Leading Together: NHLA Executive Director and former Board Chair reflect
Sarah Mattson Dustin, Executive Director, New Hampshire Legal Assistance and George Dana Bisbee, Board Chair, New Hampshire Legal Assistance
NHLA Executive Director Sarah Mattson Dustin and former Board Chair Dana Bisbee of Hampton were asked to submit an article to the national journal of non-profit legal aid programs, Management Information Exchange. Their thoughts on the relationship between staff and board leadership are below.
Why It Matters
We have worked together as an executive director-board chair team since 2018 when Sarah began as the executive director at New Hampshire Legal Assistance (NHLA). We have seen each other through Sarah’s onboarding as a new executive director, a statewide reconfiguration of New Hampshire’s legal aid programs, COVID, and strategic planning. As we come up on the five-year mark of our work together, and as Dana prepares to term off the board this summer, we are happy to share these reflections on how executive directors and board chairs can work together effectively. This is both a report on what has worked well for us and a series of aspirations we have formulated as we assess our partnership during the last several years. We also pose questions for executive directors and board chairs to consider together.
The executive director and the board chair are responsible for leading two crucial teams, with the board chair leading the board and the executive director leading the organization’s staff members. The board chair and the executive director make up one of the most important partnerships within the organization. In many ways, their relationship sets the tone for the entire ecosystem of relationships within the organization. The health of the executive director-board chair relationship should be a priority for both partners, and it should model the organization’s values. At its best, the executive director-board chair team can not only accomplish the day-to-day management that the organization needs, but also provide visionary leadership that can keep the organization moving forward and focused on its mission.
Understanding One Another’s Roles
The executive director and the board chair should fully respect each other’s role and maintain an open dialogue about which decisions and tasks are more appropriately the board’s responsibility and which are management’s. This is a delicate balance, and the delineation will necessarily depend somewhat on the organization’s size, structure, and maturity. It shouldn’t be the case that the board chair and executive director have entirely separate spheres of influence. The executive director typically provides extensive support to the board, and board members routinely advise executive directors on matters that are ultimately within the executive director’s discretion. Attentiveness to questions about who does what, and who decides what, is essential.
The board chair should ensure that the board is discharging its key responsibilities, including the following:
Providing high-level strategic direction, both via strategic planning and on an ongoing basis;
Monitoring compliance with legal obligations;
Hiring, supervising, and evaluating the executive director;
Ensuring the fiscal health of the organization, including:
Setting the budget;
Reviewing regularly actual revenue and expenses and overall financial health;
Establishing fundraising goals and supporting fundraising efforts; and
Governing itself through recruitment and election of new, diverse members and officers, and through ongoing self-assessment of board engagement and performance.
The executive director is responsible for the management of the organization, such as:
Implementing the organization’s strategic plan;
Hiring, supervising, and evaluating personnel;
Day-to-day operational and financial decision making; and
Supporting the board.
Ideally, the board chair and the executive director will not only respect one another’s authority, but also cultivate understanding of and respect for the different roles of the board and the staff throughout the organization. It is entirely appropriate for the board chair to course-correct board-level conversations when they stray into discussion of topics that are squarely within the executive director’s purview. Similarly, the executive director should lead the staff toward a culture of respect for the board’s essential role and appreciation for members’ contributions.
Board chairs should routinely inquire of fellow board members and the executive director about what is and is not working in terms of the relationship between the board and the executive director. This may provide newer executive directors with reassurance around the extent (and limits) of their authority. Also, seasoned executive directors may receive excessive deference from the board leadership, which can lead to board members feeling uncomfortable asking questions or sharing different perspectives. Remaining diligent in assessing the proper board-executive director relationship will build the board’s muscle memory for open, candid conversations that the organization can rely on when difficult issues arise.
There is no clear line defining the respective roles of the board and the executive director in many instances, often relating to the most difficult challenges facing the organization. Consider the following: Who decides when it is necessary to begin cost-reduction measures when revenue projections are not achieved?
What input and decision-making is appropriate for the board on the decision of initiating a large, controversial lawsuit? What role is appropriate for the board in questioning and influencing decisions of the organization in its legislative advocacy? While the line may be blurry, what is clear is the need for the executive director and board chair to communicate continually and foster mutual respect.
Trust and Communication
The board chair and the executive director must have mutual trust. Of course, they need to trust one another in the everyday sense — they need to know that confidences will be kept, that promised work will materialize, and so forth. Board chairs and executive directors also need to trust in their shared commitment to putting the organization’s mission at the heart of their leadership. There are many ways to build this mutual trust.
Board chairs should work toward a deep understanding of how the organization operates. Visiting offices and observing staff members in action (for example, at a courthouse-based clinic) can be an eye opening window into the day-to-day operations of a legal aid program. Executive directors should trust that they can invite the board chair into the day-to-day operations without needing to worry that, inevitably, the day-to-day operations are “real life” and will not be perfectly packaged. Executive directors certainly have some gatekeeping responsibilities — the board chair shouldn’t be going around the executive director to schedule a meet-and-greet with other staff members, for example. But executive directors should avoid controlling too rigidly what information and experiences flow to the board. They should trust that the board chairs take on their roles because they truly care about the organization’s mission and are motivated to help the organization succeed.
