Slay the Hydra & Get Your Board Focused
I’ve seen it over and over. A presentation to the Board includes an interesting but mostly unimportant data point. A board member asks a question about it. And that leads to another. And another. And another. The Board piles on.
It’s like Hercules fighting the Hydra, the mysterious water snake of lore! You slice off one head of the snake and two more appear in its place.
Pretty soon, we’re in an intellectual cul-de-sac, wasting even more time on an issue that you, as the leader, know isn’t getting you anywhere. Worse yet, you’ll be asked to bring back additional information to the Board with answers to these and even more questions in this area.
Micromanagement soon follows. “We could really use a committee to work with the CEO and senior staff on that tricky issue.”
Nooooooo!! How to truly slay this Hydra?
Hercules ended up cauterizing each snake head as it was lopped off. Your path isn’t so gory, but it requires the same resolve. A few tips:
Powerfully and simply articulate your mission and strategies. It starts, well, at the beginning. Your number one job as a leader is to clearly articulate an overarching goal and then provide a direct and intellectually sound path of how you will drive everyone to get there. Make your North Star clear. We intend to do X in three years. Nothing more. Then put forward no more than three strategies on how you’ll achieve it.
Make it snappy. Use visuals to connect the dots. The everyday work may be complex. The way you explain it should not be. Come up with simple, easily remembered names for each of your strategies. Find a nice visual representation for each. Then build a simple, compelling visual to show how everything fits together.
Repeat it. Again and Again. Every presentation you give – whether on annual workplans, program execution, business development, finances, staffing, communications or whatever should be tethered to this powerfully simple and visual strategic framework. Always start with a “refresh” on the framework. Highlight the specific parts of the strategy relevant to today’s discussion and use the relevant visuals on your tier two and tier three slides to demonstrate the connective tissue.
Bring it back to the core. When questions are asked, use your strategic framework as gravity to bring the conversation back to your goals and strategies. Is the time we are taking answering this question advancing these goals or strategies? Or are we just filling a need to be heard?
It may feel mind numbing to you to keep repeating the basics. But over time, you’ll find your board members will recite your framework to you. They’ll also self-police when silly questions start rearing their ugly heads. They may even bring a cauterizing iron to the party 😊