"In comparing the role of the board and that of the executive officer, the relationship is often analogized with a family vacation. Whereas the board is responsible for determining the destination and the budget for the vacation, the executive officer is responsible for determining the route and the mode of transportation, to arrive at the destination within budget."(from an article in the Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals).
In an article about nonprofit governance and a specific note on the difference between the board and the exec, the above analogy was offered. It gave me pause and how generally applied but with lots of issues, this analogy is referenced. When I consider planning the family vacation, I think of the whole family sitting down, agreeing about the hoped for results and general destination and identifying activities each and then collectively all want to have happen. There of course is a budget because not all contribute financially equally. And then it's time to hit the road and follow the course set out by the group. Of course there are course corrections hopefully agreed-upon by all but this doesn't inherently change the desired results unless of course, it does.
Does this sound like an analogy to be applied to nonprofit boards and their exec? I hope not. The board is the family; the exec is a member but not with a final vote. The hoped for results are defined by the family. Not the same unless of course the family IS the type of family described in the analogy 😒