3 MIN READ

Let Peter Greer, President and CEO of Hope International show you seven proven ways to develop a powerful, genuine relationship between your organization’s board and CEO that can, 1) improve the health of your culture, 2) better your ministry effectiveness, and thus 3) increase your overall organizational impact.

The Challenge

Peter Greer, Hope International

In our private interview, Peter wasn’t shy: “The board-CEO relationship is a proverbial minefield, with the potential to sabotage an organization: creating dissension, thwarting progress, undermining impact, and knocking it off mission.

“We start from the perspective that the organization’s mission matters most. The Board and the CEO needs to identify areas where they can improve and solidify their relationship.

The Strategy

The secret to a trusting, healthy, enduring relationship between every CEO and the board rests with seven, tremendous opportunities Peter and co-author David Weekley capture in their new book, The Board and the CEO: Seven Practices to Protect Your Organization’s Most Important Relationship. For instance:

Consistent Communication, Not Mystery
Accountability, Not Platitudes
Healthy Conflict, Not Kumbaya
Prepared Not Panicked

Take a look at these three additional practices that Peter and David help you zero in on through practical, revealing questions:

Mission, Not Ego

How might you as either a CEO or board member identify if your personal agenda is slowly becoming more important than the organization’s agenda?
How would you deal with a board member or a CEO who seemed to elevate a personal agenda above the organization’s objectives?
What are some ways that you can intentionally guard the mission of the organization?

Clarity, Not Confusion

Does the organization have a list of actions to be approved by the board before implementation? For example, is there an expenditure limit the CEO can utilize without asking the board for permission?
Does the board have a document articulating their specific roles and responsibilities as distinct from the CEO?

Involved, Not Detached

Does the CEO spend more than 20 percent of the time talking in board meetings? If so, how do you plan to adjust the system to engage the board in more discussions?
What are two practical ways that board members can use their influence to help advance the organization’s mission?

“

For an organization’s vitality, there is no more important relationship to navigate than that of the board and CEO.”

—Peter Greer

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The Results

When it comes to putting these principles to work to guard and guide the Board-CEO relationship, it only makes sense to give Peter the last word:

“Begin the conversation between the Board and the CEO today, not tomorrow, so you build and improve the organization’s most important relationship and do the practical things needed to make sure your focus is on your ministry’s God-given calling and purpose.
“The Board-CEO relationship is too important to simply believe it’s going to happen.
“Intentionality is the key. You must be intentional with the relationship, dynamics, purpose, practices and the hard conversations so your organization can flourish.”

Order The Board and the CEO here, and all proceeds will support the ministry of Hope International, a global nonprofit focused on Christ-centered job creation, savings mobilization, and microenterprise development. Order 10 or more copies and receive a complementary 30-min Skype session with Peter.