The Care and Feeding of An Advisory Board – The Good, the Bad and the What Were They Thinking? Part 4

Parry Aftab's Blog

English - March 04, 2014 13:29 - ★★★★★ - 1 rating
Kids & Family internet safety predators pedophiles privacy pornography piracy social network social networking myspace facebook Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Previous Episode: Care and Feeding of Advisory Board Members - Controlling Media. Communications and Information Part 3

Next Episode: The Care and Feeding of Advisory Boards – From the Advisor’s Perspective Part 5

I sit and have sat on many high powered advisory boards and,
aside from my own companies, one high-powered board of directors. My role or
Facebook and MTV is different than my role with McAfee, Trustee or the Ad
Council, which in turn is different from my role with Children’s Television
Workshop.

Sometimes the advisory board I am joining has been up and
running for years. But often, I was the first member or asked to set it up for
the company as well as serving as chair. But, in each case the conversation needs
to focus on why the company wants the advisory board, what we are expected to
do and how we are expected to do it.

I have had some disastrous experiences with middle
management appointed to oversee the board and our suggestions being above their
pay grade. Once I had a middle manager who passed off our ideas as his
own. I have had some riddled with egos
and personal agendas that weren’t worth the angst. But, have had many more that were managed
right and used my time and expertise with respect.

I have been well-compensated and I have served without
charge. In a couple cases, I even covered my own expenses. (These are boards
for non-profits.) Some take tons of time, and the others seem to just want my
name on a list.

I receive on average, one advisory board or board of
directors offer a week. Some companies, especially start-ups, pass these out
like candy. Sometimes they saw me on Dr. Phil, the Today Show, GMA or CNN. They
may have read an article by or about me in a newspaper, or heard about an award
I received. Sometimes we meet at a conference or at a cocktail party. They are
looking for “names,” however they define them.

I am nice about it, but explain
that I am limited in my advisory roles and thank them for asking.

Then, I write them off for anything serious. Their reaching
out to me when they know nothing more than a headline is bad management. And
bad management and strategic planning rarely succeeds in the long term.