E.D. Notes for the Field: Navigating the Top Job

I found my calling when the board of a small, struggling nonprofit providing children’s mental health services in Oakland, California entrusted me, an untested twenty-something, as its next executive director. I brought to the task a lot of passion, boundless energy. . .and almost none of the tools I needed to succeed. Early on, I was fortunate to find terrific board mentors, a talented but change-resistant staff, and a supportive community of my fellow community mental health center executive directors. Our monthly lunches were a lifeline, a place to find advice and encouragement – and to build some lifelong friendships – while forming a powerful coalition to negotiate contracts with our shared public funder.

Sixteen years later, after growing our impact to serve more than five thousand children a year, I moved into consulting. In the past quarter century, I have had the privilege of working with hundreds of dedicated people leading everything from grassroots community groups to major funders to household name institutions. One benefit of being a consultant is seeing very different organizations in very different economic and social contexts struggle with very similar issues.

I decided to launch this blog to share what I’ve learned over a lifetime in the sector. If you are a nonprofit leader, this space is meant for you. Fair warning though: I have strong opinions and a definite viewpoint, so you probably won’t agree with everything I have to say, and that’s terrific! It’s also inevitable. If you’re a nonprofit leader, odds are you too have strong opinions. It sort of comes with the territory.

I invite you to comment on my posts and to bring your questions. They’re important because you are important. As a nonprofit leader, you not only shoulder a responsibility but are able to seize opportunities for greater impact. You play an indispensable role in the unending struggle to move our nation toward greater unity, equity, prosperity, sustainability, and personal autonomy. I look forward to continuing the journey with you.

Every Nonprofit Leader Faces the Same Three Challenges

Despite the great diversity of our sector, every ED must navigate these basic challenges:

1. It’s the Board

As a new ED, even before you were hired, your primary contact with the organization was likely with the board of directors. This makes sense since the board is, in very a real sense, the heart of the organization. The Corporations Code in many states does not even bother to mention staff because responsibility for the organization ultimately lies with the board. Successfully engaging the board in the right things (strategy, fundraising, external relations), while keeping them away from the wrong things (management), is a constant challenge.

Despite the board’s centrality to your hire, once you arrived on the job, you could be forgiven for asking – Where’d they go? Too many board members, left to their own devices, are content to read reports and, when convenient, attend monthly or quarterly board meetings. Many EDs are equally happy with this arrangement, preferring the freedom to operate with a distant board. This can seem a happy arrangement of mutual neglect – until it’s not. Most board members care deeply about the mission and most boards bring a wide variety of perspectives on the work that no ED could hope to match. And don’t forget (I bet you didn’t) that an engaged board can be a formidable force for fundraising. Also, worst case, when things go badly, a sleepy board can rise up seemingly from nowhere and become overly involved in daily operations or even decide it is time to change leaders.

So, here’s the bottom line: get close to your board and then stay there. I get it, you are pulled in a thousand directions. But take my advice, make building and maintaining a strong, supportive, diverse set of board voices your Job One. Future posts will address key challenges around board recruitment and board management.

2. It’s the Staff

As a nonprofit ED, you are likely to have anywhere from a handful to hundreds of people who report up to you. The most important thing to know about your role leading staff is this: they came to your organization because of a passion for making a difference. (Did you think they came for the money?). This drive for the mission makes nonprofit staff both the most highly motivated workforce imaginable and one with very high expectations of you.

Staff may have both reasonable and less reasonable expectations of their ED.

Among the reasonable expectations:

• You will respect each person as a human being, minimizing interpersonal hierarchy
• You will demonstrate transparency in decision making to the degree possible
• You will put the mission and the organization ahead of your personal needs and agenda
• You will support maximum feasible autonomy as staff carry out their work
• You will ensure financial predictability, so they don’t have to worry about their jobs

Some common but less reasonable expectations you may encounter:

• You will adopt a consensus driven decision-making structure
• You will demonstrate radical transparency, holding nothing confidential
• You will support staff’s desire for control of (or seats on) the board
• You will enable a staff veto over your executive team’s decisions
• You will accommodate different work styles and preferences even if they harm the work

Future posts will delve into many of these issues.

3. It’s the Money

It may seem obvious, but leaders who forget the old adage – “no money, no mission” – are probably the single biggest reason for nonprofit failure. Great, effective programs close because the funds they require are not available, staff leave because they can find better pay elsewhere while doing similarly meaningful work, and boards terminate EDs when the organization’s poor financial performance begins to consume their time and raise their anxiety.

Too often, EDs succumb to the Ostrich Strategy when financial management requires a clear view of the numbers, the trends in those numbers, and the tough decisions they may require: do you lay off 10% of staff to balance the budget or (like an ostrich) stick your head in the ground and continue operating in the red, hoping things will change, until a crisis is unavoidable? Of course, the best solutions to financial challenges usually involve increasing revenue. It is far better – and way less painful for all concerned – to increase fundraising, negotiate new contracts, or receive a windfall from Mackenzie Scott or a recently deceased donor, than to reduce expenses, and it is true that no one ever cut their way to prosperity. But the bottom line is the bottom line, and you ignore it at your peril.

Summing up

There you have it: the three challenges shared by every ED regardless of size, sector, or timeframe. If you can successfully navigate the board, the staff and the money, you will be well on your way. It’s not enough, but it is a necessary foundation for success. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or engage directly on LinkedIn.