This is a really good article by Jeff Stratton. Its so important to keep in touch with your board and consistently build trust!
When a board member runs off the rails, it puts the executive director in a hard spot. That’s when you find out what type of board you really have. Here’s a story from a Nebraska administrator that illustrates my point:
“Some years ago, I had a board member suggest an idea that involved our organization’s volunteers gathering regularly for socializing. Everyone kind of agreed this would be good, but nothing formal developed. Then, six months later one of the volunteers who was at this meeting brought the idea back up again and said she would spearhead and organize the social get-togethers for volunteers. She was motivated and ran with it, including sending out invitations.
“When the board member who had originally mentioned the idea got wind of the invitations, she called me raging. There wasn’t even a discussion. It was pure venom and anger. I finally told her, ‘I know you are upset, but I can’t talk when you are like this. Is there some other time?’
“At that point she threatened me and told me I wouldn’t get away with stealing her idea. I told her at that point to call the board chair and went back to work.”
Later that afternoon, the exec met with her board chair and filled him in on the situation. He agreed the board member was angry that her idea had been “stolen.” He suggested a board hearing.
“I wasn’t thrilled about this, but I had a board member who was a retired superintendent and he was used to dealing with emotion and frustration in the board setting. He served as a good mentor for me.”
The ex-superintendent told the administrator three things that really helped her and can help any exec who faces the unfounded wrath of a raging bull board member:
1. Don’t accept any calls from her. Rely on your chair to run interference.
2. When a board member crosses over from the area of reason to hostility, forget about reason. You can’t reason with them.
3. Your board hired you and trusts you to do the job, so don’t make the mistake of letting this become a personal issue between you and the board member. Let the board manage it. The board chair was right in suggesting a board hearing.
For two weeks before the hearing, the board member worked her colleagues on the board telling them that the administrator had stolen her idea—an idea she had been working on all along and had plans for. Nobody knew anything about this, however, the executive director said.
At the hearing, the board sided 14-2 with the administrator. The raging board member resigned shortly after.
Lesson: If you are ever placed in a bad position by a hostile, unreasoning board member, trust your board. That’s why it’s important to stay in close personal contact with all board members, so that you know their dreams and hopes and circumstances. This builds trust.
