Successful Board Relations for Newly Minted CEOs

New CEOs have a long checklist of to-dos and challenges right out of the gate. Added to that, they need to establish a relationship with their boards to be effective. As with any relationship, building trust means doing what you say you’re going to do and making sure you’re really listening.

When Bennie F. Johnson began as CEO of AIGA in January 2020, the professional association for design, the organization was at an inflection point. AIGA’s hands-on board had been involved in the day-to-day operations of the group for a long time prior to Johnson’s arrival, so he knew he had to gain their trust to give himself more latitude to lead.

Johnson spent his first 90 days assessing what he observed and establishing a rapport with the board. At about that point in his tenure, the pandemic hit, and AIGA operations switched to virtual, but Johnson maintained the existing cadence of holding board meetings every four weeks. He admits it was intense, but it was helpful for both the board and Johnson to establish checkpoints about what staff was working on and where the group was headed.

“They brought me in to change, but nobody tells you how we’re going to change,” Johnson said.

Accountability Builds Trust

The frequent board meetings and updates helped Johnson establish trust with his board, and now they have shifted to a more traditional meeting schedule. This year, he anticipates the board will meet five times—instead of every four weeks—and have a strategic planning session. He also switched to a new way of reporting that focuses on what the staff team is doing to move forward.

“It was great to see the board self-correct and say, ‘That’s why Bennie and his team are here,’” Johnson said. “I wanted to build that trust, so they knew someone had active control over the wheel. We also wanted to show we had both a short- and midrange view of where we needed to go and how we were getting there.”

AIGA’s board changes every two years, so Johnson will constantly be building relationships and rapport with new board members. His successful start in uncertain times has proven that he and his team can deliver.

“We were able to show our competence, professionalism, and sincere desire to partner with the board to ultimately do what’s best for our professional association,” he said. “Because so much of what we may have thought worked in 2018 is not relevant for 2022.”

One-On-One Gets Things Done

The board at LeadingAge Illinois—a trade association that represents the full spectrum of those providing aging services—was familiar with its new CEO, Angela Schnepf, CAE, but in a much different capacity. She had served as its executive vice president for seven years before becoming CEO in August 2021. “The work I did was mostly behind the scenes,” she said. And she was taking over for a well-liked and respected CEO who had been with the organization for 32 years.