Managing Up and Down.

Make the executive's management of the board above and the staff below deliberate, because effectiveness sits largely in those two relationships.

Managing up, the board

What does the board need from me, and how often?

How do I bring them decisions, so I am neither hiding from them nor waiting on them?

Where the board is not doing its job and that is blocking you, route to the board and governance work rather than trying to fix it from below.

Managing down, the staff

How do I lead the staff so I am developing them, not doing their jobs?

How do I hold accountability without taking the work back?

What is my habit of getting into the weeds, and how will I catch myself?

Managing up well means the board trusts you and decides its own things. Managing down well means the staff grows and you are not the answer to every question. If either relationship runs on you doing their job, that is the thing to change.

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Routes board dysfunction to the board and governance work. Back to the guide, or start over.