Leading Your Board: Part 3
Board Communication: Bonus Part 3 Includes All My Best Of Links for Boards I've Curated Over the Years from Various Experts
“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
Effective Board communication goes beyond presenting data; it’s about crafting a narrative that inspires confidence, influences great decision-making, and is memorable.
Effective Board communication enables Board members to remember 3 or fewer key points post meeting. Your goal is to enable the Board members to repeat these points at their upcoming VC partner meeting. We covered some of these in Part 2 of this Series but it’s worth repeating… “7 Times 7 Different Ways.”
Key Point #1: Essential Communication Practices
Pre-Board Meetings: Always review sensitive topics 1:1 with key Board members before the main meeting.
Own Your Story: Present bad news with clarity and accountability. Never deflect or be defensive. Have a clear point of view with a clear “Why” you hold your point of view.
Make Every Board Slide Matter: Always ask, “What do they need to know and why?” Create memorable headlines. Repeat the headlines often. Your goal here is for your Board member to be able to repeat your headlines in front of their VC partnership when you are not in the room.
Key Point #2: Frameworks for Impactful Communication
Strategic Assumptions, Learnings, Course Corrections: Keep the Board focused on what matters.
Option 1, Option 2, Option 3: Provide context, pros/cons, risks/opportunities to guide decision-making. It’s how Board members think. So present the options to them the way they think.
Be 3 Moves Ahead: Anticipate their questions and think like a chess player, always driving the discussion forward to a shared desired outcome.
Nobody (especially Board members) wants to feel like they’ve hit a curve at 120mph. Make sure you are always helping them look ahead. If the curve does come faster, don’t let them grab the wheel. Rather, ask them to help you look further ahead or how best to brake better into the curve so you can accelerate out of the curve.
Key Point #3: Board Members are your Partners not your Bosses.
Boards want to help. They want to make an impact. Reframe your Board as a value-creation partner:
Ask them to share key insights from their experiences.
Assign them projects in their areas of expertise.
Celebrate their contributions to build goodwill.
Best Ideas Win: Your job as the leader of the Board is to align all inputs and collective points of view into a shared team decision.
Final Thoughts on Communication:
Avoid the dog-and-pony show; Be crisp, clear, and directive.
Treat every board meeting as an opportunity to deepen trust.
Always close the loop with post-meeting follow-ups.
ARE YOU A BOARD MEMBER READING THIS?
YOUR TOP 10 BOARD MEMBER RULES:
I failed to source this top 10 list in my “best of” files when I curated it years ago. If anyone knows the origination of this list, I’m happy to edit this post but even without attribution, it’s too good to not include here:
1. Be supportive of the company: Tell us the things we do right and things we do wrong. We are figuring this out as we go. “No comment” is hard to interpret and our imaginations will run wild.
2. Be responsive to communications: Please acknowledge emails. If you can’t respond when you read, set expectations when you can. At least say “acknowledge.” I’m generally on email all the time and it’s a real-time communications tool for me.
3. Be transparent: We have personal relationships around the table. Management should not use Board members as “agents.” I don’t want any politics on the Board – if I did I would still be going to Board meetings from my last company.
4. Be specific and descriptive: I sit on a Board also. I know the temptation to speak in strategic generalities. Please include concrete examples that smaller minds can digest. I give extra credit for using more words.
5. Look for opportunities: You generally cast a much larger net than we do.
6. Look for early revenue opportunities: Making money will never go out of style. Generally everything is easier with revenue.
7. Look for partnerships Early stage companies need help with partnerships largely because we don’t have any of particular value yet (like people, brand, data, money).
8. Look for dead-ends: No one wants to hit the wall at 120mph. You’re more experienced so you should see the wall coming before we do. Don’t grab the wheel – just tell us to look down the road.
I created this “Best Of” slide for an Operators Guild dinner presentation on “Leading Your Board” with Jeff Epstein about a year ago (Jan 2024).
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