3 Tips for Managing “Up:” How to Get Your Board To Do What You Need Them To Do
Managing your board is one of the greatest challenges for every nonprofit leader. And talk about a pain point!
Lots of my nonprofit friends are wildly frustrated by their relationship with their board members: “Tell me what to do with my board,” a nonprofit colleague once desperately asked me.
That wonderful group of well-meaning volunteers who are in charge of your organization may be cohesive and high-performing — or they just might be dysfunctional and unorganized. (We’ve all been there.)
What is YOUR board like? Are they 100% supportive of you and your initiatives? Do they respect you and treat you professionally? Do they get along?
There actually ARE some organizational and process strategies you can employ to gently manage them and get what you need out of them.
I’m tackling this tough subject in my next webinar on October 26. I’ll have a world-class organizational development guru on line to take your questions and offer strategies for handling ineffective “group process” or unenlightened board members.
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Here are my own hard-earned strategies along with a couple of war stories:
Your greatest weapon to manage up.
Every smart executive director needs to have a couple of key influencer board members in their back pocket.
They are a couple of people who see eye to eye with you. They trust you and you trust them. These are board members who “get it.”
They should like and admire your leadership. And they have enough confidence in you to stand by your ideas and back you up.
Any director who does not have these board member allies is going to have a miserable experience. And I mean whether you are a CEO or a Development Directors alike. You need your insider supporters on the board.
How to make sure your ideas get a fair hearing from your board.
Count your votes. Line up your support privately and in person. Don’t leave important discussions to chance.
Never let an issue or subject that’s important to you come to the board for discussion without already having your supporters in line.
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Say you need something voted on and passed. Here’s a war story:
Once when I was board president, I had a terrific idea that I really liked and wanted to implement. (we were an all volunteer organization with no staff at the time.) I introduced the idea to the board at our regular board meeting. One member took issue with it and proceeded to turn everybody to her point of view.
Then we took a vote. Few supported me, and her side won. I was voted down. All my energy and enthusiasm went down the drain. I couldn’t believe it. How could MY board do this to me?
Lesson? Count your votes in advance. If there is something important to you that you really need to get passed by your board, make sure you line up your votes.
Personally visit or call the “key influencers” on your board and have a personal conversation with them about it. Persuade them privately. Secure their support. And secure their vote.
When your issue comes up for discussion, you’ll be able to relax. Your board will give you the support you so urgently need from them.
Moral of the story: Never leave an important discussion to chance.
How to rein in wild ideas from board members.
We all know the syndrome of “boards gone wild.” Check out my other blog post on the subject. : )
And we’ve all been there. Someone on the board pipes up with the strangest, weirdest, most outlandish idea that will never work. And somehow the board members rally around this idea as something that will ‘save’ them or whatever.
Then they are all off like a herd of wild horses, in a stampede, heading in the wrong direction.
And there sits the staff, with their mouths open, wondering what on earth has happened. AND they are wondering how to implement this.
Here’s what you do:
If your allies on the board are present when the stampede looks like its going to start, you can state your case about why you don’t think this is a great strategy. Your board member allies should be able to catch on quickly, especially if you cut them a sharp glance. (Hopefully they are aware enough to read body language.)
If they are daydreaming or distracted, and you can’t get their attention, then do what it takes to get their attention: go to the bathroom or go get refreshments – move around the room to catch their eye.
Above all, don’t sit there passively and let it happen to you. Do anything you have to do to stop those wild horses from stampeding.
Gail, thanks for these hilarious and all too true observations! We must help our board members learn how to help us better. I’m sending your tips to our executive director today.
It’s comforting to know we all share similar challenges…”its not just me”. Thanks for the pep talk.
Board allies are imperative and should be easy to cultivate. (A good ED rarely eats lunch alone.) We try to put a board member between us and problem every chance we get. Most people appreciate being asked for advice. Its a “win-win”. Not only will you have a more engaged board member but hopefully you will have one less problem to solve!
Another method I’ve learned to gain the support and respect of board members is to take one or two of them with me to seminars or workshops – even if it’s a topic with which I’m already familiar. As they learn along with me, their understanding of my job increases, and they get the chance to hear from “outsiders” that the challenges we face and the strategies we implement are on par with everyone else (and in some lucky instances, we’re ahead of the curve). We’re all guilty of taking those who are closest to us for granted, and this is one way that a board member can be reminded of the importance of your expertise to the organization.
I agree with Susie – I too wondered if it was “just me.” :) Thanks, Gail, for an all-to-real look into board dynamics. I hope that those suffering from the same challenges you just mentioned will take advantage of your webinar!
Love the wild horses metaphor, too true! I’ve spent some time trying to understand the group think dynamic and I find it to be fascinating in the nonprofit world. Thanks for the article, I will certainly recommend it.
I’m forwarding this to my Executive Director. For our agency, it is a constant struggle to get our board moving. Thanks for the great tips.
It’s not just good management, but good politics. Many EDs may not like to think of it that way, but “lining up your votes” is an essential, as is not surprising your board by bringing up your great idea at the board meeting, without running it past at least key members first. Nobody likes to be blind-sided, and no matter how great your idea is, a board that feels disrespected and out-of-the-loop is not going to support either the idea, or you.
We definitely have to keep a sense of humor with volunteers. It is so much better to rally around an idea that is proposed that reflects the direction we want to go, than to have to squash enthusiasm for one gone amuck! Where is my board vote when I need him/her?
Judy and Ken you are exactly correct! Your response made me chuckle. I think that old sense of humor will save us on most occasions!
Great post Gail. It’s truly about communication isn’t it?
Gail I like your ideas on board managing. What was missing for me was creating the space for growth . There is a fine line between gentle managing and micro managing.
I would like to believe in my board to bring in fresh ideas and other perspectives that I may not have thought of.
Just had a Board president explaining to me why they nixed the Executive Director’s request… it was all about feeling blindsided.
Another thing I’d suggest to Executive Directors… don’t bring problems to the board, bring well-thought out solutions.
I like the ideas herein for the most part but quibble with one of your introductory questions. You never need a Board where all the Board members “get along.” A certain amount of tension and creative differences actually strengthen a Board. Too often members can get myopic in their vision and end up blindsided. Having a couple of devil’s advocates on the Board helps ensure that you look at decision from all angles and actually consider the pitfalls before you make a leap.
This should be required reading for all Executive Directors. I’ll definitely recommend it!
Hi Harry – you are exactly correct! Creative tension IS essential on the board. But there’s a difference between outright unpleasantness and creative tension. The best boards can argue and challenge each other and still eat pizza together afterward. The worst boards disintegrate into a morass of bad energy and arguments. I’m all for creative tension that has trust underlying it. Thanks!
Thanks Gail. I was with an ED recently who used the term “delegating up” to describe what not to do with a Board. Love that distinction between leading a board and allowing them to get bogged down in the details of the organization.
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The best managed non-profit organization where I served on the board made detailed extensive use of Roberts Rules of Order. The President was skilled in handling the meetings. The proper application of the rules kept the board from going bananas. The use of the proper motions can delay the runaway train that suddenly appears. The strident overbearing person can be brought under control by the Chair. The Chair and the ED should be on the same page in advance. The advice about separate meetings with key people can be important but at the same time it has to be clear that ultimately the entire board must decide. You do not want people to think that things are all lined up in advance so it does not make any difference about the discussions at the board. Too often the Board meetings go bad because the Chair does not know how to handle a meeting. Emphasize the Rules of Order and apply them properly. Train the Board members in this regard so they know what to expect.