Making board meetings productive

February, 2025

The vast majority of board meetings are pointless for one main reason — they are intention-less. Board meetings shouldn’t be just about reporting numbers, filling decks with information and leaving without clear next steps.

The CEO must come with a crystal clear narrative that is 100% grounded in truth. Convey that to the board. The board must pressure test that narrative. Ask for supporting evidence. Either accept or reject that narrative. If rejected, the CEO must do more work to convince the board. Once the board is on the same page, the CEO and company move on.

At the next board meeting, the CEO must start with the narrative that we all agreed on last time. How he/she has performed against that narrative. And share a continuation plan of the previous narrative or a new narrative.