An Executive Director is the senior manager or executive officer of an organization, company or corporation. The position is comparable to a chief executive or managing director. An Executive Director is usually paid or remunerated for his or her work.
The senior employee of North American non-profit organizations is usually called the Executive Director instead of the Chief Executive Officer in order to avoid the business connotations which the latter name often evokes. Small groups and membership organizations may use the term Executive Secretary. It also distinguishes them from other members of the Board of Directors who are not remunerated for their roles.Charities in England and Wales tend to call the senior employee simply Director, as the governing body is usually a Board of Trustees.
The role of an Executive Director is to design, develop and implement strategic plans for their organization in the most cost effective and time efficient manner. The Executive Director is also responsible for the day-to-day running of the organization, including managing committees and staff, and develops business plans in collaboration with the board for the long term future of the organization. He or she is accountable to the board and the board grants the Executive Director the authority to "run" the company.
The Executive Director is a leadership role for an organization and he or she fulfills a motivational role in addition to his or her more office-based work. Executive Directors motivate and mentor members, volunteers, and staff, and may chair meetings. The Executive Director leads the organization and develops its organizational culture1.
As the title suggests, the Executive Director needs to be informed of everything that goes on in the organization. This includes staff, membership, budget, company assets, and all other company resources, to help make the best use of them and raise the organization's profitability and profile.
The Executive Director usually reports to the Board on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis to keep them informed of how the organization is doing. The board will offer suggestions and ideas about how to improve the organization. It is the Executive Director's responsibility to implement, improve upon or ignore these ideas.
In a corporate setting, the term executive director refers to those members of a Board of Directors who are also senior managers of the company. In this case, it distinguishes them from non-executive directors who are not actively involved in running the corporation.
See also
1 Charles W. L. Hill, and Gareth R. Jones, (2001) Strategic Management. Houghton Mifflin.
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