Hearing What You Need To Achieve What You Want: The CEO’s Third Opinion
Posted by vianova in Business Operations, Corporate, Entrepreneurism, Leadership, Small Business on February 22, 2011
An interview with Lauren Tanny, executive coach, Vistage Chair, and experienced “third opinion” to multiple CEOs. Lauren is President and CEO of TannyWood, whose corporate services include corporate visions and missions, strategic planning and implementation. She is a powerful facilitator, experienced brainstorming leader, and natural coach and mentor. Most importantly, Lauren cares deeply about people and is passionately committed to their greater professional and personal success.
FS: First, let me say how happy I am to be interviewing you for JustGoodBusiness. You have been an invaluable mentor, coach, and “third opinion” to me for the past three years. For those who are not familiar with the term “third opinion”, can you explain what this means?
LT: Yes, thank you. As business owners and CEOs, we are often surrounded by lots of people, many of whom are all too eager to give their opinions. That’s great, yet, generally speaking each of those people have a vested interest in the outcome or are biased in some way. To whom do you go when you really need an truly impartial sounding board? My strong recommendation is to find a seasoned, impartial business professional to serve as an advisor. This is what I call your “third opinion.”
FS: What can this person do for a CEO that, for example, their direct reports are not able to do?
LT: First and foremost, question your answers, challenge your assumptions, and play devil’s advocate. A good advisor or advisors will often come up with additional ideas and suggestions that might not otherwise survive your inner circle’s vetting process. As an impartial sounding board, they may suggest you go back to the drawing board. They can also help you think through the long-term ramifications of your decisions. This is especially important in today’s often short-term focused business environment. They can provide insight about best practices from other industries which can prove very useful in yours. And they can often illuminate blind spots that can negatively impact the business.
FS: Can you give us some examples of when you, as a third opinion, were able to illuminate blind spots for CEOs?
LT: A CEO told me he was concerned that the performance of his most senior accounting person had deteriorated, and he was thinking of replacing her. After asking whether her accounting skills were previously good (they were), I suggested that such a deterioration may be due to either substance abuse or guilt over embezzlement. Short version: This comment led to uncovering a $250,000 embezzlement.
Due to loyalty and tradition, certain employees may get “cemented” to a certain spot in a company. When one CEO was complaining about resistance to change at his company, I brought up these “sacred cows”. After several months of discussions, the CEO ended up hiring a COO to spearhead the changes needed, since his long-term relationships with certain employees made him reluctant to act.
One CEO complained often about cash flow. When they felt they had solved one cash-flow-related problem, another issue would come up and they’d be tight on cash again. By helping the company step back further from the problem, we changed the customer payment schedule (more up front, more progress payments), and totally revamped the sales projection methodology (which continually over-estimated the likelihood of closing deals, and the timing and size of payments). I also suggested a new bank and a larger line of credit, both of which they implemented.
FS: Those are great examples. If someone is interested in finding an independent advisor to provide that third opinion, where do you suggest they find one?
LT: There are a variety of organizations and independent professionals that do this work. One most businesses are familiar with is SCORE. SCORE counselors are unpaid volunteers with significant business experience. This free counseling is particularly useful for start-ups and small companies. Another organization is Vistage International. ”Vistage Chairs” are experienced business professionals who lead executive peer roundtables and who coach executives one-to-one. There are fees for the groups and coaching, which vary by company size. There are also Entrepreneur-In-Residence Programs. These organizations have entrepreneurs associated with them who are available to counsel CEOs and companies. Financial arrangements vary. One such organization is CONNECT in San Diego, CA.
You can also seek our referrals from other CEOs. They may have recommendations for you for people they have utilized. This is a good way to find independents who do this professionally. Another source may be speakers you hear at conferences or other events that may offer advisory services, also for a fee. Of course there are a variety of executive coaches. While I am also one of these, I would caution you to be careful here. Most coaches help you achieve specific goals. If you want them to serve as an independent sounding board, make sure you contract for that up front, and that their business background is sufficient to do so.
For more on this topic, I recommend The Third Opinion: How Successful Leaders Use Outside Insight to Create Superior Results, by Saj-nicole Joni.
FS: Thank you for these resources and for enlightening us on the value of a third opinion to business owners and CEOs. Do you have anything else you would like to leave us with?
LT: If you want your business to be the best it can be, you owe it to your company (and yourself) to get rid of as many blind spots as you can!
