-evaluation, the difference between management and governance, conflict resolution and other materials that might help diffuse the tension.
• Be sure to acknowledge positive board member activities and contributions publicly. Sometimes all people want is to be stroked a little.
• Talk to a peer to see how they have handled a similar situation.
• Talk to the board members involved from an objective, task-oriented perspective rather than a personalized, confrontational perspective, to see if a workable solution can be reached between you.
• Make sure that you are giving people what they legitimately need to fulfill their governance responsibilities, including financial information, program performance information, and policies for internal controls and personnel.

How Outside Expertise Can Help

Here are some ways that consultants or other outsiders (including funders) can help to resolve a conflict situation. These outside professionals can:

1. Assess the situation and have frank conversations with those involved in the role they have played in creating the conflict, and the role they must play in resolving the conflict.
2. Coach the parties involved to help them develop a new perspective about (and more effective response to) the situation.
3. Act as neutral mediators who work with the parties involved to sort through the issues until the real cause of the tension is identified, and to then help those involved come up with a plan to address those issues.
4. Offer alternatives for addressing the issues and help people get past their “either-or” thinking.
5. Defuse some of the tension by letting people vent and give their concerns a full airing.
6. Change the nature of the conversation from accusations into productive questions about the needs of the organization.
7. Facilitate meetings of the people involved to help them come to agreements.
8. Educate the board about appropriate governance roles.
9. Educate the executive director about how to work with the board.

What About the Cost?

Getting professional help to work through conflict usually takes money.

Although organizations are often reluctant to let their funders know that there are internal problems, many groups find that a long-term funder is willing to help a grantee secure the expertise they need to work through the situation. Funders feel that they have made an investment in the success of the organization and will sometimes step up in a crisis.

In fact, sometimes it is the funders themselves who call on the board and executive director to address underlying issues that they see as a threat to the future stability of the organization.

Putting it All Together

Now that we know some of the potential causes of workplace conflict between the board and the executive of the board, we can begin to address the tension. By asking specific questions to narrow in on the root of the tension, a path to resolution can be paved which will lead to a healthier and more productive work environment.

Just because every organization uses these management practices, does not make them effective:

• To achieve management excellence, you need to avoid faulty management practices
• Managing individual behavior is the answer but it requires an understanding of the basic behavior-based principles that drive good performance

Here are 13 of the most commonly used and misguided management practices and what to do instead.

#1 Employee Of the Month:

What’s wrong?

A program meant to motivate all employees to deliver superior performance can only have one monthly winner. The others are left with performances that go unrecognized — violating every known principle of effective positive reinforcement.

What to do instead!

Understand what you want to achieve as a result of this kind of program, and then establish an initiative based on criteria that recognizes all employees who deliver outstanding performance.

#2 Stretch goals

What’s wrong?

It is proven that people fail to reach stretch goals 90% of the time. The primary reason: stretch goals are typically set too high.

What to do instead!

Set many, mini-goals. To get the kind of improvement an organization needs, in both people and production, managers need to ensure that positive reinforcement is delivered for the many small achievements along the way to reaching the larger, desired goal.

#3 Performance appraisals

What’s wrong?

Any system that doesn’t recognize performance as it’s happening misses the opportunity to get the most and best from employees.

What to do instead!

Set up an environment in which each employee knows how well he or she has done at the end of every working day. Evaluate each performer against what he or she is expected to do, not in relation to others.

#4 Ranking

What’s wrong?

Your competition is outside your organization, not inside. Publicly displaying how employees rank based on objective measures breeds unhealthy competition and inhibits sharing and teamwork.

What to do instead!

Evaluate individuals and units in terms of what they need to accomplish, rather than comparing their performance to others’. When the conditions are right, people will not only achieve at high rates but also assist others in doing the same.

#5 “you did a good job, but…”

What’s wrong?

It has become commonplace to provide positive and constructive feedback. While it seems efficient to do both at once, the positive statement rarely has the intended effect and employees end up focusing only on the negative.

What to do instead!

Be clear to separate the good and the bad. Give the good first, and at a later time deliver the corrective feedback. That way the good will be valued, and the employee will be more responsive to the corrective feedback.

#6 the sandwich

What goes wrong?

The sandwich practice is a cousin of the “you did a good job, but…” And creates a “waiting for the other shoe to drop” environment where attempts at social reinforcement are received with suspicion.

What to do instead!

Be direct. If behavior needs correcting, pinpoint the behavior to be stopped: tell the person the consequences of continuing the Undesirable behavior. Then discuss the behavior you want to see in its place and positively reinforce all instances of the new behavior.

