Do Board Presidents Get Veto Power?

The quick answer to this is NO. The President or Board Chair doesn’t have any special powers or additional authority over the rest of the board.

But let’s dig into this a little bit. One of the things I’ve noticed in working with nonprofits is the confusion people have about this role. It’s not at all uncommon that I work with clients who have some sort of board crisis, and that crisis has to do with the President or Chair’s behavior.

Usually this happens because somewhere along the way the board got confused about the President’s role. Maybe the President started acting like the boss of the group (or the board allowed them to behave this way unchecked – very common when the group isn’t great at direct communication).

So what is the job of the President?

The President or Chair is there to facilitate and help lead meetings, but other than the extra duty to keep meetings on track, they are just another board member. Their vote doesn’t count extra and they should have no additional powers compared to other board members.

Harvard Business Review put out a great article about how to be a good chair. And although it focuses on for profits the advice applies here too. Check it out: https://hbr.org/2018/03/how-to-be-a-good-board-chair

“To be effective, chairs must recognize that they are not commanders but facilitators. Their role is to create the conditions under which the directors can have productive group discussions. Good chairs recognize that they are not first among equals. They are just the people responsible for making everyone on their boards a good director.”

If you’re having any trouble with understanding the role of the Officers, feel free to schedule a member consult with me!