What makes for good leadership on the part of a CEO?
CEO leadership does not mean dominating the board or stripping it of its responsibilities. You are there to involve the board and give them ownership, not simply report to them and have them rubber stamp what you and the staff are doing. Strong leadership means being proactive, facilitating the ideas of others, and encouraging regular self-assessment—both for the board and the CEO. The savviest community foundation CEOs make an effort to understand what their boards want to achieve and then help their boards realize those goals. For example, learning that his new board chair was very interested in strategic innovation and change management, one successful community foundation CEO made sure that the chair was prepared to play a leading role in the annual strategic work session. The preparation included developing a presentation on major community conditions and trends, for the chair to make, and providing a forum for the chair to rehearse before the session. A less savvy CEO might have
