Managing the Board

Too many CEOs assume that the board is their boss, and that he or she must follow their lead or wishes. But the truth is that the CEO must lead the company, and the board’s job is to keep the CEO from “running amok” and hurting shareholder value. Many CEOs spend many, many hours working on strategies of how to get the board to support management’s strategies. They also spend hours dealing with dysfunctional boards and board members. We help CEOs learn how to effectively lead their board.

Managing the Board Articles

How CFOs Can Help Prevent Board BlowUps

CFO Magazine's online edition has asked me to write a monthly column about improving the CEO/CFO dynamic in mid-market companies. The first article just went up, and focuses on interacting with the board of directors.

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Board Benefits - ISSI

Ceil McCloy, CEO and her husband Dave Dobson, Co-Founder of Integrated Science Solutions, Inc. (ISSI), brought in outside board members as a strategic decision. Often businesses pay only lip service to their Board, just barely fulfilling legal requirements. But bolstering the Board’s role in oversight of your business can be very beneficial, as it has for ISSI.

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Managing Multiple Constituencies - MLSListings

Nothing is for sure with big, broad constituencies. The bigger the group, the more variation there will be in how people react to needed change. Jim Harrison, CEO of MLSListings Inc., shows us how the patient leader listens to everyone, never reacts impulsively, and works in the interest of building consensus.

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Managing Fraud in Public Company Capital Raising - Avicena Group

Small publics that are struggling to raise capital can fall prey to fraud. Belinda Tsao-Nivaggioli, CEO of Avicena Group Inc (OTCBB AVGO), a lifesciences firm, illustrates how difficult it can be to detect and successfully deal with a fraudster.

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Require Others to Earn Your Trust - CoolSystems

CEOs must carefully assess the gap between expectations and reality, whether it’s taking a new CEO position or buying a company. Learn from Tom Oliver at CoolSystems who worked his way through a difficult situation he walked into.

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CEO Succession Challenges - Aztec Software

Founders of companies display a passion that their successors may not. Partha Sarathy of Aztec Software had to deal with just such an issue as he chose to bring in his own replacement.

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