“Building habits of group vulnerability is like building a muscle. It takes time, repetition, and the willingness to feel pain in order to achieve gains.” Daniel Coyle, The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups
You are doing the work to build and improve organizational health in your team, in your operations. But when you get to the boardroom, it goes out the window. It’s like being committed to exercising and eating well all week and then lying on the couch with pizza and chips all weekend. The reflection, the vulnerability, the trust, the openness is gone, replaced by… empty calories and lethargy that derail all the progress you have made.
What could boards look like, sound like, and operate like if everyone came as the best versions of themselves?
What Your Board Could Be
The reality is that in far too many cases, senior executives feel like they are subservient to, and at risk with, the board. These are the people who can vote them off the island, so to speak. To counter, they go in with the mindset: I’m going to prove to them that I know more than they do, that I know what I’m doing, that I have the answers. They don’t need to worry, and shouldn’t ask too many questions.
The senior leader feels threatened; like a cornered animal. And like a cornered animal, they act with aggression. Defensive, they seek to assert control. The board members either go along with it or push back and engage in a power struggle.
It doesn’t have to be like that.
Imagine a group that comes together with passionate interest in the organization, each bringing unique skills, knowledge, backgrounds, experiences, and networks to the table. What could you accomplish? This should be the room where the magic happens, where you assemble the most capable people to guide the organization.
What if the CEO dared to think that the board picked her because she’s the best person for the job, because they believe in her? And what if she believed in them because she was part of the system that figured out who should be at this table? Coming from that mindset, the possibilities for growing the organization — in a healthy, sustainable way — are endless.
Board of Protectors
If a leader has this frame of mind and goes to the board talking about trust, vulnerability, questioning, failing forward, challenging… It will likely fall flat. Most boards are not there. They think their job is to oversee the CEO, watch him for mistakes. We call them boards of directors, but they are more akin to boards of protectors. Regulations and legislation puts pressure on boards to protect rather than direct and think forward. They’re in the driver’s seat — but their focus is on the rearview mirror instead of on the steering wheel.
The savvy leader approaches them where they’re at and helps move them forward. It’s a gradual journey. But as they establish trust and commitment, they can get from where they are to where they want to be for the good of the organization. At its best, a capable CEO and board of directors can come together, build trust, and establish a space in which to commit to each other and build future-ready ideas for the company.
Simple, right? Far from. Possible? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely.
Three Steps to a Healthier Board
Changing the dynamics between a leader and a board is an ongoing, and sometimes arduous, process. As always, even the longest journey starts with the first steps:
- Start with Good Questions. Rather than showing up as “the person with all the answers”, come to the table with confidence and curiosity. For example, if a member poses an idea that you don’t believe in, think will not work, or do not understand, and you’re the “smartest one in the room,” it’s all but inevitable that you’ll dismiss it. Dismiss the person. What if, instead, you said, “You must be seeing something I’m not grasping. Talk to me about this. How might we do that? How could we overcome this potential problem?” Replace judgment with curiosity. You will find that most often, they have thought about these issues. They do have some answers for you —if you bother to ask the questions. Rather than dismissing, you’re empowering. And you’re learning.
- Show You’re Listening. It’s not enough to have a good conversation, share good ideas, or ask good questions. If you do not take those ideas and those answers further, it’s a waste of everyone’s time. Show that you are listening by implementing suggestions from the board. Not everything, most likely, but the more you can show that they helped, the more they feel valued. They’ll invest further. They’ll engage more deeply.
- Understand Your Board. When it comes to personality style, most CEOs tend towards Myers-Briggs’ STJ (sensing, thinking, judging). They want evidence; without it, they won’t be convinced. They focus on details and facts rather than ideas and concepts, using logic to make decisions. But not everyone on your board will be like this. By knowing your board members, you can communicate in a way that ensures they will hear and receive the message in a way that resonates with them. We’re all guilty of projecting our own personality type onto others, but as leaders, we have the responsibility to consciously work to overcome this. Leaders with strong, decisive, just-the-facts personalities can’t always use their default if they need to reach people who are, for example, more strongly intuitive, feeling, or perceiving. The work to understand and adjust your communication style to your different board members will pay off in gained trust, increased flow of information, and ultimately better decisions.
Opportunity Exists
There is a significant opportunity for the senior leader to alter the dynamics of the board, evolving from a culture that breeds power struggles and defensiveness to one that empowers trust, vulnerability, curiosity, and — ultimately — the results your organization needs.
Ask yourself: What kind of board do you want to be?
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