Making an impact in the boardroom requires more than just showing up with good intentions. Protiviti’s Jim DeLoach maps out critical self-assessment questions to help corporate directors and C-suite executives elevate their contributions from passive to transformational.
Strategic conversations in the boardroom and C-suite are essential for achieving alignment of corporate vision and goals, adapting to changing markets and efficient resource allocation. They lead to informed, data-driven decisions and more effective management of enterprise risks. When effectively conducted, they drive clearer accountability for delivering results, engender greater confidence that the company is on track and, most importantly, lead to increased cohesiveness of both the leadership team and the board of directors.
Much has been written about how leaders should ready themselves to participate in these conversations. Personal preparation, sharpening communications skills, staying abreast of market trends and changes in industry fundamentals, being knowledgeable of competitors, understanding customer feedback and being cognizant of plausible and extreme scenarios are table stakes. So are remaining committed to company values and culture, building trust and sustaining the organization’s financial health and performance.
Given that, below are 10 questions that active directors and seasoned senior executives should consider as they periodically self-assess their personal strategic impact in the C-suite and boardroom. The objective of these questions is to help them elevate their contributions to strategic conversations in meaningful ways that can shape their organizations’ future.
Am I effective at pattern recognition?
Much has been said about bringing technology and geopolitical savviness and knowledge of markets, competitors and customers to the boardroom and C-suite tables. But strong leaders are also effective at connecting the dots. Data points and information are great to have and so is knowledge of specific domains, but what really sets an exceptional director or senior executive apart is the ability to distill a deep understanding of data, information and knowledge into real “aha” insights they can share in strategic conversations. Patterns, related trends, possible scenarios and strategic alternatives are what gets people around the table thinking during divergent conversations. As leaders exercise this muscle, they develop the skill of digesting data and integrating their personal take into strategy discussions and thereby increase their value contributed.
Do I bring a detached perspective into strategic discussions to see things as they are?
Leaders should be objective in facing reality as it is, not as it should be. They should pay attention to the extent to which processes and decisions are data-driven and customer, employee and supplier feedback loops exist. A manage-by-fact discipline engenders confidence. More importantly, leaders should expect an engaged culture in which bad news travels fast enough to enable timely corrective action to get things back on course. Directors should look to the CEO and CEOs should look to direct reports to be open and candid in facing up to mistakes and errors of judgment, learning from them and sharing them on a timely basis. Every director and senior executive has a role to play in ensuring that fresh business realities are considered objectively and acted upon timely to sustain the business. Overly cautious or optimistic board members and executives can be suboptimal in a rapidly changing world.
Am I challenging the assumptions underlying strategic decisions?
No matter how well thought out they may be, many strategies fail. Research on the percentage of failed strategies cite statistics that fall into a wide range, with some asserting a failure rate as high as 90%. Whatever the number is — whether the strategy itself is flawed or the execution of the strategy is poor — the failure rate is high enough that directors, CEOs and executive teams must be at their best when engaged in strategic conversations. There are many reasons strategies fail, but one important angle directors and leaders should pursue constantly is the validity of the assumptions underlying the strategy, both during strategy setting and execution. The objective is to ensure the relevance of the corporate strategy in view of current and expected market developments. Thus, companies should have in place effective processes to reality test strategic assumptions against market developments. If there are none, that in itself is a red flag.
Guarding the Golden Goose
Tips to preserve your company’s most precious organizational asset
Read moreDetailsIs my EQ high enough?
Emotional quotient includes being in touch with one’s emotions, possessing self- and social awareness, being emotionally resilient, having strong interpersonal skills and being adept at conflict management and cool under fire. Individuals with a high EQ are often those who can influence without authority, are great collaborators, are authentic in their communications and are able to freely own up to their mistakes. Communication in the boardroom and C-suite is as much about leaving one’s ego at the door and developing relationships as it is about displaying smarts. True, leaders should have a high IQ as they must display a strong capacity for learning and processing and interpreting information. But a good EQ is about empathy, listening and managing reactions, all building blocks toward creating productive relationships.
Am I thinking enough about disruptive innovation and how it will manifest itself?
One of the toughest tasks of management is recognizing when a strategy is running out of steam or when the business model must be reimagined to improve the customer experience. According to a global survey of 3,100 senior executives, six of 10 (61%) CEOs see their role as pushing their executive teams to respond with the urgency they believe is needed given the disruption in the marketplace. Yet, 63% of CEOs believe their executive teams lack the agility needed to keep pace. Further, 59% believe that their employees tend to be set in their ways and resistant to change. The board and senior executives should focus on assisting the CEO with building a trust-based, innovative and resilient culture that can compete and sustain profitable growth in rapidly-changing markets.
