POV: When boards swirl, executive directors weather the storm

If you’ve ever been an executive director, you know the job can feel like standing in the eye of a hurricane that no one else seems to notice. And if you’ve ever served on a board, you know the work can feel equal parts meaningful, complex, and confusing - sometimes all within the same 90-minute meeting.

This blog is for both of you.

Because while boards and executive directors share the same mission, they often live in very different weather systems. And occasionally, those systems collide - creating a governance microclimate no one predicted on the radar.

‍A quick story to set the scene

In June, I walked back into a meeting room I knew well. For the past six months, this group had been humming along – good client; solid governance muscles. A bit of humidity in the air (there always is), but nothing fatal. 

Over the summer, I interviewed board members, gathered and shared some themes. Clouds had definitely appeared on the horizon.

Then September arrived- and so did the message: “We’re going in a different direction.”

I’ve been in this work long enough to know sudden gusts like this usually aren’t about the retreat or the facilitator. They’re about what surfaced in the process - the things people weren’t ready to look at, sit with, or say out loud.

And, well, when you’re the one to hold up the big, ugly booger in the room, not everyone appreciates the view. Sometimes, naming the thing no one wants to name gets you replaced by someone with “fresh eyes.” Fair enough - that’s a client’s prerogative.

But the experience reminded me - very sharply - how deeply board dynamics ripple through the organization’s atmosphere, especially for the executive director.

Ohhhh, my board…

More often than not, when I sit down with an executive director, the conversation begins with some variation of:

“Ohhh, my board…”

“If only they….”

“I’m trying to find a way to help them work better, but…”

“I need them to….”

It’s striking how many EDs spend as much time navigating board maintenance, as they spend doing the work they were hired to do. And it’s not because they don’t respect their board - far from it. 

It’s because they feel the full weight of the emotional, strategic, and relational weather systems swirling around them. And the Board is their boss!

Here’s the thing to remember:

Boards have one employee, while executive directors have eight to fifteen bosses!

Most of us have never experienced anything even close to that - multiple supervisors, each with their own communication style, level of governance experience, personal expectations, interpretations of fiduciary responsibility, and tolerance for thunderstorms.

It’s a remarkable load for any one person to hold.

When the barometer drops

So, what happens when:

• The board loses sight of the organization’s mission,
• A board member feels underutilized or embarrassed but doesn’t say so,
• Committees never meet,
• Someone drifts into operations because they “like to get their fingers dirty”,
• Misunderstandings go unaddressed,
• Factions quietly form,
• Conversations happen after the meeting instead of in it,

The executive director becomes the storm absorber; the mediator, interpreter, translator, stabilizer, and sometimes, the fall-guy. All while still expected to run the organization. 

It’s stressful, inefficient, and a misuse of some of the most valuable leadership energy in the building.

Your umbrella, board members

Before we go any further, let me be clear:

Boards are made up of smart, dedicated, well-intentioned people who genuinely want to help their organizations succeed. You care deeply. You volunteer your evenings, your brainpower, your expertise, and your patience. 

In fact, most of the governance “swirl” doesn’t come from bad intentions; it comes from the very human desire to contribute meaningfully, to feel useful, to make good decisions, and to uphold your fiduciary responsibilities with integrity.

None of that is wrong. It’s admirable. Boards play an essential role, and when they operate from a place of clarity and alignment, the entire organization can feel the lift.

But when those good intentions aren’t supported by shared expectations, clear communication, or consistent behaviour, the swirl begins. And once it starts, your executive director is the one who ends up living inside the draft.

Awareness matters - not for blame, but because part of being a good boss is creating conditions where your executive director can lead, not brace against the wind.

So… how do we bring more calm to the climate?

A few basic practices go a very long way:

• Notice and explore restlessness.
  Restlessness is information. Use it. Don’t bury it under agendas or “we’ll deal with that later.”
• Address whispering before it becomes its own storyline.
  Parking-lot conversations, side texts, “meeting after the meeting” rituals - these are governance termites.
• Have a Code of Conduct - and uphold it.
  Not in a punitive way, but in a “this is who we agreed to be” way.
• Talk openly about the health of the board.
  Boards should check their own temperature regularly.
• Make time for board-only conversations.
  Staff add tremendous value, but sometimes boards need to be with themselves to sort out their own ways of being.
• Give structured airtime when tensions rise.
  Unaddressed discomfort doesn’t disappear; it intensifies. Better to rain now than hail later. (Call your facilitator for help if you need to)
• Remember your purpose.‍

Boards exist to uphold mission, policy, and fiduciary responsibility - not to run the organization or to provide each member with a personal outlet for influence.

When boards stay grounded in purpose, they become a gift to their executive director.
When they don’t, the ED becomes the glue holding everything together.

You’re better when you share the forecast

No board is perfect. No executive director has every answer. What matters most is the shared commitment to speaking openly, addressing issues when they surface, staying in the policy lane, and remembering that governance works best when the people involved are willing to look at the occasional ugly booger on the table rather than pretend it isn’t there.

Whether you’re reading this as an executive director or as a board member, this message is for you: 

The work you do is important, and it becomes far more effective when you acknowledge the dynamics shaping it and choose to navigate the weather together.

The perfect stocking stuffer for clearer skies 

Whether you’re an executive director trying to keep your board aligned, or a board member hoping to sharpen your governance game, here are a couple books worth slipping into someone’s stocking, or casually placing in the middle of the board table with a festive bow:

📘 The Little Book of Boards by Erik Hanberg
📘 The Imperfect Board Member by Jim Brown

Add some ribbon. Maybe a candy cane.

And voilà - the gift of fewer thunderstorms in 2026.

‍

Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava.