A Rare Case When Inaction Is Better than Action
Recall the parachurch organization where I was board president. I gave needed structure to the board meetings, trained the board members to be more effective, and groomed my successor. But this isn’t where the story ends.
With a few months left in my term as president, the vice president resigned unexpectedly. Though I had shared my concern that he was spending too much time on the organization and not enough on his own business, he dismissed my worry.
By the time he realized that his business desperately needed him—all of him—he had no time left to continue as vice president or assume the role of presidency.
At about this same time I realized a sobering truth. With my focus on the board, I had neglected a greater problem.
Though a likable person and passionate about her work, the organization’s executive director—the one who asked me to join the board—was ineffective at her position. She was holding the organization back. She needed to go.
As president, it was my responsibility to do this. But the timing was awful. We had no vice president and no suitable candidate to fill that role.
My term would end in a few months, so the executive director was the only person who could provide any sort of continuity. Letting her go at this critical time would have resulted in a complete vacuum in the organization. It could implode.
Though I didn’t like it, I reasoned that the best thing I could do in this circumstance was to do nothing. I concluded it was best to leave her in place and let someone else deal with the problem later. To my dismay, I kicked the can down the road.
A few months after my presidency ended, I received a phone call from a president who had served the board many years ago. I didn’t know her, and she didn’t know me.
She explained that she was meeting with as many past presidents as possible to get insight to best lead the organization forward. Since I was the most recent president, she had great interest in what I had to say.
Though she was acting as president for a time, it wasn’t a role she wanted to fill long term. But she was willing to do what she had to in order to keep the organization afloat.
We talked about the situation and the needs of the organization. I lamented that the scope of work for the executive director had outgrown her abilities. But it turned out my assessment was too generous. I had misunderstood the situation.
The executive director was hired for the position because she was a loyal volunteer. She had no experience in that role and was never effective at it. She needed to go. But the problem was finding a replacement.
The board lacked the budget to hire a qualified executive director for any more than a few hours a week, but the needs of the organization called for someone closer to full-time.
The former president’s idea was to hire a qualified executive director with the understanding that he or she would need to raise funds to cover the difference between the current budget for the executive director and what they deserved to make.
The organization had a few supporters who could contribute much more than they were currently, but they were holding back until better management was in place.
I challenged the former president to secure pledges for the new executive director’s salary for the first year. This would allow him or her to work on the operations side of things first without a need to immediately begin fundraising.
She liked the idea and ended up implementing a scaled-back version of it.
Soon the new executive director was in place. I had a bit of interaction with him as he took on his new role, but not much—because he didn’t need it.
I soon moved out of the area and lost contact with the organization, but I understand the new executive director was still there several years later. It seems both he and the organization were doing fine.
Leadership and Management Success Tip
Though sometimes the right course—the only option—is to do nothing, we should seek opportunities to help fix later what we couldn’t fix today.
Read more in Peter Lyle DeHaan’s book Sticky Leadership and Management, featuring his compelling story-driven insights and tips.
Peter Lyle DeHaan is an entrepreneur and businessman who has managed, owned, and started multiple businesses over his career. Common themes at every turn have included customer service, sales and marketing, and leadership and management.
Peter shares his lifetime of business experience and personal insights through his books to encourage, inspire, and occasionally entertain.