Transcript The Most Important Partnership Best Practices for Board/CEO

Jim Kasch
Agenda
 Research & Experience
 Must-Haves
 Trust
 Micromanagement
 Clarity
 Building Communication & Trust
 Other Issues
Research & Experience
 “Board-CEO Relationships: Successes, Failures, and
Remedies”
 Filene Research Paper
 Colorado State University
 Jim Kasch
 4 years as CEO
 10 years senior level experience with multiple boards of
directors
High Level Research Results
 Size does not matter
 CEO’s and Chairpersons reported similarly
 Four behavioral dimensions identified
 Trust
 Micromanagement
 Clarity of roles/purpose
 Building communications & trust
Must-Have Qualities
 Common Vision
 Who are we? Who are we serving? What do they value?
 Common Philosophies
 How will we meet the needs of our stakeholders?
 Constructive Partnership
 Mindset of interdependence; shared responsibility
Must-Have Qualities
 Clear Expectations
 What and how
 Strategic Thinking
 CEO brings strategy-related topics to the table
 Culture of Candor
 Alive and well
Within the Board
 What are the power dynamics within the board?
 Are the right disciplines represented on the board?
 Is there alignment on what you are trying to
accomplish?
 Is there alignment on the traits of your ideal CEO?
Board Self-Management
 Who polices the board?
 Do you employ self-assessments or use third parties?
 Only the board can fix the board
 Outliers
 Gut check – Are you still the right person?
 Do you have the right management in place?
Elemental Balance
Trust
Communication
Two Most Important Elements
 Communication within the relationship
 Open, honest, timely
 Pre-meeting conversations, off-site
 Eliminates “surprises”
 Trust between the CEO and the Board
 Both parties have the best intentions
 Nurtured over time
 Obtained through shared experiences during stressful
times
Three Levels of Trust
1.
Situational Trust

Trust in some cases; specific rewards and punishments
2. Mutual Trust
 Confidence in each other; strong communication;
willingness to be vulnerable
3. Seamless Trust
 Identify with one another; feels like family
Improving Trust
 Clear and consistent communication
 Adherence to well-defined roles
 Clear performance expectations
 Do as you say; say as you do
 Best Practices from the Room
Micromanagement
 Most important issue on survey
 Good relationships where the board resisted the
temptation to micromanage
 Focus on strategic governance issues
 “The Veto Gavel”
 Best practices in the room
Clarity
 CEO Powers
 Follow the tenth amendment
 Performance management
 Have you aligned the CEO’s performance expectations
with the needs of the credit union


High capital versus growth
Safety and Soundness versus Risk Management
Clarity
 CA Credit Union
 CEO no-show to planning session
 Director as Interim
 7 out of 11 directors privately expressed they were the
“Devil’s Advocate”
Building Communication & Trust
 Transparency in results with the Board
 “Right kind; right amount” of information
 The whole truth vs. Nothing but the truth
 CEO leadership style is important
 Participative, collaborative
 Best handled during hiring
Best Practices
 CEO/VP meeting with the Chairman prior to the
board meeting
 CEO report in Board Packet describing progress
toward objectives
 Actively team build
 Social interaction breeds familiarity
Best Practices
 “We’re All in this Together”
 Give CEO an avenue to discuss under-performing
directors
 Annually review position descriptions
 Is there a “Director” job description?
 Flip the Board Meeting agenda
 Strategy first; mundane last
Other Issues
 Should CEO be a member of the board?
 Should there be term limits for directors?
 Mr. Smith, 42 years on the board
 Assessing Director competence
 Financial acumen
 Professional discipline
Contact Information
Jim Kasch
[email protected]