At a Board of Directors Meeting

"It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt" - Mark Twain

I've been to Board of Directors meetings several times. These are the meetings between the top executives running corporations. Many of these top executives are also shareholders and have invested sometimes up to several million dollars. Besides members of the Board (who are elected) some shareholders have observer status and some company executives also have the privilege of being observers.

If I go, I am usually an observer but have been an elected executive member of the Board before (awful duty) and I have also been an observer or member at two other companies.

Let me tell you the difference between a meeting with these people and a meeting with regular appointed middle management at most companies; at a Board of Directors meeting, people aren't afraid to say their opinion. Nor is there any white-lie atmosphere filled with fake niceties. At a Board of Directors meeting, if you f*ck something up or if you are negligent in your duties or unaware of important information, people will ream your a*s. On the other hand, at a middle management meeting, If you criticize middle management, they usually take offense; that's why they don't climb up.

Also at a Board of Directors meeting, people make their dislike for other members well known.

The very first time I was invited to one, it kind of scared me.

I've seen 50-year-old men screaming at each other from the tops of their lungs. I've seen people throwing books and other objects at company presidents and high ranking executives from the other side of the room when plans failed or when they were incompetent. I've seen 60-year-old men crying after meetings when they got repeatedly pummeled by other members of the Board or by Observer Status members.

When people make mistakes, are negligent or are incompetent at this level, they get reamed. 

Of course they do. The people who get upset are the ones who have their own money, sometimes a half million dollars, sometimes one and one half million, sometimes four million dollars on the line. They don't f*ck around. And if you make mistakes, they will crucify you.

Sorry to use such strong language (chuckle) but these people aren't joking.

That's the difference between these sorts of people and middle management that get a salary. The salary guys get their pay no matter what. All they care about is the paycheck at the end of the month. That's why sometimes they make management decisions that fill their pocketbook as a primary purpose. Their priority is protection of their position, not success of the company.

And that's why these sorts of middle management people never graduate to upper management; they don't consider the company money as money out of their own pocket. They don't fight with the tenacity of the folks who are in upper management; of course they don't. The folks in upper management fight like they do for success because it is their own money on the line.

Middle management who put themselves in front of company well being and success would do well to step back and try to be more subjective.

Like I said, if they make the mistakes they make at upper levels, people would be throwing books at them. 

As for me, I try to follow the advice of Mark Twain.

What is a Leader?

Steve "Poots" Candice writes in, "What is a leader?" in response to my post about how foreign management in Japan abandoned their posts at the earthquakes, Tsunami and nuclear accident and then left the Japanese holding the bag. I posted a article that predicted the lash back to these people from the Japanese staff:

Fly-Jin Hits Even the Wall Street Journal

If these people really thought the situation was so bad and dangerous, then why didn't they tell their staff to go home and care for their families? 


I pointed out that this was a disgraceful show of lack of leadership abilities. Steve adds:


I have always said that the real problem with American business today begins right at the top. I can even define it in two words. Two words that are missing from what passes for corporate management in America today. The two words are:

‘Follow me.’

These two words are the difference between a leader and a manager.

A leader will say: ‘…OK everyone; here is what we are going to do. Follow me…” They will then lead the way.

A manager will say: “…OK everyone; here is what I want done. I expect it completed by tomorrow…” Having just made an executive decision, he or she will likely then go to their private country club and play golf.

Even in times of disaster a leader will NEVER abandon his or her people to their fate. They will be honest with their people and tell them that they may not be able to protect them from whatever awaits, but whatever it is they will face it together. 

That’s a LEADER.

All we have in American management today are managers.