Frequent Questions and Resources

• Why do companies have Advisory Boards?
• Why do I want a Board?
• Who do I want on the Board?
• Why would someone join my Advisory Board?
• What am I willing to do to make this Advisory Board process successful?
• What if I do not like the Advisory Board process? How do I end it?
• What does the Board need to know?
• What are the steps to creating an effective Board of Advisors?
• What will the Board expect of me?
• Top 10 Reasons Advisory Boards fail to deliver value.
• Suggested reading and resources

• Increase the value of the business for the shareholders.
• Insure that the business survives by avoiding big mistakes.
• Respectfully challenge and advise management about people, planning, finances, systems and structures. Ask the tough questions.
• Support and guide the CEO.
• Create and encourage accountability and professionalism in the management team.
• Bring outside contacts, idea and knowledge that will help the business.
• Prepare for sale by creating superior, transferable value and that will deliver the highest net proceeds to the shareholders.
• Help the company strengthen its financial structure and “quality of earnings” so that it can attract capital on favorable terms.
• Build trust among management, minority shareholders and family owners.
• Define and deliver the highest level of corporate culture by setting the “tone at the top.”

• What are the your areas of greatest concern and what are the biggest opportunities you face today?
• Do you have the help and advice you need to deal with these issues?
• When you look at the strengths and weaknesses of your team and yourself, where do you need support?
• Perhaps you need advice from business leaders who have managed companies larger than yours or from CEOs who know the markets that you plan to enter.
• Do you need help to position the company for sale or help with family ownership issues.

Write down the 5 areas where you need better ideas and support.

• Get great satisfaction from helping others. It adds meaning and energy to their lives.
• Like and respect you.
• Are honored to be asked to be a member of your Board.
• Want to learn from others and want to help a team succeed.
• Enjoy working with a competent, worthy men and women doing good work.
• Will receive adequate compensation, short term and long term if they build company value.

• What the Owners want and what their values are.
• How the business works.
• How the industry is structured and where profits are made.
• Knowledge of “best business processes.”
• The financial and operational condition of the company.
• How the functional parts (operations, finance, marketing, etc.) of the business work.
• The characteristics of an excellent CEO and what he should or should not do to run a company well.

• Know what you want for yourself.
• Create a business and strategic plan.
• Understand your company’s “Value Drivers.”
• Define the skills and knowledge areas where you need assistance.
• Define what you want from the Board process.
• Commit to being accountable to outsiders that you respect.
• Create a criteria checklist for candidates who skills and experience fit the strategic needs of the company.
• Create a list of candidates.
• Interview and select 3 to 5 members.
• Find a resource for managing the Board process (The Board Group members, books, consultants, ect.)

• Build and maintain financial discipline.
• Create an appropriate instrument panel that reflects both key financial and operating “key indicators.”
• Communicate with openness and honesty.
• Show a sense of urgency and respect for Board advice and recommended actions.
• Report regularly on organizational design and structural issues.
• Establish clear strategic goals and report on progress against milestones.
• Listen carefully…do not be defensive.
• Keep the Board out of the “operational soup” and focused on creating shareholder value.
• Be fully engaged in the business and in the Board process.

• Lack of good and timely operating and strategic information leading to inefficient meetings and uniformed decisions.
• Too many insiders/friends on the Board.
• CEO not committed to the Board process or to implementing Board recommendations.
• Lack of strategic focus and inability to anticipate the future.
• Too much meeting time spent on reporting and not enough time on addressing critical issues.
• Inability to gain alignment among the shareholders or deliver their desired results.
• Board meetings that are not respectful and collegial.
• Infrequent or irregular Board meetings.
• Experience and skills on the Board do not match the strategic drivers of the business.
• Low levels of preparedness for meetings by management or the Board.