"Sounding board" - that's a phrase I hear a lot at the moment. It seems business leaders and founders struggle to find that person to help with perspective and blind spots.
Part of me thinks that's what your board should be for, non-execs in particular. But then I recall almost every start-up founder I've worked with dreading their board meetings. Board meetings too often seem to be about holding leadership to account over numbers and political point scoring. What the board should be doing is providing support, providing challenge where required and helping the business navigate long term success. But that's maybe wishful thinking.
Being at the top of the organisation can be pretty isolating. If talking to your board about problems is challenging, it's likely that it's just as hard to talk to your team about these things. And it's also not helpful if you think you know what your colleagues will say.
So who can you talk to?
Someone you trust, from outside the organisation. You can bring them in as a non-exec on a formal basis, or as an advisor or coach.
It doesn't matter what word you use: coach? mentor? advisor?
Someone I know and respect very much styles himself as a "founder's friend".
Whatever they're called, they need to be on call, available to speak to when needed but with regular check-ins (and you'll need to arrange a fee, of course!).
What can they do? What do we mean by 'sounding board'?
> Lend perspective and help identify blind spots
An echo chamber might help with your ego, but it won't provide challenge reveal areas you may not have thought of. It won't call you out when you're wrong - or at least in danger of being wrong. And it won't offer you a new and different perspective on your thinking.
Your mentor/coach/advisor can help with all of that.
> Assist you in overcoming decision fatigue
Getting external validation and views can help speed-up important decision-making - and give you a better chance of making the right decisions.
Decision fatigue occurs for a number of reasons - sometimes it's the shear volume of decisions that need to be made. Do you need help prioritising that? (Yes, we can help you make a decision about which decisions need to be made!)
> Accountability and clarity
The board may hold you accountable for hitting numbers, but what about your personal goals? Who's helping you with those? You also know the board is interested in one thing but there are other areas that are important for the business' future - who's helping you hold yourself accountable for those?
And having a sounding board to bounce ideas off can help you build clarity of thought and expression.
> Growth and learning
While we often promote personal growth and learning for our teams, it can be hard to find time to do it. Working with a coach can really help you identify areas of growth and how to achieve them fast. It's particularly useful if you are working with a coach who is expert in an area in which you need to improve - whether that's finance, marketing, operations or sales for example.
> Emotional support
Arguably this is the most important of all the areas. Leadership is mentally tough. It's draining. And it's isolating.
Having someone to talk to for an hour a fortnight could be the difference between burn out and success.
Burn-out is a huge issue for business leaders - and it often occurs when they don't have someone they can talk with, honestly and openly, about success, failure and the things that cause them stress.
Working with someone - call them an advisor, mentor, or coach - can be invaluable.
How to choose someone to work with
This is difficult. The person you work with on this needs a number of skills and attributes, including:
- Availability (seems trivial but if they're never available, you can't speak to them).
- The ability to quickly learn something about your business. They don't need to be an expert, but the will need to know the basics. (In fact, it's probably best if they're not an expert - hopefully there are people in your business who already are experts who can fulfil technical problem solving, for example).
- Domain expertise - this is an interesting one and optional. For example, I offer marketing coaching and advisory services because marketing is my area of expertise. A lot of what I cover with my clients goes deeper than marketing, but marketing and growth are usually the initial challenges being faced by a client.
- Confidentiality - total. They may ask you for a testimonial (in fact, they almost certainly will) and they should be comfortable with you not providing one - though they will be grateful if you do.
- Experience coaching/mentoring or counselling (depending on your requirements)
- Personal connection. While you may not want to invite this person to your wedding, you should be able to get on with them in a personal sense. You have to feel comfortable in their company - even (especially) when they push back on your ideas.
You need a relationship based on mutual respect.
Any coach, mentor or advisor worth their salt will meet with you at least once before any formal commitment is required.
Wouldn't it be nice if your Non-Exec board members were able to fulfil this function? Maybe one day we'll be able to move to that model, where the board is there to support the CEO and leadership team, but it doesn't happen often right now!
If you want to chat through any of these issues - or you know someone who might benefit from so doing - please let me know. I offer fractional CMO, advisory, Non-Exec Director and coaching services.
Photo by @priscilladupreez on Unsplash