By Bill Dann, BoardGrowth™ Founder

Number of words: 435

Time to read: 2 minutes

The Importance of Trust

Your success as a governing body and the future of your organization will rise and fall based on the strength of the mutual trust between chief executive officer (CEO) and the board. CEOs that don't trust their boards don't bring them the truth. Board's that don't trust their CEOs tighten policy to restrict CEO authority, don't support CEO recommendations, delay making key decisions for the organization, and constantly question CEO progress reports.

What Builds Trust?

Building trust, quite simply, involves keeping your word. For CEOs, that means executing -- on time -- the directives by motion from the board, and delivering the "I wills" when you volunteer to deliver them. For example: "John, I will send that report tomorrow"; or, "I will send a copy of that to all board members by the end of the week"; or, "I will submit a weekly email report to board members each Friday." For directors, it means delivering on promises of support, even in the heat of controversy or opposition, and keeping the promises you've made, such as making calls to potential clients or donors, attending committee meetings, and so on.

How do you know?

I often encounter directors that say, "I'm not sure the CEO is following our directives." Such a statement can lead to the erosion of trust. Not knowing leads to assuming the negative, and the group can go downhill, from there.

I recommend to my clients that the board maintain an accurate list of pending directives and that the CEO be proactive in reporting on the status of outstanding directives at each meeting.

How It Works

I suggest that the chairman designate the secretary-treasurer of the board to maintain his or her own list of directives delivered to the CEO. The nature of the directive or motion and the due date should be recorded. Note: all directives should have a due date that is agreed to by the CEO. Do not rely on the CEO or the secretary taking minutes to maintain this list. If the CEO asks for the list, provide it, but I counsel CEO's to maintain their own lists.

At each meeting, as part of the CEO's report to the board, all outstanding directives should be reported upon.

A consistent record of honoring commitments made to the board (this is why it is important that the board and CEO agree on the due date as part of the discussion of the motion on the directive) will build and maintain the trust that is vital to the progress of your organization.

For more information on the board-CEO working relationship, e-mail andreag@professionalgrowthsystems.com.

- Bill