“You should never have an executive committee – you don’t need one.” “Don’t let staff talk to board members without you being there.” “You should never friend a board member on Facebook!” How many pieces of board-governing advice do we as leaders accrue from colleagues, well-meaning consultants, and various blogs or comments on social media posts? At times, it feels like a constant barrage of advice, often contradictory, delivered from all kinds of sources, and it’s hard to sort through what is and what is not useful.

Now, as I start my tenure at the EcoTarium in what is my second executive director role, and fresh from a board that was still predominantly a founding board, I have an idea of the kind of board interactions I do and do not appreciate and find useful. My experience includes working with highly functional boards in a senior director role, as well as with dysfunctional boards in that same type of role. It was essential to set expectations with my board chair early on in our tenure together.

When I started at the EcoTarium last year my board chair was also new to his role with the organization, which has proved to be one of the best set-ups for success for a leader and a board. When board leadership and staff leadership are new at the same time, I think it can be a wonderful opportunity, and should be sought out as often as possible when staff leadership changes. Paul, the chair, led the search committee for my position, and started on the board about three months before my official start date. (A date I think he probably wishes was much earlier, given that in his first week as board chair a new construction project hit a gas line that didn’t quite line up with the city’s maps of our museum’s property). During several phone calls with him in the lead-up to my announcement, and with absolutely no privacy at my prior place of employment, I would take our conversations outside. On one of these calls I was walking on the boardwalk, watching dragonflies and great egrets on our pond, and Paul was calling to tell me about the gas line break, and to assure me that everything was fine.

“That brings up a good question,” I asked. “What level of information do you want me to tell you on a regular basis?” His response was pretty simple “if it could end up in the paper, tell me immediately.” We also decided to have a weekly check-in coffee meeting for my first few months. This time became so valuable, that we extended the meetings indefinitely, knowing it would be easier to cancel a meeting if we didn’t need to catch up that week than it would be to try to schedule a new one.

I believe that many people would guide me away from weekly meetings with a board chair. (A piece of advice that undoubtedly contradicts someone else’s out there). Much like any relationship, the relationship an ED has with the board is deeply personal and individual. It is extremely important to take the time to have that conversation with the board chair, and with other members of the board who chair committees. It has not only helped to get the work of the organization done, but it has deeply engaged our board. If someone feels appreciated and heard, they are more likely to want engage with you and I can’t imagine a way to be more appreciated and heard than asking “how do you want me to communicate with you?” and then honoring that.

Another part of my approach that I find valuable, where others may not, is a weekly update to the board. These updates include happenings of the week, upcoming events, opportunities for advocacy, and news that impacts our museum or our field overall; the things I think the board should know as our top advocates and voices in the community. The updates serve another purpose, though, which again is personal to me. I don’t really like giving long, reading-the-slide news at board meetings. I think, and my board chair agrees with me, that that time is much better served having conversations, sometimes hard ones, about the organization. Weekly updates are a more real-time and casual format that enabled us in board meetings to do some very hard work at the governance level such as cleaning up the committee structure, putting in place appropriate advisory councils, and changing our budgeting process and organizational structure for the long-term financial health of the organization. These are the most important conversations and decisions we make, and the most important people to our long-term sustainability and success are our board members, so let’s spend our time together in the most meaningful way. We’re all really busy, right? I’ve heard from my board that the weekly updates make them feel more connected to the organization and that our board meetings are the most engaged they have felt in a long time.

A few years ago I was lucky enough to attend a workshop for executive directors and board members led by Chuck Loring. There were many nuggets of wisdom gleaned but there were two extremely important pieces that I feel facilitates good board governance and leadership. Pertaining to the “why are you doing that” question – is it in your by-laws? What does your state’s non-profit laws require? (And yes, I’m definitely paraphrasing Chuck here). Giving the people at the board table the covenants of the relationship (the by-laws, board member expectations, and relevant policies) holds everyone accountable in the same way. The rest is what each person brings to the table outside of what is required, and those skills and talents change and shift over time as the people in the seats change. As someone who comes at this work from a strong educational programming background, I say that my most important role is to provide differentiated relationships, much like differentiated instruction, to my board members. Being responsive and mindful of each person’s communication styles, availabilities, interests and reasons for loving our museum makes me a better leader, and ultimately I believe creates the magical sauce of good governance.