While it helps to have a continuous improvement mindset, there are times in the life of a business when clinging to the status quo by incrementally improving what’s been done for years is not enough. This is where directors and the executive team can contribute as a sounding board to the CEO. In today’s optics of changing business fundamentals where it is “disrupt or be disrupted,” it pays to think ahead, anticipate scenarios and start early in adjusting the business model and strategy well before they become obsolete. Recognizing vulnerabilities, assessing how to address them and formulating actionable response plans are valuable skills in managing uncertainty.
Am I wired for risk but not for opportunity?
Risk is inevitable, and most boards and executive teams are actively engaged in risk oversight. But risk management in successful organizations is much more than just reducing or avoiding bets; it is also about making the best bets with intention to create long-term enterprise value. That is what makes the discipline of enterprise risk management a differentiating strategic skill. Savvy leaders understand that there are consequences to both risk-averse and risk-taking behavior on the deployment of capital. To that end, directors and executives should be mindful of their language and tone in strategic conversations. Are they thinking about seeking and taking on opportunities and not just focused on risk mitigation? Are they focused on offense as well as defense? Playing offense means investing to innovate processes, products and services. It means pursuing new markets as well as adopting disruptive business models offering differentiating value propositions. Defense is about compliance, reducing risk to an acceptable level and preserving reputation. There is a place in strategic discussions for both; therefore, each director and senior leader should be wired for both. This is a mindset that should be driven down into the organization.
Am I making a positive contribution to the tone during strategic conversations?
While this is an obvious question, contributing to the tone of any conversation entails fostering an environment in which open dialogue, constructive criticism, innovative thinking and collaborative decision-making are welcomed. The manner in which directors and executive leaders engage and collaborate with each other inside and outside of the boardroom and C-suite and with the CEO is affected by the board’s processes, the manner in which management engages the board and, most importantly, the behavior of individual board members and senior executives. These factors frame the tone at the top culture and contribute to or avoid cultural fault lines and behavioral norms. In the boardroom and in the C-suite, it is easy to spot who listens, who dominates the conversation, who is respectful of others and who isn’t.
Do I foster an environment of trust based on values?
The foundation for trust is open, honest and transparent communication. Board members should inculcate a boardroom culture where the CEO feels comfortable sharing both good and bad news, knowing that the board will provide support and guidance rather than judgment or censure. CEOs should do the same with their direct reports, who should do likewise model this behavior with their direct reports. Disagreements at the top of the organization are inevitable; however, how they are handled can either build or erode trust. Thus, the boardroom and C-suite culture should foster an environment where differing opinions and views are expressed respectfully and appropriately considered.
Am I taking time to learn so I can prepare to participate in strategic conversation?
Directors and executives should be curious and adopt a continuous learning mindset regarding matters pertinent to the organization’s viability that the board and executive have not focused on at all or enough; we refer to these matters as blind spots. They should take stock of their strengths and limitations — particularly on issues or in areas where they lack expertise or don’t fully understand — and focus on the appropriate questions to address before or during meetings. For directors, the best questions are those that are focused on strategic or policy issues that will likely affect the long-term success and sustainability of the business rather than getting into the weeds of day-to-day operations. On the other hand, executives must have an operational as well as a strategic focus in their preparations. The point is that curiosity and a strong desire to learn can be very effective in contributing to one’s preparations.
Am I effective in understanding and offering advice to the CEO?
Each director has a responsibility to contribute to the board’s collective efforts to foster open, trust-based and transparent communications with the CEO. To that end, directors should ensure they are contributing value in the boardroom — consistent with their duty of loyalty obligations — with the objective of helping the CEO succeed. As insiders, senior executives should have a similar mindset in ensuring that they and the CEO are aligned with respect to the company’s long-term vision, strategic direction, market positioning, resource allocation decisions and performance incentives linked to long-term shareholder value. This alignment of interests is fundamental to building effective working relationships and increases the value of advice to the CEO during strategic conversations.
In summary, strategic conversations in the boardroom and C-suite are essential to effective leadership and organizational success. Every board member and senior executive aspires to make a positive contribution to the organizations they serve. That is why it may be a good idea for them to periodically assess ways they can increase their impact during these conversations. The above questions are intended to facilitate this assessment.
Jim DeLoach, a founding 
