Leadership Teams

The Right Positions in the Right Configurations
The Executive Committee
No matter how small or involved the Board of Directors as a whole is, it is always still prudent to have a formally recognized Executive Committee. Even when boards meet as often as monthly, matters develop that require more immediate, authoritative attention. Moreover, if a board is large or meets infrequently, then it behooves an Executive Committee to plan and prepare for the full board’s meetings so that those meetings are as productive as possible. These situations point to the basic purpose of an Executive Committee – to guide the larger body and to act on its behalf as necessary.

If the board consists of twelve or fewer members, then an Executive Committee composed of the officers is sufficient. However, if a board of whatever size does most of its substantive work through committees, then it becomes advisable also to include the chairs of standing committees among the Executive Committee’s membership.

Senior Staff
The size of the senior management group will depend, obviously, upon the size of the staff over all. Nevertheless, it is critically important that all of the essential functions of the NPO be represented: program, development, administration, and organizational design, i.e. planning and assessment. The aim is to have at the table all the voices which can speak to all aspects of the organization’s day-to-day operations as well as long-term strategy.

I have heard it argued that the work of chief administrative and development and program officers is so discreet that there is no benefit their meeting as a group. As a group, that may be true in some instances. However, every NPO will be more effective if its senior staff operates not only as a group but also as a team. Bringing the leaders of the different functions together is not only for the purpose of coordinating tasks among several individual contributors (the development director coordinating a fundraising campaign with the finance director, for example). Optimally, there is a synergy that develops among these functional leaders out of which they generate insights and strategies that go well beyond individual contributions.

Connecting the Two
The organization performance best when board and staff leaders are all working together. Therefore it is essential that board committees include senior staff members and that all the senior staff attend full board meetings. Except for the odd special agenda item, it is never wise for the Executive Director (or equivalent) to be the only individual on the staff to interact substantively with the board. Such isolation undermines transparency and preempts cooperation (just for starters!).

Beyond the Framework: The Right People
Leading a NPO effectively depends in part upon having the top positions come together with regularity in certain combinations. To state the obvious, it is also a question of having the right people. (Still, countless nonprofits have hobbled along with the wrong people in leadership roles because they don’t know how to “fire” a board member or expect more of a staff member.) Here are five qualities that I believe are essential in every member of every leadership team:
1. Leadership Ability and Desire: …If the Board Vice Chair really does not want to become the Chair, find someone else!
2. Agreement with Mission & Vision: Sharing these basic understandings of the purpose and direction of the organization is essential. Otherwise, people are working at cross-purposes.
3. Knowledge of What Is Happening: Beyond expertise about his or her particular function, it is well for every leader to possess a sound, broad knowledge of the workings of the whole organization. This is the well from which the synergy mentioned earlier can bubble up.
4. Presentation Ability: Every leader represents the organization even if he or she never leads a public meeting or signs a general letter. The leader interacts with other staff, volunteers, donors, vendors, etc. and therefore must adept at representing the organization with confidence.
5. Devotion to Learning: Organizations grow and mature as their leaders do. Organizations which are successful in meeting challenges and seizing opportunities are those which are led by people with a passion for growing themselves.

A Final Word…
Every organization has a number of people in important leadership persons. But whether they have the right people in the right positions with the right qualities is a far larger question. What does your leadership team look like … and is it sufficient to the challenges ahead?