Boardroom Engagement — Part 1 (Transparency)
This article is aimed at business leaders and is the first part in a 3 part series on boardroom engagement. Some of the content in this series will be slightly more relevant to Product and Technology leaders since it is based on my first-hand experiences as a Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO).
I’ve been reflecting recently on several events, roundtables and ad-hoc conversations that have centred around engaging with a company’s Board. Since definitions can vary, I’m talking about the layer above the Senior Leadership Team or operational Executive Directors who generally meet once a quarter to review the financial accounts and provide challenge and guidance to the key strategic initiatives (this is typically where you’ll find the Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) or investors).
In my view, the first and most important consideration when interacting with any Board is transparency.
When I say transparency I mean communicating honestly in a way that the people in the room can understand. Not hiding the truth or bamboozling people with buzz words and industry/technical terms that might mask the important conversations which need to be had. I’m sure some seasoned executives might chuckle at this statement as being a shade naive but I’m convinced that transparency is the right approach when it comes to both being successful as an executive, as well as unlocking meaningful value from conversations with a Board.
Honesty can often feel uncomfortable though and the temptation to sugarcoat things or ‘manage upwards’ can be alluring in the short term but the reality is that speaking in the abstract or hiding the skeletons in a closet stands a very good chance of coming back to haunt you in the longer term if left unchecked. Presenting a realistic picture of how an outcome, team, system or project is truly operating may not be the easiest thing to do but it will build your credibility and provide you with a runway for further discussions, should you require it in the future, when all too frequently, something changes.
If you don’t do this, and have to backtrack or unwind a plan in subsequent meetings, confidence in you will quickly wane. Simply put, if you don’t know an answer and don’t have a plan, it’s far better to say so than fabricate or underestimate something just to hit a meeting date. This might be easier said than done, if pressure is coming from several angles (you have to provide something, after all), so be clear on what you can provide and present it in an engaging but honest way.
I favour structured frameworks, be those industry-established ones, such as NIST* for cyber security, or homegrown ones, such as my template at the bottom of this article, for plotting technology maturity across a number of key interrelated areas (in this case: People, Process, Technology and Data). The benefit of a consistent framework is that they allow for comparison. If prepared at the appropriate level of detail, these frameworks can also reduce the number of places to hide, which is a good thing because trust me any NED worth their wage will find the places to hide pretty quickly. It’s important not to go too far into the details of course, as the individuals you’re speaking with are context-switching in the extreme and might find it far easier to engage with concepts and principles rather than low-level specifics. Agree on a level of detail and then be consistent in providing it, at least for the time that it continues to be useful.
It’s much harder to argue with facts too, so data is always helpful in these conversations, alongside benchmarks and historical reference points to provide context. The less subjectivity the better, although at the same time, they’re paying for your experience and opinion so never be afraid to share that. You don’t want the Board to be data-driven, you want them to be data-informed. The former implies a blind following of data without due human analysis and intervention, the latter indicating a well-considered and well-informed decision.
In summary, my first consideration when interacting with a boardroom is transparency.
NEXT: Boardroom Engagement — Part 2 (Know your jumping-in point)
Or Boardroom Engagement — Part 3 (Communicate balanced horizons)
Check out more from my series of Leadership articles or my practical guides on building and operating effective Product Engineering Squads.
All thoughts are my own.
