This problem leads to the undoing of many non-profit organizations or
Executive Directors.  Every book, every article I have read, every seminar
I have attended, on Board-Director relations, argue emphatically that
Boards must respect this division.  It is a tough one to enforce and
Executive Directors must be prepared to circulate their resumes if it
becomes an issue.  Over time, the Board that does not respect this division
will find itself without an Executive, with demoralized staff and, more
likely than not, a totally disfunctional organization (if they end  up
having one at all).


------
Robert Handy
Brazoria County Historical Museum
100 East Cedar
Angleton, Texas  77515
(409) 864-1208
museum_bob
[log in to unmask]
http://www.bchm.org

----------
From:   Herve Gagnon[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Wednesday, February 03, 1999 9:22 AM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: volunteer horror stories

I can only admire the soundness of your approach and envy the freedom and
respect you obviously enjoy as a museum director since you've been able to
implement it. The fact that the Board can't fire you certainly restricts
its
infvluence which, in turn, enables you to run the institution
professionally. I
my case (and, I suspect, that of many colleagues), the Board has a
decades-old
way of doing things and is only superfically aware of a director's
responsibilities. As a result, volunteers/Board members are under the
impression that they are continuing their board work while they are
volunteering.  Thus, the ambiant attitude is that the volunteer/Board
member is
master after God and the last thing one can envisage is firing volunteers
who
are still publicly recognized as the backbone of the organization (out of
political correctness as well as conviction, I suppose).

Thanks for the information. I'll try mo use it in my next assignment!

Herve Gagnon, Ph.D.

Robert T. Handy a ecrit:

> I have a very effective approach to this, although admittedly, our staff
> are county employees and the Board governs the private corporation.
>  Nevertheless, it is clearly stated in the Board manual and at Board
> orientations (yearly) that if a Board member approaches a staff person
with
> a directive or to meddle in any way, the staff person is to immediately
> redirect the Board member to me.  If that is not done, and the staff
person
> follows through on the directive or discusses internal staff or budget or
> whatever issues and  I find out, the staff person is warned once. The
> second time it happens he/she is summarily terminated.
>
> Guess what.  It has only happened once and the Board member now knows
that
> she jeopardized this persons livlihood.  I doubt very much it will ever
> happen again.  The staff now knows that I am serious, as does the Board.
>
> Granted, the Board cannot fire me.  Only the County can.  I do have an
> advantage.  Nevertheless, every Director should as a condition for taking
> the job, let the Board know clearly that this will be his/her policy.  If
> the Board cannot live with that, don't take the job.
>
> ------
> Robert Handy
> Brazoria County Historical Museum
> 100 East Cedar
> Angleton, Texas  77515
> (409) 864-1208
> museum_bob
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.bchm.org
>
> ----------
> From:   Herve Gagnon[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:   Monday, February 01, 1999 12:58 PM
> To:     [log in to unmask]
> Subject:        volunteer horror stories
>
> > The worst that can happen to a museum professional working in a
> small-town museum is when board members and
> > volunteers are one and the same. Take a board of about 10 directors who
> also make up most of the volunteer staff and
> > you have an explosive situation: most of the times, a board member will
> neither accept nor be remotely aware of the
> > fact that once he/she works as a volunteer on a specific project,
he/she
> does so under the authority of the very
> > employees he/she's responsible for as a board member. The most
immediate
> results of this are loss of control over
> > project budgets and board interference in staff-level activities - not
to
> mention very unpleasant tension.
>
> Herve Gagnon