Board Development
Some boards talk about how they talk. Those boards decide better.
A board is a bit like a national team in sports. A group of experienced people, chosen with care, given remarkably little time in each other's company, and still expected to perform together.
And like the athletes, a lot is asked of them. Board members digest a large amount of complex information. They set the company's risk appetite. They help the CEO and the leadership team raise their gaze. They keep track of compliance. And they make hard choices for the company's future.
All of it is done by talking. That makes the conversation the actual job.
So, what does it sound like? And does all the experience in the boardroom get used?
Often it does. Sometimes it does not. Perhaps one dominant voice sets out a view early and frames the whole discussion. Or the newest member keeps quiet. The one brought in for a perspective the others do not have. Or the group is so keen to agree that it stops testing the alternatives.
Ambitious boards look at this on purpose.
That is the part we work on.
If your board is thinking along these lines, we would be glad to hear from you. Write to patrik@mindenab.se or call +46 70 977 55 80.
Leadership Team Effectiveness
Capable executives don't add up to a team. Teams are built.
Someone once put it to us like this: 'everyone wants a seat on the leadership team, but few want to attend the meetings'.
The reason?
While the seat gives status, what the group is actually there to do is often left open. That leaves even driven leaders less engaged.
Part of it is that a leadership team is not much like other groups in an organisation. Everyone in the group already runs something. They are used to being the one who decides rather than being one of several peers in the same group. The high ambition that serves a leader well does not always serve the group as a whole.
But a leadership team can be designed to be effective.
We work with leadership teams that want to be more of a team. Our work often turns on what the group spends its time on. On whether disagreement gets aired, and whether the group has settled how to work together. Because if that’s not clear, people get frustrated and the group starts pulling in different directions.
In other cases, a CEO or business area head wants a sounding board on how to put the group together. What it exists to do, who belongs on it (and who does not), and whether one leadership team is the right solution at all.
If you are wondering about your own team, do get in touch. Write to patrik@mindenab.se or call +46 70 977 55 80.
Executive Transitions
A new position is easier to secure than to master. The leaders who prepare deliver sooner.
A first position as CEO. A first seat on the senior leadership team. Or the same title but in a larger context. Whichever it is, the step up rarely tests your competence. After all, your competence is what got you the role.
What it tests is judgement. Judgement in conditions you haven't been in before. And with stakeholders you've never had to manage.
The balance shifts in an executive position, and that's easy to miss. Knowing the business still counts. Earning trust counts for more. And the strengths that got you here are the ones you tend to over-use under pressure.
Relationships change too, even with people you've known for years. Colleagues who used to just tell you things now think about what they say first. Honest feedback thins out the higher you go.
We work with executives before they start, and past the first ninety days everyone talks about. We act as a sparring partner: someone to think aloud with, in confidence.
If you are facing a transition like this, let us talk. Write to patrik@mindenab.se or call +46 70 977 55 80.