Many board members have achieved their current position because of their previous operational success. This track record of operational success has had to have been founded on solid skills of ensuring that their business units deliver results, managing risk, and minimising the potentially disruptive effects of short-term changes so that the the business can continue to function under the dual tenets of effectiveness and efficiency.

Can we justify taking on board (and onto the board) someone who has had failures in their professional past – aren’t we obliged to hire the safe pair of hands? Do we select out the strategic visioning gene from our top leadership – and indeed from leadership at all levels? “Nobody is sacked for buying IBM”, it used to be said. And to Tom Watson, the first President of IBM, is attributed the alleged statement of 1943.   “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers”. Could any business leader of the 1940s have foreseen the power and impact of today’s technology, let alone its unknown potential to our immediate and long term future?

Technology first enables us to do things differently – and then to do different things. Technology means that borders do not exist – ideas, technologies and economic activity don’t need passports or residence permits. So if there is no limit to our potential – how do we engage in the massive uplift that is there “sans frontieres”? How do our leaders help their organisations create strategies that will lead the way in doing business differently, doing different business, and working differently?

To do things differently, we have to do different things. We have to learn to unlearn, to forget the past in order to do things differently in the present and in the future. We have to develop in yourself and foster in others a hunger for creativity, communication, and adaptability, break out of habitual boxes and boundaries, encourage enquiring minds, whilst all the time scanning the horizon for new possibilities, new patterns, new directions.

How many of us would have predicted back in 2005 that the new boy on the block – YouTube, would now in 2012 be the largest media channel in the world?

But of course, in our multi-cultural age we have to become more sensitive to certain phrases and sentiments that might not be shared by everyone. Happy Holidays is used now by some, but not liked by each of us as it can bring up a feeling of “Americanised”, or Walt Disney commercialisation. So Season’s Greetings conveys the sentiment we desire, without carrying with it negative connotations.

A typical phrase in management speak is the “Command and Control” style of management and leadership. It too is imbued with meanings that will change according to both the user of the  phrase, and the reader/listener. Linguistically, it is ambiguous to begin with. Curiously, the words Command and Control are both verbs and nouns. I command you to do something. The command was given. I control the budget. It is under my control.

But more importantly, perhaps, the phrase is most typically used to denote a military and hierarchical style of management. It’s often used with negative attributions, especially for the objects of what was often seen as oppression. Your mindset might underpin your use of the word as a shorthand way to denote the negative meaning – encompassing the spectrum of behaviours at one end of the spectrum that can be stifling, dictatorial, authoritarian, even bullying … leaving blood on the floor. However, I might understand and value the principles of clear direction, chain of command, accountability and responsibility, the positive end of the spectrum … especially if in my own background I have experienced the positive elements of the spectrum … for example in a military career.

As neutral words, there is nothing wrong with  the management sentiments of command – what is under my jurisdiction, what orders and instructions I am responsible for giving; and control – what I need to manage. However, can we be sure that the recipient of the phrase has the same understanding of our meaning? This is especially true in our globalized world where many of our co-workers don’t have English as their native language. For example, the  French verb  ”commander” in French (eg il commande)  also holds the meaning of ordering from a menu, or ordering a French book from Amazon.

All these are good reasons to make sure we are not lazy in our use of words when trying to communicate with others. Let’s embrace the exploration and use of “clean language”, not in pursuit of “political correctness”, but to ensure that we can develop and use communications in which the meaning can be shared by all. So if “command and control” are outmoded descriptions of the role and responsibilities of leaders, what words would we use instead? Let’s focus on desired behaviours and required outcomes.

So – Season’s Greetings to you all, wherever you are. Have a good rest, enjoy time with friends and family, celebrate what is important to you, to face 1212 revitalised and renewed.

He’d been in post since only March 2011, and had inherited the task of leading the troubled Lloyds bank Group in the ongoing tough economic conditions that have beset our financial systems and large banking organisations. What brought him to this state – that was obviously injurious to both to himself personally, and to the organisation’s health in the marketplace?

Some commentators at the time suggested that he should have sought medical help sooner. In fact, he needed to have sought out robust support from the beginning, when he first took up his new role.

The behaviours that brought him success in his old role would prove to be his Achilles’ heel in the new job. “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got” – or so the saying goes. However, if the game around you has changed and you use the same approaches around you that have stood you in good stead till now, you’re setting yourself up to fail.

Mr Horta-Osorio’s style had always been one of extreme hands-on involvement. That worked for him in Santander UK. But he had seriously underestimated the changed demands that he would find placed on him at the helm of the Lloyds Group – including the halving of the share price in the first few months, and the relentless external demands of the role, including endless meetings with high-profile ministers and regulators, televised questioning from parliamentary committees, and tough talks over the eurozone crisis.

As the Financial Times reported on 4th November:

“António has a powerful intellect and technical skills – but that is not what makes a CEO able to cope,” says a former colleague. “It is more the vision, drive and resilience.” Those are the qualities that people close to him suggest he may not have in the abundance they first thought.

