Chair and chief executive relationships - the most important relationship in an organisation?
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Presented on Monday 2 November at NCVO/BWB Trustee Conference 2015. Nicola Grinstead, Chair & Anita Tiesson, CEO, World Association of Girl Guides & Girl Scouts Chair and chief executive relationships - the most important relationship in an organisation? If you would like to find out more about our 2016 Trustee Conference email us at ncvoevents@ncvo.org.uk or call us on 020 750 3153.
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Chair and chief executive relationships - the most important relationship in an organisation?
- 1. Organised by: Lead Partner: Media Partner: Sponsors:AM3: CHAIR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE RELATIONSHIPS – THE MOST IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP IN AN ORGANISATION? Drinks sponsor:
- 2. World Association of Girl Guides & Girl Scouts Nicola Grinstead, Chair & Anita Tiesson, CEO
- 3. Chair/CEO relationship in WAGGGS 1. Traditional trustee board/CEO dynamic 2. Membership elected board of trustees 3. Volunteerism central to all we do
- 4. Why the Chair/CEO relationship is important to us • Both new in role, but also both experienced leaders who understand importance of this relationship • As we modernise our approach to governance we need to work together to update ways of working across our respective roles • We need to role model what we expect from others
- 5. Approach in first few weeks • Facilitated day out together • Focus on; values, vision and ways of working
- 6. Values • We identified the values that motivate us • Looked at where there was synergy • Reflected on whether there were differences
- 7. Vision & Legacy • We discussed our vision and legacy ambitions; for the organisation and for us as indviduals • We discussed what it is important for us to role model to others; the leadership style we want to deliver
- 8. Ways of working • Practical approach to day- by-day working • ‘walking the talk’ • Agreeing in advance how we will manage any ‘pinch points’ or disagreements • Communication, communication and more communication!!
- 9. Transparency with our team and members
- 10. 6 months in….
Editor's Notes
- Nicola Introduction There are 10 million girl guides/girl scouts in 146 different countries across the world WAGGGS is the global umbrella organisation i.e. an individual girl in the UK will join Girlguiding UK, in the US she will join GSUSA and the country organisations in-turn are members of WAGGGS The Board is a group of 17 women elected by the member countries and the board elects its chair For the purpose of this presentation it is worth understanding that volunteerism is central to everything we do This means there are 3 crucial factors to our Chair/CEO relationship; i.e. we work hard at building the Chair/CEO relationship in the context of 1) the traditional board of trustee/CEO relationship you would expect, 2) also in the context of a trustee board elected by the wider membership and the expectations this brings relating to stakeholder accountability i,e. we are accountable to our members, 3) navigating the staff/volunteer relationship in a traditionally volunteer led movement with increasing demands for professional staff; crucial to role model partnership working
- Anita We are both new to our roles as Chair/CEO – ‘first timers’ But we are also both experienced leaders and understand that the relationship is critical Making sure it works well fits with our wider work in the last few years to update and modernise our governance So….the first thing we decided, even before Anita officially took up her role, is that we would take time out together, early on, to discuss our relationship and how we would work together –to lay strong foundations
- Nicola We contacted NCVO and commissioned a tailor made facilitated day out – we agreed a brief in advance, took the day off-site to have unpressurised time together One of our board members asked us if we needed to take this approach or if we could have ‘just met for a chat….’ – our view is that is was extremely valuable to have this session facilitated so that we could both relax and focus on the discussion We explored 3 key areas; Values, vision and ways of working
- Anita Values We looked at the values that motivate both of us in our personal, professional and voluntary lives and found a lot of synergy around commitment, living with integrity, working in a spirit of mutual trust and respect, and a strong sense of social justice. We also both value time with family and friends It was important to connect with our values because working in values based organisations, its crucial to establish whether you are working on a shared set of values or whether there are areas of difference which might later surface in more practical discussions
- Nicola We also then looked at what our vision was and what we wanted our legacy to be We both wanted our organisation to become more dynamic and relevant to girls and young women today As a membership organisation, to be more focused on delivering to and through our members There were no surprises there But until we had this session we didn’t realise that we also had complementary personal points to model contemporary women’s leadership, which we feel is hugely important in an organisation that is fundamentally about girl’s empowerment and leadership So we wanted to be open, inclusive and empowering And for me (Nicola) I want to show that you can have a full time job, be World Board chair, and survive! And for me (Anita) I want to show that women with young children can and do play leadership roles in our organisation
