Question: I'm a Board member who got a call from a friend who asked me what's going on in the organization. My friend said that he heard that the organization was in a shambles, morale was terrible and so were the finances. Now I don't know what to do. I don't think any of this is true. He was very critical of the CEO. I think there is a lot of bad-mouthing going on about a good organization right now. Should I ignore it? Should I talk to the CEO whom I respect highly? Should I bring it to the Board? I want to do the right thing, but I don't know what the right thing is.
Answer: It's natural for an unhappy person to "go to the top" especially if that person knows you personally and feels free to talk to you. The first thing you might do is to ask your friend if he is just venting or if it's a request that you do something about it. If the request is that you do something, explain that you are going to need to share his name when you deal with the matter.
It might be inappropriate for your friend to be calling you to take some action, but since you are a Board member and have a lot of responsibility for the health of the organization, you don't really have much choice but to check things out. In the unlikely event that things are not what you thought they were, you can make a difference in changing things for the better.
Transparency is the way forward. Discuss the matter with the CEO first. Don't take hearsay to the Board without some facts. If the CEO can shed some light and you know that she is a person of integrity who has your trust, then you have helped her by making her aware of what is being said about her.
What sometimes happens is that badmouthing isn't countered with the result that good people suffer. Checking things out with your CEO can begin to clear the air and set the record straight. Your CEO needs a lot of support, particularly when she is under fire from some unfair criticism. It's a case where your openness with her is really helpful. You are checking out the things that are being said with the result that the criticism ends up being an opportunity for supporting the CEO who is under pressure and needs the support.
On the other hand, it also gives you an opportunity to take the matter up with the Board, if you find that there is some substance to what you've heard. Either way, the CEO and the organization win. If the CEO needs some support in the form of redirection, constructive criticism or correction, you are still giving her a gift. And in either case you are acting on behalf of the organization with a clear conscience and a positive spirit.
It would be unfair to the CEO and the Board to bring the matter up at a Board meeting without first checking out the facts with the CEO herself. Be up front. Ask her the questions that need to be asked. Do it in a direct, transparent and supporting way. A CEO who deserves your support will appreciate the chance to know what's being said and will be open with the information that you need to satisfy your own responsibility.
One other point that both you and your CEO probably realize already, but others reading this might not remember. When you approach your CEO, you do so as a friend and peer. You have no authority over the CEO and can make no demands on her for information or access to other staff, just because you are a member of the Board. Unless the Board has given you specific authority to investigate a specific matter and has told the CEO about it, then you are just a friend checking something out for the benefit of all.
And finally, if your friend did ask you to check things out, call him back to report that you did that and give the results of doing so. Assuming it was just badmouthing as you suspected, your friend can begin to get the facts out there where people are talking. Even more important he can suggest to others to call the CEO directly and let them know there's a right way and a harmful way to deal with these issues.
Nothing bad is likely to result from dealing with criticism transparently and with positive motivation.
Les Stahlke, President
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