I belong on many boards. I have found that the success or failure of the Board often depends on the ability of those on the Board to think from a higher level and challenge appropriately. I have been amazed at Boards that have degenerated to a High School level of communication as people wrestle to stake a claim or manage all the emotions of the group behind the scene.
So here are some of the secrets to a great Board and how they apply to you as a leader as well in making a great team
1. Discipline–Always respect the meeting time. Your meeting must start and stop on time so people know you expect the same of any projects they commit to. The minute a Board gets loose with their timing, I find the participants get “loose” with their responsibilities on projects as well.
If you are weak on this, you will find that projects will be delayed, discussions are often side tracked and people bring partial information to meetings.
2. Support- I find that the leaders of the great Boards are the ones that let all members weigh in before they (the leader) gives their own opinion on an idea. The truly fabulous ones will then encourage a healthy discussion if they feel there are obstacles but are still willing to go with the majority opinion even if it differs from their own.
If you are weak on this, you will find you end up with a “YES” team and not one that will debate issues in a healthy way. You need conflict in order to have good critical thinking going on.
3. Humor- I find the truly great Boards have a sense of whimsy and fun in the discussions. One line zingers (not ever directed at an individual) cause the group to crack up and keep discussions balanced even on heavy topics.
If you are weak on this, you will find that people will start to come late to meetings, remain quiet in meetings and listening will start to slip as people will tune things out.
4. Planned- The great Boards have a solid agenda ahead of time as well as pre-read materials that bring all of the Board up to date so they can make informed decisions.
If you are weak in this area, you will find that discussions will remain at a surface level as people will not do any “pre-work”. Then if things go wrong you will end up with, “well that wasn’t shared” or “I didn’t know that otherwise I would have done differently”. In other words, a slippery track to lack of accountability.
Evaluate the above four items and challenge yourself on how well you do those for your team. If you are weak in any one area commit to making a change.
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How to change the dynamics of a feisty group of people
by Anne Warfield
SITUATION: We have a very feisty Board. In some ways this is good as we bring in unique points of view. The bad thing is we tend to have very contentious disagreements that turn into nasty attacks on each other almost. We seem to recover from these but lately I am seeing some scars that I am afraid may block us from being our best together. Our culture is a very open culture of strong communication so I don’t to water us down and make us all just “nice”. What can we do to have robust discussions without personal attacks?
OTHER PERSON’S PERSPECTIVE:
For the sake of this situation let’s assume that all the Board Members want to be on the board and want to do a diligent job. They are all trying to make sure they think through things clearly and do what is best for the shareholders, the company and the customers. They are the judicial wing in a way to the company C Suite so they may feel they need to look at things with a bit more of a critical eye leaning toward the shareholder and the customer as they most likely think the C Suite is focused on the company side.
THINKING IT THROUGH WITH OUTCOME THINKING®:
By design, a Board is supposed to be an objective party that can help you see things through a new lens and essentially protect you from being too “me” centered as a company. This means they are designed to challenge the status quo, think differently and be skeptical of what is brought in front of them.
Okay, so now we understand that their brains will more naturally go AGAINST what you are proposing rather than with it right away.
The next thing you need to look at is egos. By essence a Board is designed of people who are brought together as they have a wisdom or knowledge that is deemed as worthy for the organization. Therefore, my value as a Board Member feels like it comes with the “voice” I contribute at the sessions. So I will want to speak up and DIFFERENTIATE my value from the others in the room. Hmm, now I have a second item that is actually moving my brain as a board member to be more contentious with others.
Lastly, I find that many companies that a desire a culture of candor actually end up with a culture of strong personalities that fling their opinions and judgements on to others without the accountability of having the metrics or facts to back things up. This leads to a culture that actually is NOT candid but instead is dominated by a handful of strong individuals and I usually see that organization flame out when the strong individuals don’t get along or they leave. Because in their wake is a bunch of “yes” people and no one to carry the torch.
So how do you manage all that and shift the thinking? This is something we commonly do with Boards. We work with them to build a platform of Excellence in dealing with conflict and critical thinking.
HOW TO BEST HANDLE/PHRASE USING OUTCOME THINKING®:
This may serve you best to have an outside source come in and run the session as the Board won’t see them as a threat. Here are the steps that need to be followed:
1. Clearly define what a board with high accountability, respect and trust looks and operates like. We bring Boards through an exercise that leads them to their own “aha” on what they want to be and what can block it.
2. Get each Board Member to openly share what they bring to the table and what their Achilles heel is.
3. Define how robust discussions will happen.
4. Predetermine how all opinions/assumptions will be stated so no one presents an opinion as a fact.
5. Teach the group how to appropriately challenge or disagree. We use a series of open ended questions that keep you in a state of curiosity.
6. Come to an agreement on 3-5 principles/values you will all operate under and how you will call each other on them if you step outside the Boundaries.
This way the Board gets a format for building trust while still appropriately challenging each other.
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Quoteable Quotes
“Success is a journey not a destination.”
~ Ben Sweetland
What Mashables Can Teach You About Communication?
What can you, as an executive, learn about communicating from a 27 year old? Pete Cashmore at age 19 started Mashable, a tech blog. It grew in one year to 2 million followers. So what does he do that you can learn from in order to make your communication as an executive more profound?
In order to improve communication with others you need to make sure you are always conveying that you respect them as a person. Here are ten steps that will help you know if you always convey that you respect the other person.
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