So why if the board likes to say Yes does it say No so often?
How many organisations succeed because the board gave the CE whatever they asked for? It’s a rhetorical question, even if they could there is no evidence that success would follow. Too much influence is as bad as too little. To some extent all managers at every level within an organisation are expected to deliver within the resources they inherited. To do it with the people already employed, to do it with the budget already set. Which doesn’t mean they can’t creat some new posts just that they must do it within the existing budget. Which is why the new CE often initiates a management restructuring.
The board wants to back the CE it has newly appointed so it’s willing to be influenced whether that’s on strategy, priorities, appointments or how the budget is spent. Certainly in the early stages of the relationship the board listens sympathetically to requests. Over time that influence increases or doesn’t, usually depending on whether the board detects evidence of progress.The financial situation may restrict the nature of the support the board feels able to give. If results don’t come or don’t come fast enough the board may start to lose confidence in the CE. The CE may become frustrated seeing their influence waning as other voices are heard. The vision is still shared but increasingly there are differences, only minor at first, over priorities, strategy, and how long it will take to hit targets that were always ambitious. It seems a general rule that the more the board feels it has been influenced by the CE the greater its impatience at the lack of progress. And the slower the progress the more likely the CE believes it’s due to their lack of influence. At which point the CE may jump rather than weight to be pushed.
Blair Mcpherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
