Chris Bylander discusses how advisory boards can help CEOs overcome uncertainty in today's business climate. He notes that advisory boards provide unique perspectives from experienced individuals outside the company. Unlike boards of directors, advisory board members do not have fiduciary responsibility and cannot be held liable for company mistakes. Their compensation is also lower. Bylander provides steps for CEOs to establish an advisory board, including defining member profiles, expectations, recruiting targeted advisors, and incorporating them into company communications.

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Saint Louis Advisory Board Council
Saint Louis, Missouri, Fall 2010
Advisory Boards Can Help CEOs Overcome Uncertainty
Chris Bylander is a Saint Louis district leader to the White House on job
creation and a member of both The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
Leaders’ Panel at The Economist and the Market Advisory Board of
Bloomberg BusinessWeek. He is sharing his experience on how to handle
the uncertainty of today’s business climate.
We can all benefit from advisers—they're the friends from the trenches who
have been on the business battlefield longer than we have. Or they're friends
from a different industry or field who provide a unique perspective. Or
they're seasoned or high-profile executives who lend you credibility, thus
helping you secure customers, financing, or a crucial introduction. You need
advisers to bounce ideas off, to provide a reality check, to tell you when
you're about to mess up, to confide in when you're alone at the top.
A board of directors has a fiduciary responsibility to the company. They can
be liable for mistakes (accounting and otherwise) that a company makes. So
it's tough and expensive to secure board directors, especially since Sarbanes-
Oxley. But advisory board members don't have fiduciary responsibility, and
thus cannot be held liable. Hence their compensation is a fraction of what a
board director receives.
Further, board directors have an obligation to the company first, and the
CEO second. It's the opposite with advisers—the CEO comes first. A good
adviser is still looking out for the company, but their aim is to steer you in
the right direction to best care for the company.
Here's a process for getting and keeping advisers on your team. Remember:
Life equals the people that you meet plus what you create with them. Let's
start meeting and creating. Do this:
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Saint Louis Advisory Board Council
Define your advisory board member profiles. This is a list of skills and
connections you want advisors to have.
Determine your expectations of each adviser. You will want to interact
with them on a regular basis.
Create your pitch and comp package. Why should someone become an
adviser to you? What's in it for them? Getting involved in a developing
company in a super-cool field? Access to thought-provoking people, such as
your executive team and other advisers?
Brainstorm your target list. This, my friends, is where you work it! You
will be glad you've invested time in building your network, because it's
about to pay off. Ask your friends, colleagues, mentors, vendors, and
financiers if they know people who meet the profile you seek.
Seek out your targeted advisers and recruit them.
Celebrate, incorporate, and communicate. After celebrating your good
fortune in securing some rocking advisers, it's time to incorporate them into
your company's communication flow.
Carefully consider offers from for-profit “coaching companies” who
charge annual fees but promise nothing in return. You may end up
feeding owners of another enterprise, not yours.
For free information on how to form an advisory group for your company,
contact Chris Bylander through LinkedIn.com, by phone at 314-578-4808 or
by email at chris.bylander@sbcglobal.net
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