The legendary Jack Bogle, Founder, The Vanguard Group, stated in a recent interview that directors need to focus more on creating shareholder value. There are many factors that create good, better and best boards. Here are a few focus points that can help create sustained shareholder value:

• Strategic planning that leverages director experience and wisdom and is reviewed with assumptions vetted on a regular basis.

• An education program that is customized to fill in any gaps that each director may have.

• Director succession planning that looks at current and future needs of the company, recruits from that vantage point, and plans for emergencies and natural off boarding.

• Board evaluation that optimizes value of effort with a prioritized plan of action, uses reports and feedback from a 3rd party facilitator, and integrates findings into strategic leadership and planning.

While viewpoints vary on what makes a candidate board ready, the following criteria can help to determine your level of board-readiness.

Quantitative Criteria

Aspiring Directors

• Interest in directorship
  
• No private or public board experience
  
• Some operational business experience/expertise, but limited enterprise-wide business acumen
  
• Currently serve on small not-for-profit board
  
• For-profit executive or professional service provider who interacts with boards currently, with longer-term aspirations of serving on boards
  

Emerging Directors

•  Experienced executive/professional with good business acumen developed through 15+ years of work  experience, 5+ years in a leadership capacity
  
•  Senior management/leadership roles such as C-suite, senior partner, government or military 
  
• Former or current director of a small- or medium-sized for-profit corporation, or a mid- to large-sized not-for-profit board 
  

Seasoned Directors

• Experienced executive/professional with strong business acumen developed through 20+ years of work  experience, 10+ years in a leadership capacity
  
•  Leadership roles such as C-suite, senior partner, government or military
  
•  Past or current director of for-profit boards including publicly-listed corporations
  

Qualitative Criteria

• Articulate communicator and good listener
  
• High level of emotional intelligence ability to understand the dynamics of the boardroom, how to deal with conflict when it arises
  
• Ability to balance a sense of unity with an openness to all relevant information even at risk of a fracas from time to time
  
• Have a balanced sense of caution and have demonstrated success when taking prudent risks
  
• Highly refined ability to self-assess 
  
• Can enhance contribution through feedback
  
• Can lead when appropriate, but aware of collective responsibility and engagement
  
• Can challenge constructively and be supportive when necessary
  
•  Sharp mind and good judgment
  
• Self-confident without being ego-driven
  
• Courage to stand up for that which is in the best interests of the company
  
• Team player
  

Graceful exists. With all the talk about board tenures and lack of competitive advantage in the boardroom, it may be time to ask if your contribution on the board is stale. Is it time to “bench yourself,” as Gehrig “The Iron Horse” did?  At one of my board evaluation facilitations, a director announced plans to leave. The director’s comments flowed smoothly into the conversation about the direction of the company and the skills the next director candidate needed – both issues had previously surfaced in the board evaluation. No finger pointing, no uncomfortable confrontation. Just frank talk amongst exemplary professionals.  The announcement, while a bit of a shock, allowed the board to plan for both the offboarding and the onboarding in a strategic manner. Directors may not share Lou Gehrig’s fame, but his classy departing comments may strike a chord. See this 2-minute clip of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech.  

I am often asked to provide insights and ideas to this question. Here are a few ideas:

1. Conduct a review of the board’s risk management skills and relevant industry experience. If deficiencies exist, schedule industry or risk-management training.

2. List all the key assumptions implicit in the company’s strategy and revisit them on a set schedule.

3. Appoint one director to the role of “devil’s advocate” during board discussions on strategy, constructively challenging assumptions, plans, forecasts, and more. Assign a different director to this role each time strategy is on the agenda.

A great resource for director candidates is an ebook: The Art of Constructive Challenge (Amazon, Barnes, iBookstore $9.99).

5 Questions to Ask When Considering Becoming a Public Company Director

1. Should I test the waters first?

If you want feedback on your board goals before jumping in, consider speaking with sitting directors, attorneys, and other professionals who work with boards to get their thoughts.

2. Am I comfortable with the transparency of becoming a public company director?

At a time when most everyone has a Twitter handle and a Facebook page, deleting any unprofessional posts or emotionally stated positions is a must. If needed, hire a company to review your online image and delete, to the extent that is possible, any undesirable information.

3. Is my company making large commitments in the near future that will demand more of my time?

Assuming your employer does not have policies that prohibit you from becoming a director, it is important to consider the time commitment needed to market yourself in a serious manner over a mud-on-the-wall approach.

4. What's my value proposition?

Your value proposition determines your potential for a board seat. Your expertise holds different weight to different people. You need to be clear about what expertise is most important to your board prospects.

5. What are my other options?

At times, a professional can be restricted from serving on a public company board due to employer policies, yet leadership positions may be a desired component of your career trajectory. In this instance it can be beneficial to consider private company, advisory or non-profit board positions or volunteering for unique company projects.

A great resource for director candidates is an ebook: Becoming a Public Company Director (Amazon, Barnes, iBookstore $9.99).

