Our friend, Robert Stevenson, graciously gave us permission to rerun this article he wrote. We thank him.
Over the years of my consulting with Christian, not for profit boards, I have noticed the roles board members play are often confusing and can lead to unintentional conflicts within the board and between the board and the organizations leadership.
Dr. Robert Andringa, former President of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and nationally known board consultant, created a simple model to help boards to manage the different roles they play.
Role number one is use of the “governance hat.” This is the only hat that carries legal authority to govern the organization. It is only worn in a “properly called meeting with a quorum of the board present.” Decisions are made as a group and this hat is never worn working alone. The CEO/Executive Director is accountable only to decisions made by the full board as a group.
The second role board members play is with the “volunteer hat.” This hat carries no legal authority. The volunteer hat goes on when the member leaves a board or committee meeting. It is worn when advising the CEO, when fundraising, when doing actual volunteering and /or when helping staff often under the supervision of the CEO.
The third hat is the “implementor hat.” This hat carries very limited authority but is seldom worn in most boards because staff usually are responsible to implement board policies. This hat can be worn when the board or CEO gives a board member a specific and limited task to accomplish. The hat is defined and is removed when the action or task is complete.
These simple “rules of the road” can clarify and define the responsibilities of board members and keep the board from getting too tangled up in management of the organization. Boards of Directors are essential to good not-for-profit organization success and disciplined boards led by an effective chair of the board can play their best roles.
One more comment on board chairs could be helpful. The board chair is really the “manager” of the board. The chair is not the manager of the organization. Lines of authority and accountability get complex and dysfunctional when a board chair acts like the CEO of the organization. The board and chair have only one direct report – the CEO/Executive Director. Keeping the board out of operations is important and can be a trap that boards fall into which leads to unnecessary conflict, confusion and ineffectiveness.
Keep the board roles and lines of responsibility and authority clear and success and clarity will follow.