Elephants in the Boardroom
By Richard A. Moran, Venrock Associates
(Continued)
And consider these additional questions.
- Do back channels of communication make some Board members more informed than others?
- Is there a Board member who is not doing their fair share but no one will discuss it?
- Do some Board members feel underpaid while others are afraid to address Board compensation?
- Is there is a feeling that the Executive Committee is too powerful and doesn't share?
- Does the Executive Committee feel under appreciated and over worked?
- Does the Audit Committee have low confidence in the CFO but...
• Too much pain is involved to switch
• The auditors like the CFO
• A 10K is delayed and needs to go out
• The CEO supports him/her
• The analysts like him/her - Do some Board Members preach about "When I was at GE, Intel, Wells Fargo...(fill in the blank)"
- Are there plenty of consultants (and bills) but no visible signs of progress?
- Do some Board members always need more data in order to make a decision?
- Do Board retreats waste time and duplicate management efforts?
- Do Board members "wordsmith" and want to review too many documents and reports before released?
- Are succession plans dodged by the CEO so that no one ever quite gets to them?
- Is recruiting new Board members always botched?
- When Directors go off into minutiae, does any one pull them back to the meeting at hand?
- Do Directors talk about each other disparagingly in private conversations?
- Is every Board meeting a dog and pony show that "shuts down the plant" in PowerPoint prep work?
