83. Executives can make or break board effectiveness

SCRIPT I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to do an OMG episode about the impact that senior executives have on the effectiveness of their own boards. Sure, it might seem obvious, but I kinda feel sometimes like I get a lot of calls from CEOs who are struggling with their boards in one way or another so I ask them “tell me what you’ve done to address the problem,” and like Ned Flanders’ parents they’re like “I’ve tried nothing and I’m all out of ideas.” With all due respect to board chairs, nobody has more influence over the content, flow, and tone of board meetings than the CEO and their team. Senior executives control the flow of information to the board, they decide on the format and objectives of presentations, they have the platform to decide when and how to engage the board in a dialogue, and on what topic. Obviously different organizations have different dynamics between the board and management, but it’s just a fact of life that the CEO is in a position to nudge their board effectiveness toward an A+ or an F based on how they choose to approach agendas, presentations, questions, pre-reads, and any other interaction with the board. If you’re a fan of OMG you already know that I have lots of opinions about how to do these things well. I guess what I’m saying is if you’re a senior executive and you have dreams of a super effective board, ask not what your board can do for you…