The highest performing company advisory boards are when companies obey what their board members suggest they do. A company’s management team should allow all fears, ideas and frustrations to be disclosed to their board, rather than only giving them good news. Transparency is crucial to a functional and productive board.
During board meetings, keep detailed notes of what each member of your leadership team commits to. Ensure those commitments get kept and that you deliver on your promises, and that you aren’t just placating board members by agreeing to ‘look into an issue’ or ‘confront’ some brutal fact. If you mean what you say, and say what you mean then the board will see their advice is being heeded, and they’ll work hard to give you even better advice moving forward. If a board feels placated, rest assured they’ll stop caring about the advice they give.