Opinion

Our chief executive thinks we are irrelevant

Governance | Linda Laurance | 1 Mar 2006

Linda Laurance responds to a frustrated chair of trustees.

Dear editor,

I was appointed as the chair of a community organisation two years ago. When I retired from a senior executive job eighteen months later I was looking forward to spending more time with the charity. However, I am finding that our chief executive (CE) is increasingly difficult to communicate with. She treats most of the trustees as though they are an unnecessary irritant, and ploughs on with her own agenda without any consultation. She frequently arrives at board meetings late or leaves before the end, and is reluctant to provide us with the information we need to ensure that the organisation is in good health, let alone be able to monitor the CE's activities. My attempts at meeting with her to discuss the situation are met with the excuse that she has such a heavy workload she cannot spare the time. How can I break this impasse?

A deeply discouraged chair of trustees

Dear deeply discouraged chair of trustees,

Firstly, keep in mind that the trustees are collectively your chief executive's employer and jointly responsible for ensuring that she complies with the conditions set out in the job description, assuming one is in existence. Discuss the situation with your fellow trustees, by email if it is quickest. Put to the CE that you and she should meet on the grounds that the trustees must look at risk assessment of the organisation as a whole in compliance with Charity Commission requirements, and want the topic on the next board meeting agenda. CE input being essential to this process you want to explore with her the methodology to be used. Be firm and insist this becomes a priority, whilst being flexible about the meeting venue and timing. As risk will need continuous review this will be an opportunity to consider the board agenda and to structure it in a way that ensures the trustees receive the information they need.

Ask yourself why your CE is ploughing her own furrow. Could it be because the chair was not previously readily available? Or because the trustees are not making decisions on strategic direction and policies, leaving her frustrated and without clear guidance? Are the trustees expecting too much from their CE so that she is in fact overloaded? She may not want to admit she cannot cope. Is she good at delegating to her own staff, if indeed she has an adequate staff team? Should the structure of the organisation be reviewed? Have an away day where these issues can be explored in a deeper but more informal way than is possible at board meetings. If you have a vice or deputy chair, involve him or her in the process of rebuilding mutual confidence and trust between the board and the CE. This will be particularly helpful if there is a degree of personality clash between the chair and the CE.

Linda Laurance is the founding past chair of Charity Trustee Networks and a governance consultant and mediator

Tweet

Directory: Charity Commission | Charity Trustee Networks (CTN)
Who's Who: Linda Laurance