248. Is the way we do things valuable for our owners/members?

This season, every episode of OMG focuses on a question that directors really need to answer.

OMG is written, produced, narrated and scored by Matt Fullbrook.

 

TRANSCRIPT:

Question #46: Is the way we do things valuable for our owners/members? We’ve said before on the show – including a few times this season – that questions about owners or shareholders or members or whatever term is applicable for your corporation...have different implications and flavours in different jurisdictions. Let’s also note that we’re asking if the way we do things is “valuable” to our owners or members, not whether we’re “CREATING value” for them because that implies a positive financial result, which can never be fully guaranteed no matter what we do. Doing things that are “valuable” to our owners or members might include exploring new ideas or opportunities. It might involve carefully navigating circumstances that might lead to disaster. It might involve mundane things like making sure we are being compliant and transparent and all that other good stuff. And if you’ve spent much time in boardrooms, you’ve probably spent a bunch of time doing stuff that your owners or members might find…let’s say confusing. Not that the time is wasted exactly, but maybe you’ve gotten fixated on a relatively inconsequential detail or circled around an issue a bunch of times without managing to make a decision. Not bad, but not great. But sometimes it can be helpful to imagine your most significant owners in the room and ask yourself: “how impressed would they be by the way we do things?”