Five Stress Points for Executive Directors and Five Ways Board Members can Support their Leader

Executive directors of organizations can face a variety of stressors, depending on the nature of their work and the organization they lead. Five common stressors for executive directors include:

1. Executive directors are responsible for the financial health of their organization, which can create a significant amount of stress.

2. Executive directors must balance the needs and expectations of many stakeholders, including staff, board members, donors, and clients. Often, the priority scale tips different everyday.

3. Executive directors are responsible for hiring and managing staff, which can be a challenging and time-consuming task. In addition, nonprofits historically pay lower than for-profits which can create a greater need for HR policies and training programs for often rotating staff.

4. Organizations must comply with a variety of laws and regulations, which can create additional stress for executive directors. They usually wear more hats at smaller or younger organizations than in larger companies with department chairs.

5. Executive directors maintain the public image of their organization and ensure that it is perceived positively by stakeholders.

To help alleviate stress for executive directors, consider these five things:

1. Boards can offer emotional support and resources to help executive directors manage stress, such as access to mental health professionals or stress reduction programs.

2. Boards can clarify the roles and expectations of executive directors to help them prioritize their work and reduce daily demands. Review internal deadlines and board expectations for reporting versus need for program management time for what we call, “internally induced stress.” Sometimes too many meetings and requests from the board in the same timeframe as mission-critical work is self-induced and not necessary. We hear and see this often and have seen organizations lose good staff due to burnout.

3. Boards can help alleviate stress by sharing responsibilities with executive directors and providing support when needed. Sometimes executive directors just need an ear; be open to hearing and making time for them. A positive organizational culture can help reduce stress for executive directors by creating a supportive and collaborative environment. Allow executive directors to freely bring problems and concerns to leadership for assistance.

4. Pay your staff. Avoid scarcity mindset. Compare salaries in similar roles and utilize compensation surveys for fair market value. Staff always costs more to recruit and replace than it does to retain. We often see executive search firms for nonprofits charge $15-$40k for a multi-month search.

5. Boards can conduct regular evaluations of the executive director to provide feedback, identify areas for improvement, and ensure that the executive director's workload is manageable. Make sure board members are aware of strategic goals and help them to stay on task and avoid unnecessary idea creep at meetings.