#7 overvaluing smart, talented people

What’s wrong!

Smart, talented people are not in short supply. Thinking that some employees are smarter than others is harmful to all.

What to do instead!

Most of what we call talent is nothing more than unrecognized practice. Given the right environment, most people can become “smart and talented.” Create a culture where managers are rewarded for the number of “smart, talented people” they produce — not hire.

 #8 promoting people no one likes

What’s wrong?

There is a perception in leadership that managers who are well- liked are not effective at producing results. There is a correlation between ineffective managers and other operational costs: high turnover, grievances, absenteeism, training, and recruitment.

What to do instead!

Look for managers and leaders who get results the right way: those who understand behavior from a scientific perspective and can design systems, policies, and procedures that bring out the best in people every day. These folks are always well-liked.

#9 all forms of reorganizing

What’s wrong?

Financial considerations almost always trump human ones in any form of reorganization. None will be successful without the energetic, enthusiastic behavior of all employees. Yet plans for creating such behavior are usually a mere afterthought.

What to do instead!

Make decisions quickly. Incorporate the best practices of both organizations into the work of the new organization. Integrate policies, management practices, and mangers. Make sure that all managers know how to build positive reinforcement into all of the work of the new organization on the first day so that employees will see that it is and can trust that all will be okay.

I often use the phrase “poor leadership costs a lot of money and is a terrible waste of human potential.”

I was recently asked by one of my clients to prove it.

So, I put together some statistics on the cost of bad leadership and the upside of excellent leadership.

My Client needed this information so that he could help support making the investment in hiring me to do a leadership training workshop for his organization.

Most people understand that subpar leaders/managers have a negative impact on the organization. However, when you look at how big the cost of poor leadership really is, then you begin to re-examine the importance of leadership development within the company.

In order to review the high cost of poor leadership, I am sharing the information I sent to my client:

Poor leadership practices cost companies millions of dollars each year by negatively impacting employee retention, customer satisfaction, and overall employee productivity.

 Evidence of the High Cost of Poor Leadership

 According to research from the Blanchard Company:

• Less-than-optimal leadership practices cost the typical organization an amount equal to as much as 7% of their total annual sales.
• At least 9% and possibly as much as 32% of an organization’s staff turnover can be avoided through better leadership skills.
• Better leadership can generate a 3-4% improvement in customer satisfaction scores and a corresponding 1.5% increase in revenue growth.

• Most organizations are operating with a 5-10% productivity drag that better leadership practices could eliminate.

According to Gallup:

• It’s a sad truth about the workplace: just 30% of employees are actively committed to doing a good job.
• Gallup’s 2013 State of the American Workplace report indicates that 50% of employees merely put their time in, while the remaining 20% act out their discontent in counterproductive ways, negatively influencing their coworkers, missing days on the job, and driving customers away through poor service.
• Gallup estimates that the 20% group alone costs the U.S. economy around half a trillion dollars each year.
• The single greatest cause for employee disengagement? Poor leadership.

According to Harvard:

• Quite simply, the better the leader, the more engaged the staff. Take the results from a recent study on the effectiveness of 2,865 leaders in a large financial services company.

There was a straight-line correlation here between levels of employee engagement and our measure of the overall effectiveness of their supervisors.

The best leaders (those in the 90^th percentile) were supervising the happiest, most engaged, and most committed employees — those happier than more than 92% of their colleagues.

Get your free E-Book to learn more and get tips on fixing this drag on your bottom line.  

Arthur Brooks is one of my favourite thinkers and writers.

Though we have never met, I would love the opportunity to sit, enjoy a meal and a fine scotch with him, just for the sheer joy of the conversation. 

Brooks believes that America is being torn apart, but the problem isn’t one of incivility, intolerance, or even anger.

He says the problem is contempt.

Defines as the conviction that those who disagree with us are not just wrong, but worthless.

Arthur Brooks explains why contempt is so destructive and offers three rules to follow to overcome contempt with warm-heartedness in our own lives.

Read about being kind as a boss

He offers practical suggestions for how to fight back against the culture of contempt.

Here are three to get you started:

1. Practice the 5 to 1 rule. Offer five positive and encouraging comments for every one criticism, especially on social media. You’ll be amazed at how changing this one aspect of your interactions with others improves public discourse.

2. Stand up for people who aren’t in the room. It’s easier than ever to bash the people who disagree with us, but it only foments contempt. If your friends who agree with you start mocking people who disagree with you, don’t be a jerk, but stand up for those not represented.

3. Ask yourself who in your life you’ve treated with contempt, and make amends. Contempt creates a vicious cycle, but by acknowledging how you have hurt others with mockery or dismissiveness, you’ll be able to repair relationships.

