Expectations O ne executive director says that a big challenge is not having clear expectations. “We now have a commitment form that every board member signs before officially joining the board,” she says. Another CEO had a similar experi- ence. “The greatest challenge dealing with my board of directors was defin- ing roles and responsibilities of the executive director and board.” He says, “Our resolution was two-fold; my board chair and I attended the Citygate Network-sponsored Ripple Effect workshop. As a result, we created a new board policy manual and scheduled a planning day with the board to thoroughly discuss roles and responsibilities from the new manual and organizational chart.” Another expectation involves how many people are needed to run an organization effectively. “I served on the board of directors until I became the executive director five years ago. Even though we had seats for 11, we kept only six seats filled. Every board meeting, we talked about the empty seats but never filled them,” said one CEO. “My goal after becoming the director was to fill the seats. Even though I know it’s important for the executive director not to fill the seats, I had to initiate the process. Within two years, all of our seats were filled. I’m happy to say that we have a good pro- cess in place now to fill the vacancies.” Another leader says, “The greatest challenge I’ve had dealing with our board of directors is our mutual lack of training. Our goals are good, but specific milestones and methods have not been established in a cohe- sive manner. Much of that has been developed in response to specific needs. The blessing is that the board members are open to doing better. Our meetings have become more effective without losing the unity we’ve developed over several years.” Personnel “M y biggest challenges with board matters have involved dealing with difficult personnel issues,” reveals a CEO. “On two or three occa- sions in the past 15 years, when a staff member who reported directly to the CEO resigned or was terminated for performance-related issues, the board decided to meet or talk with the affected/disgruntled employees. They received negative feedback that raised concerns about my leadership style (which is pretty direct).” He says he understands that the board has a duty to follow up and investigate such claims, but says it puts the CEO in a very precarious position with the remaining staff. “On the most recent claim (hostile work environment, etc.), they agreed to let HR follow up and give them a report to see if the accusations had any merit. They ended up determin- ing the accusations were overblown, but it puts everyone in an uncomfort- able position, with the CEO sitting 46 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG MARCH/APRIL 2019 “It is a delight to see how the Lord is working in each of us to the betterment of the mission and each of us individually. God has taken us a long way from where we were.”