One of the downfalls I see in boardrooms is what Daniel Goldman calls “unanimous illusion.”  Goldman defines this as a behavior that, once a group adopts a belief, individual members are likely to believe it is true. All the more reason for directors to ask questions during board meetings on a broad range of topics of critical importance to their oversight role. This questioning can drive explicit conversations. It takes courage to unveil painful truths. The board that balances a sense of unity with an openness to all relevant information can help to avoid group think. Remember - the collective mind is as vulnerable to self-deceit as the individual mind. Questions directors might ask when reviewing their decision making process:

1.   Do we have an individual assigned to play the Devil's Advocate?

2.   To what degree do we ask probing questions from a place of insight?

3.   Are we following a leader on the board with a very impressive background AND whose experience matches the decision at hand?

There is a time when emotions run high in the boardroom. You “know” you are “right.” You “know” you are the one with the “truest” position. You are also on the road to gridlock. To be more effective, the goal is to alter your emotional tone, listen, and not attack. Some call this emotional intelligence; some call it truth-seeking habits; and others just plain old respect. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

· Know when you have stopped listening. Then begin writing down others’ comments and ask questions.

· Know when your negative radar outweighs the positive. Write down comments that have common ground with your position rather than points of disagreement.


Know when you are trying too hard. Back down and reflect on how what you just said sounds to those at the table.

Quoting Peter Senge, “Commitment to the truth does not mean seeking the “Truth,” the absolute final word or ultimate cause.  Rather, it means a relentless willingness to root out the ways we limit or deceive ourselves from seeing what is, and to continually challenge our theories of why things are the way they are. It means continually broadening our awareness, just as the great athlete with extraordinary peripheral vision keeps trying to ‘see more of the playing field.”

Every board member, like every other person, has hidden biases. They might include weighing older director voices more than those of younger members, or vice versa. Board leadership, such as board or committee chair, has an important role to identify whether unconscious bias has crept into their own thought processes and the board’s deliberations. Everyone has blind spots and can unwittingly favor certain types of people. Giving preference is a fact of life. To be more effective, board leadership can take a participant-observer stance by periodically pausing and taking note of the context. Here are a few tips to reduce implicit bias:

·         Summarize the perspectives heard so far and ask for perspectives that have not been heard yet. Ask, “Does anyone feels that their points have not been presented comprehensively?”

·         To make sure that there is not under or overstated issue, ask, “Is there consensus on a balanced perspective before we move on?”

·         On discussions that have stakeholders ask, “Are there other groups who should be involved in this discussion that we haven’t engaged yet?”

T. S. Eliot writes, "Between the idea and the reality-- Between the motion and the act-- Falls the Shadow." Being aware of hidden biases is an excellent way for board leaders to cast light into the shadow.

A recent study, “What Do Corporate Directors and Senior Managers Know about Social Media?”, conducted by the Conference Board and the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University showed that LinkedIn was the most used social media website among the sample group, with 80 percent having a LinkedIn account. Nearly two-thirds of executives and directors polled used social media for professional purposes. Their activities included reading blogs, online forums and message boards and watching videos that relate to their business. Key points for board candidate networking are to keep focused, create communications that can be measured, refined, and mapped back to your goal. Examples:

1. Targeting - focus and refine your campaign with review and adjustment of best traction efforts

2. Engagement - create and fuel value-based interactions and content delivery

3. Analytics - measure your marketing and networking effectiveness

4. Marketing Technology - using tools and systems to streamline tasks

Tracy E. Houston, M.A. is the President of Board Resources Services, LLC. She is a refined specialist in board consulting and executive coaching with a heartfelt passion for rethinking performance, teams, and the boardroom. With a focus on leadership, strategy, and risk management, she consults primarily with directors, presidents, and senior officers to provide input on high level, sensitive, and complex issues. Sometimes called the Chief Potential Officer, Tracy has a background that includes sitting on a number of boards, board consulting, and coaching for potential. She develops unique insights into the vital role of human interaction and the inevitable fusion between barriers to growth and success. Extensively published, Tracy has written hundreds of blogs that are featured on numerous award-winning websites and has a monthly board column hosted by ColoradoBiz Magazine. She is the creator of the Board Guru™ eBooks –a corporate governance leadership series. 

Her company, Board Resource Services, has a website at www.eboardmember.com and www.eboardguru.com. Follow Tracy on Twitter @BoardGuru. Headquartered in the Denver, Colorado area, Tracy is an avid hiker.
​
For a complimentary 1-hour consultation, email: [email protected]

I recently read a Fast Company article about a new model in the world of talent agencies from the Silicon Valley. Rather than doing active placement, the agency runs what they call the “Talent Network.” The concept is to first build relationships with Silicon Valley’s standout people and then make an introduction of them to a firm. It is up to the company to offer the candidate a position. The approach has resulted in marked insights for matching people for high-level performance that results in competitive advantage. While some trends such as shareowner activism, emerging technologies, and legislative activity are causing shifts in expectations and roles for directors, the fundamental idea of attracting exceptional talent to the boardroom has not. Whether the board is considering first-time candidates or sitting directors, here are a few ideas from the article:

·         Identify levels of mental and emotional dexterity

·         Determine the impact the candidate is making in their current role

·         Discover what the candidate is learning