Brook’s details all of this and more in a short, animated video about why contempt is so destructive and what we can do to fight back against it today. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/8dv1ORTvm8w

What about you?

Where can you demonstrate warm-heartedness in our own life?

While teaching leadership at Mount Royal University, my class had a great discussion about Servant Leadership and discipline.

Read about the myths of servant leadership

We explored one student’s situation: She has an employee who was good at her job but had a toxic and nasty attitude towards her employer, her co-workers and her work.

Sometimes, angry and negative people appear to do a good job, always at work, always on time. They are careful not to be too critical when supervisors or managers are around but are quick to spread rumours and try to supersede management at their discretion.

As we talked, I suggested that the employee was good at her tasks; but terrible at her job.

Leaders who struggle with effectiveness misconstrue servant leadership as never having to enforce a standard or discipline an employee. 

Servant Leaders maintain standards and team norms to maintain high employee engagement and, in turn, does not allow mediocrity. 

By allowing this miserable person to carry on without consequences creates mediocracy throughout your team.

Can You Fire a Poisonous Employee? 

The short answer is yes.

But this is a time to get help.

You needed to get your boss and HR team involved. There are legal, labour-relations and possible human rights risks to the whole organization by mishandling firing someone. So be careful.

More importantly, the ‘problem’ employee needs to be treated fairly and with respect.

There is a possibility they have never been called out on their behaviour. Maybe, just maybe, with the right coaching, mentoring and good performance management you can help turn this person around.

To be honest, the odds of rescuing the employee are poor, but they may deserve the opportunity to improve their performance.

Step One: What to Say When Sitting Down for a First Meeting

While you may have counselled the employee in passing (“Hey, I noticed you were very negative at that meeting”), this is the time for pointed and directed information.

It is possible that they don’t realize just how negatively they are coming across to co-workers, so ask questions and find out what they are thinking.

Some approaches work better than others, but using the model of Facts, Feelings and Future is useful when having awkward conversations.

Read about the 4 F’s

Try this script:

“I’ve noticed you are unhappy and speak quite negatively about your job and the other people who work here. For instance, I’ve noticed that while you’re always polite face to face, you’ll say negative things behind people’s backs.”

 “Part of your job is building good relationships with co-workers, and your behaviour undermines this. What can I do to help you in this area?

The question at the end will allow your employee to speak up and share their grievances, which, most likely they will have. Here’s the thing: Be compassionate.

 But at the end of all the sympathy and compassionate communication, you need to come to this: “Regardless, the behaviour is inappropriate in this office. We value your work, and we don’t want to lose you, but if you cannot pull this together, we will terminate your employment.”

Document the time, date, and content of the discussion. At this stage, you can present them with an official performance improvement plan document that details what is expected.

Step Two: Implement a Performance Management Plan with the Employee

You want to implement a Performance Management Plan that stresses progressive discipline.

Read about performance agreements and charters

This is where you follow a series of steps, with the idea that if the employee either improves or is terminated.

Step Three: Follow up

You should never expect instant perfection from an employee in the performance improvement process. After all, it takes an effort to change, and it took a long time to get here.

This is precisely the time when you must become a micro-manager. If you notice poor behaviour, correct it at the moment.

Read why micromanagement is a good thing

Regardless schedule a formal meeting every two-weeks during the performance management plan, if they are making significant progress, congratulate them. If they are not making progress, this is where the “progressive” part of progressive discipline kicks in.

Present them with a written warning. This should include details of the problems they need to resolve as well as the information that if their behaviour does not improve, your organization will suspend them and then terminate their employment.

Explain that this warning is being placed in their employee file. Ask them to sign to indicate that they have received this warning. They may object, saying that they disagree with what is written. You can explain that their signature doesn’t mean agreement, but rather that they received it.

Step Three: Termination

If the behaviour does not improve, it’s time to let your negative employee go.

You might be tempted to keep them on, understand that if you do not act, you will have no power over this employee ever again. They will know that they can do whatever they want to, and you won’t do much.

You may also have to provide some amount of severance – Get legal or HR advice. It is galling to pay a  problem employee on their way out the door. But remember the organization failed the person by misfiring or not managing them properly, and a small severance may show good-faith if the employee decides to take legal action.

Final Thoughts

If you say, “But I can’t afford to lose them,” think again.

Negative employees who gossip are damaging to your whole department. Your other employees are more likely to quit and are not as engaged as they would be if they were in a functional department.

The Servant Leader owes it to all employees to take care of this poisonous employee, which means firing them if they either refuse to or are unable or unwiling to change.