When you sit as a director on the board, you have to apply your mind to how the board and the wider team will deliver on the expectations that shareholders have or should have of the business.
There are many ways that directors can create tangible and meaningful value for shareholders and other stakeholders. Just having an effective governance process creates shareholder value. However, as a director here are some specific ways you can drive shareholder value creation.
Watch out for the illusion of success
When you are involved in day-to-day operations, it is so easy to fall into the trap of seeing all the good work that your team is doing as the reason to justify why shareholders are not getting the returns they should. In one of our companies, a shareholder once commented that ‘nothing seemed to be going on’.
I was initially taken aback and, as the excuse was about to pop out my mouth, I realised that he was right. If a shareholder does not get their return or some form of increase in value, then there is ‘nothing going on’ for them. When you wear your director hat in a boardroom, then understanding, agreeing and meeting shareholder expectations is a key area of focus.
Wear the ‘three hats’ well
As a shareholder-manager who also serves as a director on the board, you have to learn how to put aside your shareholder and manager hats and instead wear only your director hat. We have observed that the ability to wear the right ‘hat’ at the right time creates massive value for the board and the company as a whole.
Shareholder issues simply do not belong in the boardroom. They cloud effective decision-making and can, ultimately and ironically, destroy shareholder value even if the majority of those present are shareholders.
Independent directors are therefore pivotal in keeping everyone focused on just wearing the director hat well.
Turn risks into opportunities
Risk is inherent in every aspect of being in business. We cannot escape it, yet we can learn to mitigate the likely risks we face. Directors on a board should take this one step further – by finding ways of turning risks into opportunities. Perhaps a key risk for you is the availability of qualified and experienced employees.
A board might look at this risk and see the opportunity inherent in establishing a learning academy as a means of taking control over the quality and availability of critical human capital, which could even become an additional profit generating business in the short-term to medium-term.
Learn how to identify the right opportunities
Entrepreneurs tend to excel at drumming up new ideas and opportunities, yet they struggle to choose the right opportunities in the context of limited time and resources. The board of an SME or privately-held company adds value to shareholders by establishing a framework to separate the ‘wheat from the chaff’.
This accelerates the growth in value by choosing the right path at the right time and keeping the entrepreneur ‘on track’.
Never underestimate organisational culture
As Peter Drucker says, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” The best business model and strategy can all be for nought if the culture of the company is toxic or undermines the promise of the enterprise.
Directors on a board should never underestimate the importance of the collective values and behaviours of its team and how this directly enhances or destroys shareholder value.
Address the ‘elephant in the room’
And lastly, SMEs and privately-held companies are renowned for avoiding the tough conversations at a board or executive level, especially when there are personal relationships between shareholder-managers.
In wearing the director hat well, supported by candid independent directors, massive value can be quickly unlocked through decisively acting on the long-unaddressed issues that drain all the energy out of the team.
In short, directors have an absolute role in ensuring value creation for shareholders. However, this does not happen by accident, it happens by design. Have you designed your board to achieve this?