Board to tears? How to love your BoD
Read Time: 3.5 minutes
It’s been a while since I ate a 💩 sandwich. But I’ve been eating one this week.
I was hoping to be writing to you about how well my GROW book launch is going, and remind you to grab a copy, and leave a review.
But unfortunately we have a problem.
Amazon experienced a glitch this week and GROW isn’t currently showing up for purchase. We hope to get it resolved soon, but it definitely hasn’t been ideal.
There are still several other retailers to buy GROW from right now, which you can find here.
I will definitely let you know when it is back up at Amazon (and hit you up for that review :))
Now, let’s jump into this week’s newsletter.
Board to tears? How to love your BoD
When Manitoba Harvest first started making enough money to know we had a product people liked, we cobbled together our mentors and key investors into a loose board of advisors.
The arrangement made a lot of sense at the time. Everyone was passionate about our work and wanted the best for us. And, we were surrounded by experienced people who provided us with the information we needed to ramp up, make decisions, and move forward without making too many mistakes.
We were so successful that, in order to make our next moves, we soon needed venture capital.
In receiving venture capital, we had to create a proper governance structure, one that would require an official, legal Board of Directors.
I had already been working with our board of advisors for four or five years at that point. Some of these advisors even transferred over to the Board of Directors. And so I thought I had it figured out. In fact, I thought I had everything down. Quarterly meeting plans. Budget structures. Strategic innovation platforms.
I would walk into that boardroom ready, every single time. Papers lined up, pen at the ready, figures in my head. I thought that those meetings would go, well, perfectly.
And every single time I would face a barrage of questions and feedback that seemed right out of left field. Hadn’t I spent hours getting ready for these meetings? Didn’t I have all the answers at my fingertips? In the beginning, just facing up to this on a regular basis would leave me shaken and confused.
What was I doing wrong? Why did this feel so weird?
On the one hand, if you’re an entrepreneur, your Board members are your peers in business. They’re people who, for the most part, do what you do for a living. On the other hand, they've been chosen (or, like me, you've even chosen many of them yourself) for their exceptional skills and connections.
So, I stepped back and asked myself a few questions.
What’s the best way to work with a Board of Directors?
How can navigate my own best instincts when the Board is lobbing questions at me that can feel deeply uncomfortable?
How can I maintain mentorship relationships with my Board members if we’re disagreeing?
What I learned is that I had to build competence in actually managing my Board. This meant that I had to get good at a few new skills.
The first skill is clear communication.
To maintain Board competence, be clear about what you're going to do, and then do what you say. Many entrepreneurs fail when they don't clearly communicate what their plan is, even when good things are happening in the company. As an entrepreneur, you’re used to running the show, often holding all of that information in your brain. Now, things are different. The Board needs to know what you know, all the time.
The second skill is frequent communication.
Don’t leave the Board hanging. Always keep that communication coming. A Board should never have to stop to wonder whether a report is on the way. The keyword for your optimal Board communication plan is “routine.”
The third, and perhaps most important skill, is be open to feedback.
Every time you have a meeting with your Board, there will be feedback: get used to it. Even if you are exceptionally well prepared for your Board meetings, there is always going to be a takeaway for you. There is always going to be an opportunity to learn more. Take that opportunity. Don’t take it personally, and don’t get reactive or combative. Just listen and learn.
Fourth, incorporate that feedback.
Take your Board’s advice. Go back to your team with what you’ve learned, check your plan, adjust it, and come back to your Board with even clearer communication. You can align your Board’s recommendations with your story and your truth.
Remember, your Board’s job in governance is to take in everything that you've said and everything that you’ve planned, and internalize it, and then suggest best practices that you can use to up your game.
Even so, your Board’s purpose is to work with your vision, not against it.
Over time, I learned that my Board members were happy to learn and grow with me and my business. More complex governance models can help businesses grow more rapidly and with more stability.
So embrace that steep learning curve, and love your Board.
I hope you enjoyed the read, and are ready to think differently about good governance.
Until next time.
Let’s Grow!
Here are 4 other ways I can help you grow:
Get my new book GROW: 12 Unconventional Lessons for Becoming an Unstoppable Entrepreneur
Work with me 1:1 to grow your business.
Listen to my Founder to Mentor podcast. (new episodes weekly)
Get my free mentorship growth tools at www.fatafleishman.org.
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