ALWAYS LEARNING No.1: What Does It Mean to Be a Board Member? By Mark H. Fowler, CPA (Inactive)

Our Los Angeles Management of Accounting (MAP) Committee (part of the California Society of CPAs) has a monthly event on topics for Public Accounting Leadership Professionals.

Our Los Angeles Management of Accounting (MAP) Committee (part of the California Society of CPAs) has a monthly event on topics for Public Accounting Leadership Professionals in the areas of management, succession, operations, recruiting, IT, business models, DEI, marketing and sales, etc.  Our May 25, 2022, event was a diverse panel of professionals highly involved with Boards, Board Members and businesses.  Their focus was on helping CPAs to reach out and help clients to enhance their Board resources and overall capability.  I was the panel moderator/host.

As with most panels, there is so much information.  A glimpse of what we discussed:

• What might an ideal board look like?
• What does a banker look for in a board?
• How much is the board involved in succession planning programs?
• As a business grows, how much is the board involved in human development and organizational/operational development?
• What are key reasons plus rules and regulations necessary for a well-developed board?
• What are a board’s most important duties to the CEO, COO, CFO?
• What are essential responsibilities that a board member assumes?
• Why is a board needed? When does a business become large enough for a professionalized board?
• And much more because it is a very big topic. We hope to address this topic next year as well.

One of the great things about being a panel host is getting interactively involved with very smart people–I learn a lot.

Of course, as a host, I get to say my piece a bit, but we are very lucky to be learning at an accelerated rate and at an expanded level of information.  It forces one to think, reflect, learn and, ultimately, use the insights.

Having been a board member many times in business and non-profit, I have experienced the process, what to do in different situations.  However, who can best serve as a true board member has eluded me.

Learning kicked in.  The panel, my previous board involvements, my teaching experience, especially communication, presentations background and my business re-engineering experience all helped me frame what being a board member means.

A board member is essentially a resource to the rest of the board and the business.  Everyone on the board is always learning:

• First, and foremost, be a true Collaborator, not a preacher.
• Be present, in the moment, available.
• Be focused more on what we don’t know, as opposed to what we think we know.
• Be a champion (warrior, protector) for the board, management and the business.
• Share information with the understanding that the information shared needs to integrate with all other information being shared. If you think you are the answer, you are most often part of the problem.
• Pay attention to the situation, the room, the people—take time to learn/experience/engage.
• Come alongside others, even when you feel they might be wrong. Acknowledge “what is” and release who/what is wrong or right.
• Interact as “we” and avoid “I” unless necessary.
• Learn from others, appreciate their perspectives, try to understand where they come from.
• Avoid the need, obsessionally, to find problems; don’t worry, problems will find you.
• Focus on what’s right, not what’s wrong.
• Do your homework, don’t come unprepared.
• Realize and act on the fact that you are a piece to the puzzle, just a piece no matter how important or critical. Someone observed that “a diamond still needs a setting.”
• Be engaged and involved in all aspects of the process.

We can be an effective resource if we show up as a collaborator, working together, appreciating all other participants and the situation itself about what is going on!

Somehow, this seems too simple but, when I look at the list, I realize that the list is easily analyzed to be those things that were so often missing in boards from before.  Those boards that do work well have embraced many of these qualities.

I believe a board member is a state of mind, not so much a position:  A state of mind that, when put in gear at levels noted above, is usually successful.

Please don’t hesitate to comment to me: support@estowemanagement.com.

If you would like to attend our LA MAP Committee events, please sign up on Stowe’s Contact page, link:  https://estowemanagement.com/contact-us/

Our Panelists:

1. Gaurav Malhotra—Lucas Horsfall – a CPA working from both trusted advisor and board member roles plus tips for future board members https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaurav-malhotra-b07b8714/
2. Jeff Munson—American Business Bank – a banker’s perspective regarding their customers and boards https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-munson-8a25365/
3. Jennifer Post—Thomson, Colburn – an attorney’s focus in succession, transition, independent advisors and board members plus mergers and acquisitions https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferpost/
4. Dipak Shah—Multiple Co-Founder, Professional Board Member, Investment Banker – sharing intricacies of board member responsibilities  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dipakshah/
5. Mark H. Fowler—Business Re-engineering professional and host for panel – my focus is on independent resources that boards need to succeed, based on decades of assisting clients of CPAs  https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhfowler/

It is anticipated that this May 25th event will also be found as an article in a forthcoming issue of this California CPA magazine.

February 2022 Meeting Follow-up: For those of you who attended our February 2022 panel on the future of CPA firms, it has been memorialized in an article to be published in the July issue of California CPA magazine.