OPINION: CEOs need an honest environment to grow

Like everyone, CEOs have flaws that are difficult to spot in ourselves. Yet, a CEO has no manager. There are no performance reviews or development plans, and nobody tells you you’re wrong or could aim higher. Any personal feedback is incredibly hard to come by.

I’ve come to believe there is always more to learn and someone with more experience to learn from. Yet, in my own case, I was missing someone to point out what I couldn’t see myself, and the higher you go, the harder that person is to find.

At board meetings, I would constantly hear “Everything is clear. Keep doing a great job,” which frustrated me. I didn’t feel like I was doing a great job, and I knew I could do better. I wasn’t alone in this: nearly two-thirds of CEOs don’t get any outside leadership advice at all, but nearly all want it, according to a survey by Stanford and The Miles Group.

Without feedback, bad calls can go unchallenged and compound for years. Sitting at the top of the organisation, you will find few people willing to challenge you. So if honest feedback doesn’t arrive naturally, you have to build a system that provides it.

As founders and CEOs, we spend all our time dealing with the company’s biggest challenges, so naturally we have strong views on how to approach them. That can make it difficult to consider others’ views and ideas. So when recruiting my next board member, I specifically sought someone who wouldn’t back down until one of us had proved our point.

How friction builds better businesses

Initially, I wondered whether I had made a bad call. Preparing for board meetings took longer and demanded more conviction, and they often descended into lengthy arguments. Over time, however, I came to appreciate how much those challenges forced me to question my assumptions and think more critically about my decisions.

Research from Stanford Graduate School of Business supports this experience, suggesting that constructive dissent can help teams make better decisions than teams where everyone always agrees.

However, for the approach to work, you have to be willing to be wrong, which is why it’s so important that the challenge comes from somebody with relevant experience, whose opinion you genuinely respect. A less senior figure might make the same argument, but they won’t necessarily have the same experience as a board member who has been where you are now. Mine had worked with a similar company and business model, so he knew better than I what was possible and offered solid, well-supported arguments that could convince me.

Four qualities to look when hiring a board member to argue back

An independent thinker who doesn’t follow the crowd or the most senior person in the room unless they genuinely believe it’s the correct path. As research by psychologist Charlan Nemeth shows, someone who genuinely disagrees helps a group come up with more creative solutions, while someone just playing “devil’s advocate” does no better than having no dissenter at all. So the right person disagrees only when they believe it matters, not just to show they can.

It’s easy to overlook the advice of someone who has never been in your position, so it’s important that you appoint someone who you’re genuinely willing to listen to and consider their view when they go against you. They need enough experience in your sector and with your business model to support their arguments.

Hire the person who challenges you before they even join the board: Why do you need that? Why do I need that? What will happen when we disagree? How will we reach a final decision? If they’re questioning your decisions before you even make an offer, they’re proving that they can do the job you require from them.

If a board member only ever speaks to the CEO, they only ever see a small part of the company. Seek someone willing and able to spend time with your team, so they can see the dynamics and culture firsthand.

After spending time working in our office, for instance, my board member came to me and said, “I saw something during lunch between some employees that I don’t think is okay. I wonder what your take on that will be.”

I also often get feedback on my communications, as I am including certain board members to our general Slack channel and Monthly All-Hands meetings. Those are invaluable insights you won’t get from your team, because they’re used to certain behaviours and patterns, and so are you.

Build a system that challenges you

My main advice to other CEOs: create systems that challenge your outputs, not just measure your company’s eventual results. According to research described in Harvard Business Review, the most successful leaders regularly seek critical feedback from their peers, employees, and board.

Your company may be performing well and growing fast. But could it do even better if you tweaked your approach or aimed a little higher? You won’t know unless someone is willing to challenge you and won’t back down until one of you proves your point.

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