The Nonprofit FAQ

Do boards ever fire executive directors? If so...how?
This discussion is adapted from "Action Handbook for Boards of
Directors", by
Jan Masaoka, and published by the National Minority AIDS Council and the
Support Center for Nonprofit Management, 1995.


Imagine this scenario:

You're on the board of an organization where some of the board
members--including yourself--are increasingly wondering whether your
executive director is really up to the job. The Program Director has
made some "off-the-record" comments about the executive director to some
of the board members. You feel like you need to do something--but you
don't want to get into a big battle. It would help if you understood
more about whether and how organizations ever fire their executive
directors.

Sometimes it is necessary for a board to fire the executive director,
and a board is to be commended for taking the responsibility of ensuring
that the organization has the right CEO. In rare occasions everyone on a
board agrees that the executive director should be fired, such as in
instances of embezzlement or unethical behavior. But more often, over
time board members increasingly get indications that the director is
either not doing the job or causing problems for the agency.

The prospect of open conflict with the executive director is so
dismaying that many board members who are dissatisfied with the
director's performance choose instead simply to resign when their terms
expire. Dissatisfaction with the executive director often appears first
as rumblings, such as a staff member complaining to a board member about
morale, or committee members confiding their concerns to one another.
Now that such rumblings have appeared, the board should hold an
executive session and establish an investigative committee to clarify
the content and extent of the dissatisfaction, and determine what
general approach is appropriate. If, for example, there are rumors of
sexual harassment, the committee (or a consultant) can interview staff
and volunteers and determine whether the rumors are frivolous or whether
they require a more formal investigation. Or, the committee may find
that the executive director simply doesn't understand the approach the
board wants to see taken. In such an instance the board may choose to
set up a series of meetings with the executive director to clarify
directions and improve communication.

If you find you have strong reservations about whether the executive
director's performance is satisfactory, the board should establish a
committee to work more closely with the directory in a supervisory
capacity. Beginning with letting the executive director know the extent
of dissatisfaction on the board, the committee can document the problems
and take steps to improve the director's performance.

If performance doesn't improve over time, and the director is fired by
the board, the ongoing documentation can help deter a lawsuit against
the agency by the former executive director. No level of documentation
can guarantee that a lawsuit won't be brought, but an agency holds a
stronger position in court and in the community if personnel policies
have been followed, if steps have been taken to improve performance, and
if those steps are documented as having failed.

If, after appropriate investigation and deliberation, a board feels that
the executive director should leave the organization, it may choose
first to have the board officers approach the director and suggest that
a resignation would be welcome. Many executive directors under pressure
prefer resignation to being fired, and some board members feel that a
resignation leaves the organization in a better light than termination
does.

Whichever is chosen, board action to terminate or to accept a
resignation should be put into the minutes. The board should document
whether there is any severance pay, any remaining tasks to be completed
by the departing executive director, and close any other financial
relationship. The board should develop a straightforward explanation for
the resignation which can be communicated to staff, volunteers, funders,
and others in the community.

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San
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On September 29, 1998, Deborah Smith Cohen (dscohen@ASAENET.ORG)
wrote to ARNOVA-L in response to a report of a rash of recent terminations
of CEOs of nonprofit organizations:


I like this book and article which addresses some of the relevant issues in
CEO firings:

Tecker, Glenn H.; Fidler, Marybeth. Successful
Association Leadership: Dimensions of 21st
Century Competency for the CEO. American Society of Association Executives
http://www.asaenet.org },
Washington, DC, 1993. [Product
No. 213552 $29.95 (M); $35.00 (NM)]

ABSTRACT: Glenn Tecker, one of the
authors of this book, is a frequent ASAE speaker
and writer, as well as an association management
consultant. The book's premise -- that
management communications and relationship
skills can make or break an executive's success
-- is substantiated by formal research on
association executives' management styles and "failure"
experiences. The book is based on
Tecker Consultants' study of executive
competencies, drawing on extensive confidential
interviews and the review of more than 600 case
studies to identify those competencies most
critical to the current and future success of
association executives.

The book also discusses recent studies
that suggest a perception that many association
executives spend far too much time attempting to
impress their members with improving products
and services. The book contains a dozen
"exhibits," or graphics, to illustrate the text.
Included with the book is a set of full-size
worksheets, entitled " Perceptual
Self-Assessment: Critical Competencies for
Association Executives." The sheets can be used
to measure competencies: interpersonal skills,
valuing and using technology, acquiring and
using information, understanding complex
relationships, and deployment of resources. The
self-assess also includes a "High-Level
Organizational Scan," or organizational
productivity model. All of these pages appear
in a smaller size in the book itself, in Section
III, Self-Appraisal Tools. (162 pp.)

Tecker, Glenn H.; Bower, Catherine Downes (CAE)
"Why Good Executives Get Fired, Association
Management
, December, 1992, pp. 32-40. American Society of
Association Executives { http://www.asaenet.org },
Washington, DC, 1992. [Product
No. 126203 $3.00 (M); $5.00 (NM)]

ABSTRACT: This article draws on the
authors' research for the ASAE Foundation on
reasons why chief executive officers (CEOs) fall
out of favor and are fired by their boards.
Their article begins by stating 'key principles'
underlying the dynamics at work when good
executives get fired and goes on to explore
three observable symptoms of trouble and four
causes of these symptoms. One of the principles
is that 'what is perceived to be, is.' The
three symptoms are a lack of consensus among
leadership about what constitutes success; a
situation in which certain internal and external
conditions promote dissatisfaction with
performance or dismissal; and lack of trust.
The authors' research also indicates that three
'contributing conditions' promote
dissatisfaction and dismissal, and that they are
common to associations that do not maintain
clear consensus on what constitutes success.
The article also discusses how to define success
and four key prevention strategies that good
executives can use. The article includes three
small sidebars. (7 pp.)


The Free Management Library provides additional information. See "Evaluating the Chief Executive" at http://www.mapnp.org/library/boards/boards.htm#anchor210999

See "Hiring / Transitioning to a New Executive" at
http://www.mapnp.org/library/boards/ed_xtion.htm

See "Firing Employees" at
http://www.mapnp.org/library/emp_perf/prf_issu/firing/firing.htm




Revised with new materials 10/10/98 -- PB; 8/11/99 -- CM