The chief executive’s role
The chief executive or senior manager must lead the operational side of your organisation – which makes this person vital to organisational effectiveness and achievement.
The chief executive may have a senior management team to assist, but ultimately he or she is responsible for —
- carrying out actions and initiatives required to achieve your organisation’s operational and strategic plans
- efficient and sustainable management of your organisation
- sound performance, including achieving specific goals of your organisation
- ensuring the operational side of your organisation is accountable to the board
- keeping the board fully and reliably informed
- responding to questions from the board
- representing management in meetings with the board
- maintaining a good relationship between the board and management
- fostering and maintaining a partnership with the chair of the board
- representing your organisation to stakeholders.
The chief executive is in a position to have a sense of the whole organisation, but has to negotiate multiple, sometimes conflicting, demands. It is an inherently difficult position.
The chief executive is accountable to the board, but also has to manage relationships with other stakeholders — staff, clients, funders, government agencies, members and the public. Often these groups have competing interests and make conflicting demands. The broad range of stakeholders creates a complexity and potential for conflict unlike that faced by for-profit chief executives.
Skills, qualities and attributes which make an effective chief executive
- Commitment to your organisation’s mission and values
- Knowledge of its area of operation and client base
- Knowledge of nonprofit governance principles
- Honesty and integrity
- Leadership ability
- Strategic thinking
- Sound organisational skill
- Problem solving ability
- including ability to see through a crisis
- Communication skill, including
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- ability to advocate on behalf of your organisation and to represent its views to stakeholders and in public
- ability to communicate with a diverse range of people, build networks and maintain contacts with stakeholders
- tact and discretion when necessary
- Energy!
Management and the Board
The chief executive is also an essential information link between your board and your organisation.
A sound relationship between the board and top management is critical to your organisation’s success. The board is ultimately responsible for the powers given to it and for key areas such as communicating a vision, monitoring strategy towards achievement of the mission, and ensuring legal compliance, financial accountability and an ethical organisational culture.
But delegation of necessary operational matters to the chief executive is essential. For this to work, the board must have a sound, open working relationship with the chief executive and other top managers, involving a high degree of honesty, trust and confidence between them. However the board has the key oversight role and cannot abrogate its responsibilities.