Some of you may not believe me

[xyz48B]

12 minutes ago, cany10011 said:

Isn‘t the CEO the head? I thought the managing director/ chair reports to the CEO?

Yes.

That’s part of the problem here. Someone who doesn’t like that I’m demanding accountability. The fact of the matter isn’t even that I’m demanding things be done as I say. I’m demanding accountability. I’m quite happy to allow department heads and the board go in a direction that they want. But the president and I, regardless who it is, need to be in lockstep and no surprises for either of us from the other, when we go into the board room.

The previous president was a dream but sadly was term limited. Of course every president is different, but at the bare minimum we must communicate. I thought I had made that clear, but it seems it didn’t stick…

[xyz48B]

Update…

I requested another meeting with the president of the board. This went much better. In large part, I believe, because she aired her grievances before and now was able to listen and actually have a conversation. That said, no truly satisfactory conclusion was reached as far as I’m concerned. After the initial meeting I considered all that had been said and determined it was not worth the social capital to insist on a compromise. Backchanneling is a thing and it’s nasty. So she terms off the board June 30, and that will be the end of her leadership. She has stated she will continue on as president as long as her own project for mission statement visioning is ongoing. I have devised a plan to basically allow that to languish in committee through June, and then I don’t have to deal with a temporary president until new elections are held. As the CEO, I have means at my disposal to keep the committees working on the mission statement work indefinitely (I don’t like it, but I’d prefer not to on board a new president for 2-3 months…) So if she wants to waste her time (and mine and the board’s) with her pet project, we’ll do it. Because come July 1, we’ll have a new president, and likely someone I’ve “selected.” I’ve learned my lesson by thinking “I’ll let the board have full autonomy on electing their leader.” No – I need to coronate someone behind the scenes.