Another critic is franker still. “He’s a complete control freak,” says one Lloyds employee, who fell out with him. “You can do that in a smaller bank. But you can’t do that in a company the size of Lloyds, which has a lumbering, traditional way of doing things. There was a big culture clash.”

Some analysts believe a fall from grace was almost inevitable, given the enormous weight of expectation that accompanied his arrival at Lloyds. “He descended in a gold-plated chariot,” says one banking analyst. “There was a lot resting on him.”

Having taken on a role that was too big for any one person – he needed to let go of his “macho-man” style of work hard, play hard, and do it all yourself. It can be hard to change and learn to trust other people, and to delegate. But that was what the new role demanded. He didn’t deliver the changes required in himself – and the consequences were potentially life-threatening to his health, as well as his personal and professional reputation.

It’s crunch time this week. While his medical team have declared him fit to return to work – only the board can make the decision. And if he does return, what will he do to put in place the support to look deeply at his ingrained behaviours and working style, and learn to adopt the new ways of leadership that the role demands?

However, when you go the other side of the line, as a plc boardroom director, you have to feel comfortable in the open space. There are all the thoughts buzzing around here. The trick is to avoid reaching a conclusion too quickly, because by the time you do the issue will have moved on, or uncovered interdependent issues. So boards have to live with a multitude of uncertainty and ambiguity, all the time nudging issues forward, with a little flick here and there, but not rushing to judgement too quickly.

You have to learn to feel more comfortable in that arena, in the uncomfortable zone.

Below the line is the comfort zone. Now you not only have to feel comfortable with the uncomfortable, you have to embrace it, and you have to create it around you.

Many senior executives struggle to move from below the line to above the line. In order to move from the below-the-line focus, you have to give up almost everything that was dear to you and wherein you achieved your success.

Of course, this is only your afternoon role. You have still got the day job. You still have to go back to achievement and controlling resources. This in itself can be confusing. A way to help you make the distinction can be to change your props as well as your behaviours. Sit in a different seat to your normal position when you’re in boardroom meetings. Wear a different jacket or tie. Use a different notebook. These will help remind you to adopt the different behaviours and mindset that you need to be an effective board member.

As adults, in order to improve our performance and develop potential we at least need to reflect on what we habitually do to assess the effectiveness of our strategies, actions and behaviours to date. In the day job we are often tested on our results – with an emphasis on fixing problems or attaining improved results – but little time is given to reflection.

The great benefit of coaching and mentoring (either one to one or as a part of a peer learning group) is that we provide ourselves with a supportive environment which encourages – nay forces us – to reflect on our experience and to challenge our habits, to decide to take the risks necessary to try out different approaches – and to support us in the process.

If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve always got. Learning to change starts from within in order to be effective and sustainable.

Business and board priorities create the context for the director’s performance. History – expectations from past experience – will underpin the behaviours of the executive making the transition into the boardroom. It can also be responsible for the barriers that will need to be overcome to create changed performance in the new role.

Not only do you have to address your personal behaviours, your position on the board also means that you need to understand and comply with the regulatory frameworks that are in place within the legislative framework that your organisation comes under.

You can ‘know the rules’ from the technical viewpoint of compliance to regulatory frameworks – but what’s also going on that you have to pay attention? For success in the boardroom, it’s just as important – often more important – to recognise the behavioural rules that you have to adopt as a board member.

There isn’t a manual for this. To clarify your own rules of engagement as a board member, you have to work out the ‘rules’ of the Chairman, of your board of directors, your CEO, and your fellow stakeholders – whoever they might be.
,

1. Are you prepared to resign at a moment’s notice without compensation if you fundamentally disagree with board policy?
2. Would you accept responsibility, with your colleagues, for any consequential impact of the activities of your organisation?
3. Would you trust your colleagues totally and implicitly in terms of their fidelity, judgement and political motivation?
4. Would you be prepared to set aside your concerns about an issue if you were encouraged to do so in the cause of wider board harmony?
5. Would you through our weight behind a proposal where your natural position is netural-to-unfavourably disposed if in doing so you could secure support for another of your own favoured proposals?

As a board member, you are vesting your trust in your organisation and your colleagues. You need to be above political manipulation. You must also put aside your own vested interests in support of the best decision for the whole organisation.

You’ll find more questions – and answers – as well as key performance indicators of company board membership in The Board Game – Survival and Success as a Company Board Member, Brian Scanlon and Stephen Schneider

From our experience, there are Five Fatal Flaws (as well as a plethora of minor misdemeanours) that you need to save yourself from when taking up your first board appointment. Each will be put under the spotlight over upcoming blogs.

Five Fatal Flaws in the board room

If you can’t wait – get a copy of ‘The Board Game: Survival and Success as a Company Board Member’ and get ahead of the game. You can order your copy of the book on amazon or Blackwells online.

You can order your copy of the book on amazon or Blackwells online.