Welcome Leaders!
Every leader spends time getting their teams on the same page. It’s a big part of the job, especially for CEOs who have to make sure the entire company is in sync.
When you’re a manager, having someone on your team say something stupid in a random meeting is not the end of the world.
However, one of the CEO’s direct reports going off-script in a Board meeting, with an investor, or the media could be catastrophic.
That’s why leaders at every level should learn to stick to their bosses narrative & messaging.
Does that mean you should never express an opinion or disagree with your boss? No. But you have to pick the appropriate time and place (and a Board meeting isn’t one of them!).
Let’s dive into this fun topic and true up this vital skill for the aspiring CTO or product leader.
Cheers,
I remember one of the earliest Board meetings in my career and what a difficult experience it was for me.
Actually, the meeting itself went perfectly fine. It was what happened AFTER the meeting that was shall we say, “challenging.”
I got chewed out by the CEO. 🙀
And rightfully so.
I was really early in my career and I made one of the cardinal mistakes of many early stage CTOs: I went against the narrative & messaging of my boss.
It wasn’t intentional and I didn’t realize I was doing it at the time, but it was still a big mistake.
Actually, the CEO and I were fine a week later and went on to be great friends and achieved big results together but…yeah, not a good moment for me.
I learned a super valuable lesson that day. And today I’ll dig into that lesson, the reasons and implications of what I did wrong, and what happens when you deviate too far from the game-plan of your CEO in a Board meeting.
Et tu, Brute?
Board meetings are high-stakes environments — we all know that. They are the ultimate meeting for most leaders. In a lot of companies Board calls are where all the biggest business decisions are made.
You do not want to negatively impact a Board meeting for yourself or the rest of the ELT by running your own script.
But who is a Board meeting for anyway?
