One Man Board
If you're the CEO or senior executive of an emerging enterprise, congratulations on being in the ranks of that rare, courageous few with the vision, confidence, creativity, and energy to be heading a growing business. Few endeavors are as exciting, inspiring, rewarding - and scary - as leading a young company on its way to great things.
In today's fast-changing times, executives of emerging firms can frequently use an extra ration of helpful guidance. Too often, though, they're isolated in their decision-making process and suffer from a lack of seasoned advice. As an example, one of the hardest things for a CEO to do is to ask him or herself the challenging kinds of questions an independent board of directors ask executives all the time. These are the kinds of questions successful CEOs know they need to have asked, and answered, themselves every day.
Just look at some of the moving parts - financial strategies, strategic planning, organizational evolution, operations, sales, marketing, IT, HR - just to name just a few. Importantly, executives of a rapidly-growing organization need to invest time in developing a strong team and particularly in keeping in touch with the board and investors. All this needs to be balanced with a life, family, and personal relationships. After all, you're the CEO of your life, too.
It is very hard for many executives to admit he/she doesn't know everything; none of us do. This truth requires no apology. But for many reasons ranging from simple reluctance to lack of confidence in board members to perceived risk of exposing a weakness, executives sometimes hesitate to consult the board. This is particularly true in closely held companies where the board often includes co-founders, family, senior management and/or angel investors...
One Man Board is essentially a "Mentor Capitalist". Here are some of the ways it can help build your emerging enterprise into the flourishing company you envision:
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One Man Board can be a sounding board for your concerns and ideas |
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One Man Board brings expertise and experience |
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One Man Board is unbiased and brings no agenda nor politics to the table |
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One Man Board listens and coaches in response to your specific issues |
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One Man Board can point you to a wide range of resources |
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One Man Board can be the constructive skeptic every management team needs |
For emerging firms on their way from startup to $50 Million in sales, One Man Board offers the experienced, non-judgmental, but critical conversations that an executive needs to have with his/her board, colleagues, customers, investors, suppliers, advisors, and community. If needed, One Man Board can participate in developing the strategies, business cases, presentations, policies, procedures, and tools to move the enterprise more rapidly along the path to sustained profitable growth.
Run your business like it's a bigger business. Hold a Virtual Board Meeting on a regular basis whether you have a formal board or not.
Consider all the Moving Parts, learn About Us, start a dialog to learn how to Work with Us.