Anyone with children has had the experience of saying ‘no’ when asked for something only to later discover that your child went to their other parent and managed to coerce a ‘yes.’ Kids learn which parent is most likely to say yes or no to each type of request, and they shop for their desired result. A similar thing happens in corporate interactions. Team members are really adept at learning who to ask for what, or who will be more open minded about a topic, versus who will shut down discussion.
Similarly, A CEO needs to build sufficient rapport with each board member to understand how they think and who to ‘shop’ for what opinion. When seeking advice and a ‘yes,’ the CEO will want to start with the board member most likely to be supportive and helpful. They can help the CEO explore all of the angles and test the idea before presenting it to the entire board. Once the idea is well formed, and you basically have your ‘yes’, the CEO should engage that member to help lead the board discussion. Its like getting Dad to explain to Mom why he said ‘yes’ when she said ‘no.’ In essence, you want to bring the key board member to the CEO’s side of the table, and engage them to assist with guiding the full board to ‘yes.’ Involving a key board member will also help the meeting to be more collaborative and less performative for the CEO.
A well formed board will not be homogeneous, and each board member will have unique experiences and strengths that add to the effectiveness of the board and the value to the CEO and executive team. The goal is to make the board a competitive weapon that assists the CEO to build a successful company. As such, each board seat should be filled with an individual who adds to the competitiveness of the weapon. Too often, particularly for businesses that have been through several rounds of funding, the board is comprised almost entirely of institutional investors. Institutions often demand a board seat as a condition of their investment, so after a couple of rounds there are a lot of suits on the board. The key is for these experienced investors to ensure that their participation adds to the competitive weapon — they have to do more than monitor their investment, and they have to work hard to contribute to the business. Sometimes, instead of adding another financial person to the board, the smart choice is to insist that the board seat is filled by an industry person or an operator who can help the executive team mature.
When the entire board thinks of itself as a competitive weapon, you open the door to jointly develop battle plans, and assign roles and missions to leverage each board member’s domain expertise. As the CEO discovers the unique strength of each member, they can hold them accountable to contribute their strength, and engage them as needed when shopping for that ‘yes.’ One member may be an M&A deal-finder or deal-maker, while another may be able to add technical expertise, or marketing skills. A member who comes from the company’s industry may have connections with potential customers or possible business partners. If a board member only sees their role as protecting their fund’s money, they are probably not adding enough value. Board members should constantly if they are doing enough, and what else they can do to be helpful. They should also be holding each other accountable to actively participate.
A great board is a thing of beauty, and as a CEO, it is a gift. However, that gift requires hard work, and bringing it to fruition largely sits with the CEO to make the effort to leverage each board member’s unique strength.