Babette Ten Haken

Contact Babette
  • Home
  • Programs
    • Keynotes
    • Breakouts & Workshops
    • Professional Innovation Coaching
  • Blog
  • My Story
    • Testimonials
    • Honors & Awards
  • Resources
    • White Papers
    • Do You Mean Business? – The Book
  • Contact Me!
You are here: Home / Collaboration And Convergence / Who is on Your Board of Directors?

Who is on Your Board of Directors?

January 8, 2014 by Babette Ten Haken Leave a Comment

Who is on your company’s Board of Directors? Perhaps you are a solopreneur, a startup, or a small to mid-sized business. Essentially, you are family-owned and operated. It’s never too early to create a Board of Directors, even a small one.

Conducting formal monthly board meetings creates the process and discipline for strategic thinking instead of tactical fire-fighting.

There’s a little more involved. Think about creating a business model where you develop an expert panel of customers as an “external” board of directors. Add a little a yin-yang for business vision.  By polling your early adopters, as well as your long-term loyal customers and newly acquired ones, you create “news” for your board meetings.

That’s something everyone can focus on, objectively and strategically.

It’s important to maintain strategic perspective and business context. Otherwise you may be running your business to please your internal board of directors (family members, founders and investors).

Keeping your focus on your customers allows you and your business to be nimble, attuned to, and anticipatory of trends in your marketplace.

Many small to mid sized companies are family-owned. Board meetings, more like conversations with specific individuals, tend to occur at family gatherings and at home in the kitchen. When you live with your board members, it’s difficult to separate work from home from family. The opportunity for focus is lost in this scenario.

Your startup may have an all-hands-on-deck, 24/7 tactical fire-fighting dynamic. Your entire team is so wrapped up in the day to day drama of finding funding or customers, and refining your offering or capabilities, that you become very short-sighted. If you maintain this short-sighted, high energy drama, you may short-change the strategic potential of your startup. A context of constant crisis management prevents you from seeing the big picture.

Think bigger. Even if your business or startup will remain small and extremely successful. Give yourself the opportunity for creating an objective, neutral forum for exchanging perspectives and opinions. That oasis for your board of directors creates sustainability.

Board meetings give you the opportunity to distill what may be a subjective reaction into an objective business case. Especially if you are vetting your insights against what your expert panel of customers has told you.

Board meetings remove you from familiar surroundings and give you and your board members the opportunity to see the same things: differently, without emotional baggage.

Formal board of directors meetings are a forum for context, perspective and insight. Board meetings are an oasis for collaboration.

When is your next formal Board of Directors meeting? Where are you conducting your meeting? What are you planning on discussing?

Babette N. Ten Haken, President of Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, LLC, catalyzes business transition, startup growth, and professional development. She works with non-traditional sellers and their Board of Directors, engineers, manufacturers, and technical startups creating sustainable legacy business models. Her book on sales and engineering collaboration strategies, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com.

Enjoy this post? Please share it!

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on EmailShare on Reddit

Filed Under: Collaboration And Convergence, Human Capital & Industrial IoT Workforce, Professional Development Tagged With: board of directors, business model, family-owned, IBM Midmarket, small to mid-sized business, solopreneur, startup

About Babette Ten Haken

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hire Babette to speak at your next conference or corporate meeting.

https://youtu.be/Yf-h80O_QZ4
Sign up to receive posts via email
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz
SalesProCentral
Customer Experience Update

Categories

  • Collaboration And Convergence
  • Customer Experience, Success, Loyalty, Retention
  • Human Capital & Industrial IoT Workforce
  • Professional Development
  • Trending Book Reviews
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Your Post Pandemic Career Strategy Evolved. Now what?
  • 3 One Millimeter Mindset Professional Goals Blog Posts
  • What Is Your Professional Career Voice: Leader or Follower?
  • Why Your Professional Core Capabilities Limit Your Value
  • Create More Value by Speaking Less Professional Jargon

Archives

Storytelling for STEM Professionals and Left Brain Thinkers Speaking Programs. Learn more....

Contact Babette
Sign up to receive posts via email
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz

Recent Posts

Your Post Pandemic Career Strategy Evolved. Now what?

3 One Millimeter Mindset Professional Goals Blog Posts

What Is Your Professional Career Voice: Leader or Follower?

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on LinkedInFollow Us on Instagram

Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions

CATALYST FOR PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION: Storytelling for STEM Professionals and Left Brain Thinkers Speaking Programs.
Sales Aerobics for Engineers®, All Rights Reserved 2021 ©
By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies