A Strong Leader Still Required

When some hear about a governing concept concept such as: "the board speaks as one voice or not at all," they can start to think that the organization is being led by a committee from top to bottom. That is a real misconception. What allows a single leader, the CEO, the president, Senior Pastor, Executive Director, (or what ever title is given to the top executive) to have great decision making power is that the realm of his or her authority is clearly defined. The very highest decisions of the organization are made as a group by the governing board. These decisions are so important, so high level and affect the very nature of the organization, that they cannot be entrusted to just one person. For example, you would not delegate to one person the power to change the purpose of the organization. However, a vision of what the organization can be under the board defined overarching purpose and how we can get there are fully delegated to the leader. The leader then is free to assemble the staff and take whatever steps are required to bring the organization to the fulfillment of that vision. And it certainly takes a strong and gifted leader to make that vision a reality.