Top tips for new NEDs

I was talking over lunch to a bloke who had just scored his first serious non-executive director appointment – a very serious one, in fact, to a top 10 listed company. I made so bold as to offer him my top 3 tips on being a good NED.

1. Before you say anything in a board meeting, ask yourself why you're about to say it. I've seen too much boardroom discussion which is ego-driven, banging on about old hobby-horses, or just not being of any use to the topic or agenda item under consideration. A slight pause before you throw in your bit can help to ensure that it has relevance, is not being driven by some collateral purpose, and will have the right tone for that moment. This might even include a bit of calculated frustration or stroppiness, which can play a useful part in the board dynamic – as long as it is calculated.
   
2. Master the art of the intelligently naive question. Management will often, intentionally or not, start discussions at a place some distance from the most sensible starting point for the board's purposes – often because they would prefer not to explain or justify some of the basic underlying assumptions. Testing these assumptions is a vital part of the NED role: while you might initially appear to be a bit dumb in bringing the discussion back to a more basic level, it is more likely than not that your seemingly naive question will flush out some crucial piece of information not previously revealed, or something worth debating.
   
3. Don't let an acronym pass you by if you don't know what it stands for. I guarantee that you won't be the only person in the room in that position. That may include the person spouting the acronym. I once caught out the director of the technology division (surely the high temple of the cult of the acronym) talking about a vital and expensive piece of equipment called a GGSN. I asked "What does that stand for?", and he didn't know. It turned out to be a compound acronym, where one of the letters stood for another acronym. Informed debate needs everyone to understand clearly just what is being debated. Like the GPRS Gateway Service Node, not the General Gauge Sensor Network or the Great Green Sea Nymph.
   

I'm not sure the new NED was quite ready to display as much ostensible naïveté as I was recommending, so early in his tenure and in front of his heavy-hitting colleagues. I suppose it is ultimately a matter of balance, but you don't always have to look clever to be clever.

The Board Coach