CEO or Executive Director? Does it Matter?

You have a Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Yes, you really do. You may not want to admit it – too corporate! You may call the position something else, but the person is still your CEO...

You have a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Yes, you really do.

You may not want to admit it – too corporate!

You may call the position something else – commonly Executive Director, General Manager, Managing Director, Chief Librarian, Superintendent…

But the person is still your CEO.

Let’s face it. You are a governing board. You have one employee.

That would be your “chief” officer. Your “chief” “executive” “officer”.

Dare I say CEO?

Feel free to assign whatever title works best for your context, culture and sensibilities -- but you still have but one employee.

For simplicity sake, we’ll use CEO and Executive Director interchangeably here.

Why one employee?

You do not hire, supervise or evaluate other staff. That is the responsibility of your CEO. That person is accountable for organizational performance.

As soon as you start to direct management activities, that is to say, micro-manage, you are confusing who is responsible for what, and who is accountable. Focus on the ends, not the means. Focus on results.

If you are focusing on management, who is focusing on your unique governance responsibilities (planning, policy, governance issues, achieving sustainable resources, assessment/audit)?

In a perfect world (no such thing!), the Board outlines or approves “the what”. The CEO determines “the how” within available time and resources. The CEO’s answer to “how” is simply “yes,” it will be done.

This approach is based on an open, trusting, creative and constructive partnership with your CEO or Executive Director. How you develop that partnership will be very much dependent on the nature of the individuals involved (especially the Chair and the CEO), the history and traditions of the Board and organization, and your degree of confidence in your chief officer. If you have confidence, get out of the way. If you don’t have confidence, you have a different issue.

• What is your policy and plan for accountability, for evaluation, for succession?

• Are these written? Clear? Open? Transparent?

• Is there a strategic plan? Does the strategic plan inform a business plan and an annual work plan for the CEO? Does this drive your meeting agendas?

• Is your policy on the CEO’s evaluation known to all parties and followed?

You can’t have a great Board without a great CEO.

And you can’t have a great CEO without a great Board.

And what are your main “pain points” dealing with your chief officer? 

What advice would be most helpful to you? 

And we always assume that you are asking for a friend! 

Get in touch. We’ll address your questions and concerns in an upcoming post. 

Or comment and let’s discuss! 

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This Week’s Additional Resources

Included with your paid ($5!) subscription to Governance as Leadership:

• Responsibility Overview: Board/Executive Director and Employees.

  Role clarity is crucial to a high-performing not-for-profit organization.

  This chart is designed as a simplified reference tool to distinguish different levels of responsibility for board and executive director/employees in fourteen key functions of your organization.

  This is not a complete list of roles and responsibilities for board and salaried employees, but a reference for key areas where there is often role confusion. You can easily adapt this to your organization.

• The Ultimate Executive Director Job Description (Free Template)

  Let’s say you’re a board member for a nonprofit organization in need of a new Executive Director. You sit down, armed with coffee and determination, ready to craft the perfect executive director job description. Here is a one-of-a-kind executive director job description template, covering the five critical issues that plague job descriptions:

🔗Links to the above resources (for paid subscribers only):