As in any relationship, the importance of good communication is hard to overstate. Regular check-in meetings between the executive director and the board chair can be an efficient way of facilitating communication. We use such meetings for sharing information, problem-solving, and collaborating on board-related work (such as drafting agendas for upcoming meetings or reviewing progress on follow-up tasks from past meetings). We have an informal agenda and make sure to leave time for friendly personal conversation and spontaneous thinking too.
Even with a perfectly-tuned schedule of check-in meetings, there is one guarantee: Stuff will come up. Do respect one another’s preferred methods of communication and working hours — but be honest with yourselves that there will be times when you need to communicate on an emergency basis. These are the moments when all the work you have done together to delineate your roles, build trust, and communicate openly will pay off! Sarah wants you to know that, in her time as a legal aid executive director, no single thing has given her more comfort than knowing that she can get Dana on the phone in a hurry. For his part, Dana adds that Sarah’s practice of identifying difficult issues early on, her candor is discussing them, and the resulting trust are hallmarks of their successful collaboration. Stuff will come up — and you will be able to handle it together.
It is also wise to make sure that your board chair has a back-up — for example a vice-chair — who stays sufficiently involved so that the board chair can do reasonable things like work and go on vacation! We have always included the vice-chair in our check-in meetings, to great success. It is also helpful for other senior staff members to engage with the board routinely, so that they are prepared to fill in for the executive director in an emergency. The executive director-board chair relationship is a crucial one, but it definitely shouldn’t be the only connective tissue binding the board and the staff.
Engaging the Board
Any legal aid organization board is only as strong and effective as the level of engagement of board members. The job of the executive director is made much easier, and the positive impact of the organization’s board is much greater, when board members are actively and productively engaged in supporting the work of the board and the organization. We have found that, not surprisingly, this begins with recruiting the right persons for board membership. Still, the executive director and the board chair, especially acting together, can enhance the level of participation and support from board members. As we note above in relation to the board chair position, it is important to encourage all board members to find ways to learn more about the organization and how it operates. In the best of worlds, this will also help board members find the right opportunities for greater and more rewarding engagement in the organization’s work.
You can also build board learning into the board’s meeting schedule. We have prioritized having staff presentations at nearly all board meetings. These are great learning opportunities for the board chair and other board members. They are also a good chance for the board to meet and build relationships with staff other than the executive director. It is meaningful to staff members when the board demonstrates its interest in their work and congratulates and thanks them on a job well done.
We also tend to err in favor of providing more, rather than less, information to board members in between formal board and committee meetings. The executive director needs to be sensitive to overdoing board communications in deference to the members’ limited time availability for board work. The board chair can help find the right balance in this by fully supporting and encouraging regular updates from the executive director on the work and the successes of the organization, as well as on board matters. The board chair should also regularly communicate to the full board.
Not Just Supervision — Support!
The executive director position can be a lonely one — which may come as a surprise to board chairs who know that their executive director colleagues are spending many hours in meetings! Executive directors are expected to be the keepers of both the big vision and the little details. They make dozens of decisions every week (or every day!). They need to be able to burrow into an operating budget; they need to be able to hold space for colleagues who are struggling. The position is unique within the organization, and it is incredibly important that the board chair provide support as well as supervision.
The board chair can demonstrate support for the executive director in several ways. Simply making it a point to ask “how are you doing?” (as distinguished from “how are you performing?”) goes a long way. Board chairs can communicate clearly that they understand that executive directors may confront problems that they have to solve without any input from staff colleagues — and that they are ready to listen and provide guidance upon request. They can provide feedback and encouragement throughout the year, not just during the annual review process.
This is not just about making the executive director feel good! In a truly healthy relationship, the executive director should feel comfortable being vulnerable: talking about things that are not going well, acknowledging mistakes, and articulating worries. Over the long term, providing space for this kind of open communication will give the board chair a thorough understanding of the organization’s strengths and challenges, making the board chair a stronger, more effective leader for the organization. It will also promote earlier conversation about looming difficulties, when the board is best positioned to help solve problems.
Diversity
We belong to different generations and have different gender identities. But we are also both white people who have lived their entire lives in northern New England and practiced law exclusively in New Hampshire, giving us a significantly overlapping cultural and professional background. We acknowledge that the aspects of our identities that are shared has likely contributed to the ease of mutual understanding and respect that we have experienced when working together — and also that it may have limited our ability to see beyond what is familiar to us both. We urge executive director and board chair partners to talk openly with and listen deeply to one another about their backgrounds and the ways in which their identities may impact their relationship.
We also encourage both board chairs and executive directors to be firmly involved in their organizations’ diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging work. This essential work cannot succeed without the full-throated support and meaningful work contributions of both the executive director and the board chair.