- Anita We also talked about the practical ways of working and the most important points to share are Importance of us ‘walking the talk’ by this we mean; We will work in a way which enables Nicola to be chair and have a full time job by engaging her in strategic discussions early on, providing high quality and timely briefings, and holding meetings in her office as well as ours We also acknowledged that the rhythm to our WAGGGS week is different – Anita does this mostly Monday to Fridays and Nicola on weekends. So we agreed that Anita and her team will allow at least one weekend for input and feedback, and that while Nicola will send lots of emails over the weekend, she won’t expect a response from Anita until Monday, unless it’s urgent We feel a shared sense of responsibility in setting an example and creating a board environment of trust, openness and positive response to challenge And probably the most important point is that we talked about what we would do if we disagree. Our conclusion was that the most important thing was agreeing the approach through which we will manage and respond to these occasions together: Maintaining good communications, Being transparent, Agreeing a way to pick up issues, discuss and them move forward and always assume that we are both working with good intentions.
- Nicola As part of our role modelling approach, we wrote up a summary of what we’ve just told you, shared it with our Board, our Leadership Team and with all our member organisations. This was to help them to understand the approach we are taking, to demonstrate we mean it when we say we will be transparent but also to show that working on the relationship is important – to encourage them to take the same approach. We recognise this approach has importance more broadly than the Chair/CEO role and we are developing and publishing guidelines for all our senior volunteers and staff to encourage them to take the same approach – a checklist of the important things to consider when establishing a working relationship with each other We are also working hard to role model the importance of the Chair/CEO partnership and relationship – in the context of our responsibility to role model positive and effective staff/volunteer relationships
- Anita And how’s it been going? We’ve been working together for just over six months now, and it feels like we are on the same page, have navigated a hugely important World Board week together, and have a clarity and ease about how we are working that lets us focus on the most important issues but also be human and caring towards each other We hope that through our supportive and transparent relationship the board feels more confident, and empowered be a truly strategic board Also……on our ‘away day’ we recognised the need to consider some other relationship dynamics too – the role between Nicola and her deputy chairs, between Anita and the wider board, the need to strike the balance correctly between role modelling partnership working whilst also achieving an effective ‘accountability’ line. I hit my six months with WAGGGS last month – we have delivered a review process where all my direct line reports along with Nicola and the deputy board chairs have provided structured feedback to Nicola so there is transparency and inclusion about performance review and I am leading by example by undergoing the same process I expect of my staff In addition, we took time out in July with the ‘Chairs Team’ – ourselves along with the deputy chairs and treasurer to discuss ways of working; building a strong sense of team, of transparency, of accountabilty and building a culture where we constantly revise and update our ways of working
- Nicola Anita already mentioned we successfully navigated our first full board week together in early october As part of this week me and my deputies held reflection sessions with every board member – it is clear that their feedback 6 months in is positive, they welcome the approach (transparency, inclusion) and also aspirational for the future. So….in conclusion, we feel it has been hugely important to create space to get to know and understand each other,to dedicate time to establishing how to work with each and draw the best out of each other, to create an environment of transparency and openness where we can be honest and direct with each other and where our teams can be the same, With Anita, the board comprises 18 individuals from 16 different countries. Our experiences, approaches, cultures, contexts are very different and allow for some interesting and thought provoking discussions. But…we are all committed to making the world a better place for girls - and there is nothing more motivating that navigating a path of decision making that brings together these extraordinary women, despite the differences between us. Anita and I both recognise that our ability to create the right relationship with each is linked to the positive environment we can create in which others can thrive which is directly linked to our ability to deliver our mission – of a world where all girls are valued and can take action – to the highest possible impact!