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You should never be bored with your Board. A mistake CEOs can make is underutilizing their board of directors. Boards aren’t just for corporate governance; they can be a competitive differentiator.
Lessons learned over the years building a strategic Board of Directors
Lessons learned over the years building a strategic Board of Directors
Step 
: Find someone great to help you and write down your BoD goal. At @okta it’s my Chief of Staff, @angelagrady and our vision is “make Okta’s board the most strategic & effective board in the industry." Our collective goal is to build a high-performing board.
: Find someone great to help you and write down your BoD goal. At @okta it’s my Chief of Staff, @angelagrady and our vision is “make Okta’s board the most strategic & effective board in the industry." Our collective goal is to build a high-performing board.
Step 
: Identify the skills & experience you need. Here are many of the areas we care about:
Tech or innovation
Cybersecurity, info security or privacy
Global sales, markets or ops
Senior leadership
Public company board exp
Risk mgmt
Marketing or brand
Finance or accounting
: Identify the skills & experience you need. Here are many of the areas we care about:Tech or innovation
Cybersecurity, info security or privacy
Global sales, markets or ops
Senior leadership
Public company board exp
Risk mgmt
Marketing or brand
Finance or accounting
When thinking about skills, ask yourself “Where are we thin? Where are we well covered?” You can't know everything - be objective about where you need help.
Step 
: Clarify expectations & align members with your team. If a board member is supposed to represent “the perspective of the customer,” then set an expectation of regularly meeting with product, marketing and sales to do just that. The board wants to help, show them how.
: Clarify expectations & align members with your team. If a board member is supposed to represent “the perspective of the customer,” then set an expectation of regularly meeting with product, marketing and sales to do just that. The board wants to help, show them how.
Step 
: Empower the board with information. The board needs ongoing context to give you useful feedback. We do this with 1:1s, updates on timely issues, monthly email updates on overall company progress, and of course, robust materials for quarterly board meetings.
: Empower the board with information. The board needs ongoing context to give you useful feedback. We do this with 1:1s, updates on timely issues, monthly email updates on overall company progress, and of course, robust materials for quarterly board meetings.
Step 
: Make board meetings a place for strategic dialogue. Homework helps you spend the time wisely. Angela and I draft thoughtful pre-read materials, including my “top of mind” updates and a "come prepared to talk about..." list. We’re transparent about where we need help.
: Make board meetings a place for strategic dialogue. Homework helps you spend the time wisely. Angela and I draft thoughtful pre-read materials, including my “top of mind” updates and a "come prepared to talk about..." list. We’re transparent about where we need help.
Step 
: Get ready for feedback. (I’ll have to write a “how to not get stressed about performance reviews with the board” thread someday if I ever figure that out 
) https://twitter.com/toddmckinnon/status/1284274821207977984
: Get ready for feedback. (I’ll have to write a “how to not get stressed about performance reviews with the board” thread someday if I ever figure that out ) https://twitter.com/toddmckinnon/status/1284274821207977984
The litmus test for your board is the quality of feedback they provide @okta’s board helps me make decisions about M&A, investing in growth, structuring our Incubation fund, hiring execs, and accelerating our customer identity market. We put in the work and have an all star BoD.