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Lauren Tannyis a Vistage Chair, executive coach, and experienced “third opinion”. She utilizes her vast executive experience in seven industries, broad functional expertise, inquiring mind and keen sense of humor to help executives see things in new and broader ways. She can be reached at lauren.tanny@tannywood.com.
Ten Tips for “Greening” Your Board of Directors
Posted by vianova in Board Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility on February 14, 2011
The “Green Movement” is not a new concept, but never has it garnered so much attention as in the past few years. Research shows that every day, we emit an unprecedented amount of carbon dioxide with the cars we drive and the waste we accumulate, negatively affecting our already unsustainable ecosystem. Today, organizations large and small are being environment-conscious by “greening” every aspect of their operations, including their board’s work. Below are ten tips for “greening” your board.
1. Use online collaboration tools to reduce the number of face-to-face meetings
There are a variety of tools that can help your board reduce the number of trips to board meetings, especially if your board is spread out geographically. Online discussion forums, chat functions, teleconferencing, and webcasts all provide ways to connect members over distances. When combined with electronic voting tools, board and committee matters can be resolved virtually, and carbon footprints can be reduced.
2. Communicate online
Organizations routinely encourage board members to use paper when they ask for physical signatures, and when they send board members mailings. Consider communicating electronically whenever possible. Board portals provide an easy, online way to send and gather information securely – including electronic “signatures.”
3. Store and distribute meeting materials online
Board members can store documents, such as meeting books and board manuals, in a central online location that is easily accessible via the web. This reduces (or eliminates) printing and consequently reduces waste. As a by-product, decreasing the amount of printing not only reduces waste, but also reduces associated staff time and printing costs — which organizations are sure to appreciate in difficult financial times. Better still, storing meeting materials online allows board members to review information at their leisure before meetings. This makes for more productive meetings, where board members are fully informed and prepared to discuss the issues at hand.
4. Ask board members to conserve paper
Providing online access to meeting materials can reduce paper usage – but not if board members then print out the meeting books at home. Encourage board members to become more paper-conscious by only printing out those documents they feel are absolutely necessary to have on paper. Take advantage of online editing tools – such as the professional version of Acrobat – to write “electronic” notes on files, rather than scrawling notes on paper copies. In the boardroom, consider projecting documents onto a screen to help board members follow along without needing a paper copy.
5. Use an online directory
A printed directory of board contact information is likely to be outdated the moment it is printed. An online directory not only reduces waste, but is also practical as it is easily editable. As new members join and contacts change, the online directory can be updated in minutes and made available to the board instantaneously, whereas a physical directory would need to be re-printed and re-distributed to all members.
6. Reconsider your transportation options
When boards and committees do need to physically meet, encourage members to ride bikes, carpool, or use public transportation options to attend the meeting. Arranging for transportation for your board members to/from meetings and events can help your organization reduce its carbon footprint.
7. Have impact globally, but meet locally
Reduce travel time by choosing a meeting location that is as close as possible to the majority of your board members. If your board is spread over geographic distances, consider whether or not all board members need to physically attend every meeting – board members could attend in person half of the time and virtually the other half to reduce their carbon footprint.
8. Reduce, reuse, recycle in the boardroom
This well-known refrain is useful in the boardroom as well as in the home. In addition to paper, plastic cups, candy wrappers, trash bags, bottles and cans can be collected and recycled. When you do have to print, consider printing on both sides of the page. Consider serving food and drinks on dishes that can be washed instead of disposables, and avoid serving individually wrapped items whenever possible.
9. Choose meals beforehand
Having board members sign up for specific meals is a great way to reduce food waste — most people are happy to eat only the food they ordered. Arbitrarily serving great quantities of food is not only wasteful, but an unnecessary expense your organization can do without – and it encourages overeating (particularly of sugary and salty snacks). Your wallet and waistline will thank you for planning meals ahead.
10. Use daylight when possible
Consider scheduling face-to-face meetings in daylight hours and hold the meetings in rooms that have access to natural light. Don’t turn the lights on in the boardroom unless you need to – enjoy the benefits of sunlight.
While there are many ways you can make your board green, you will only be able to accomplish the shift successfully if the board as whole embraces this new direction. It is a good idea to formalize it by making it a policy that board members will have to adhere to. Being green is easy… but it requires willingness. Why not make this a topic at your next board meeting?
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Vianova guest blogger and strategic partner Thomas Rottler is CEO at BoardEffect, Inc., a leading e-governance solution for nonprofits board of directors. Learn more at Get BoardEffect.
