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1/ In preparing to speak at a CEO Summit on the topic of boards, I sat down to think about first principles of what makes a good or bad board and how the CEO can best manage this. Below is my first pass ...
2/ Many teams view boards as an administrative body that comes together four times a year to be "updated." Call this the "waterfall board." Like anything in life, you'll get out of your board what you put into it
3/ I like to the think of the "continuous board" - a group of people who are so on top of your most strategic issues & direction that you can call / text / email at any time for quick input to iterate and course correct
4/ I once had a founder quote, "I can always get money. Where else can I get very connected and powerful people to do work for me?” That's it. A high-functioning board is always there to help you
5 If you build trust with your board they are often the only people you can run the sensitive decisions you need to make. Who else knows your finances, your executive team's conflicts, your product plans, your strategy?
6/ The best board members are at the same time cheerleaders, coaches, mentors and disappointed mom & dad. Board members have a vested interest in your success
7/ Like continuous development, when boards have regular updates in small, frequent batches they are never out of sync with your performance & objectives and don't need "updating." They're ready to be deployed at any moment, whether you choose to release or not.
8/ If you run a continuous board then the actual board meetings are a chance for the wider group to engage in debates on your most significant decisions where you can use input from somebody with a helicopter view
9/ If you think of a board as your extended team and if you invest in helping board members build relationships with each other you'll find they work more harmoniously and coordinated vs. arguing
10/ When groups of people like & respect each other they tend to work through issues even when they disagree or have different incentives. Invest in the social relationships with your board members and in their relationships with each other
11/ A high-functioning board truly acts as a team to help you solve difficult issues. If you nurture them when you don't have conflict they're more likely to be there for you when you do
12/ Boards can't build relationships or participate in thinking through how to help when 90% of the meeting is your team running through a 100-page deck. That is, by definition, an "update board"
13/ Boards that are there just for "monitoring" know it and tend to act that way. If they know it's an "update meeting" they'll just turn up and listen to you sharing results. You won't get real value
14/ A great board member doesn't tell you what you want to hear, they act as a sounding board and spar back with you. The best board members ask the toughest questions. If you ask outside of board meetings you get 1-1 feedback continuously
15/ It's true that there are bad board members just as there are good & bad people. If you're careful about whom you raise money from you can avoid the worst. That's why you should meet VCs long before you need money. If you raise too quickly then that's on you
16/ There are also high-performing CEOs & poor-performing CEOs. Let's not pretend every exec team is high performance and has fuck-wit board members. The job of a board is to represent the interests of all shareholders so there are times when the board is at odds with the CEO
17/ There are times where executive teams are begging the board for help with their CEOs. Yes, this happens. It's deeply uncomfortable & no board member wants this. But when presented with it, it's your responsibility to work through it
18/ The best boards deal with poor CEO performance early, communicate openly & try to collaborate to help him or her improve. It's not different than a struggling employee. If a CEO is failing they likely know it & many welcome help to improve or find a graceful change or exit
19/ Board Meetings are how most people think of boards but they're actually the least value part of your board relationship
20/ Of course the most value you'll get out of boards are the 1-1 sessions you do more frequently and the board meetings are the coming together of each of these people to discuss as a group what you've hopefully already gotten buy-in for individually <end>
