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Wondering How Best to Diversify Your Agility Vantage Point?
An Agile Corporate/Business Advisory Board can be a Great Answer
This is one of my favorite things to do these days as a culmination of my own agile journey. Whether called a "Board of Advisors", "Advisory Council", "Advisory Committee" or something else, the primary function of a non-governance Board is to provide advisory regarding enterprise agility, future-proofing the business and sustaining the desired trajectory of profitable growth.
Distinctly Different from a Governance Board of Directors
Free from the burden of the necessary associated bureaucracy of Governance Boards of Directors, Boards of Advisors can serve in a much more dynamic, impactful and agile way. Indeed, as such, there is a rising tide of companies large and small establishing Boards of Advisors, in many cases as a complement to a governance Board of Directors.
I love Chairing Agile Advisory Boards and/or occupying the Agility Seat around the Board table.
What does an Agile Advisory Board do?
- Its function is to diversify and expand your VUCA Radar Scope (scanning over the horizon of your radar scope to spot VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity & Ambiguity) as an early warning system of seeing potential VUCA coming on the fringes, de-risking a tendency for blind spots before you are otherwise likely to do.
- Stress-testing your Agile SWOT Analysis (analyzing your agility strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats).
- Assessing the integration, alignment and attunement of your Agility Operating System (AOS) and Agile Leadership, to be translating agile strategy and agile execution into traction on your desired trajectory, wheelspin.
That's Why I Became a Certified Chair with the Advisory Board Centre
In addition to chairing peer-advisory-groups for many years, I have been involved with many governance and advisory boards as a member and a chair. I often found them to be a mixed experience of conversation-flows, which left a lot to be desired.
Yet, in an Accelerating World of Disruptive Change ...
Boards have an increasingly crucial role to play as the top line of driving conversation-flows to be future-proofing a business. With governance boards increasingly mired in bureaucracy and risk, there is a rising tide of interest in advisory boards as a complement to governance boards.
So I Went Looking for the Leading Proponent of Research Based, Best Practice Advisory Boards.
I found the Advisory Board Centre and became a USA based Certified Chair. From its home base in Australia, the Advisory Board Centre is the leading professional body globally, improving the advisory board sector through research, best practice frameworks and certifications. Already prevalent in Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and now expanding globally, it is a such a quality community of caliber chairs/advisors. I am excited to help spread the word, build the community and bring the rigor of a research based, best practice framework in the USA.
Co-Chair of ABC's Americas Community
I was delighted to be asked by ABC to become the Co-Chair of their Americas Community, Which is a growing community of Certified Chairs and Businesses adopting ABC's Best Practice Architecture in the Americas (USA, Canada, Central & South America). The State of the Market Report continues to show is by far the largest market globally (2023 State of the Market Report: USA = 54% of Active Advisors)
>>> Access Resources from the Advisory Board Center
- 2023 State of the Market Report
- Best Practice Framework
- For Advisors: Certified Chair Program
- For Businesses: Free Concierge Service (with truly no strings attached! ... I can make a warm introduction for you and help coordinate as part of a 90 Day Opportunity Assessment ... see below)
>>> 90 Day Opportunity Assessment
- Engage with me in a collaborative assessment of where you are on your advisor engagement journey ... no matter where you are starting from.
- Sensing the opportunity to evolve a next step ... as a progressive evolution of developing an advisory advantage.
- Gradually evolving in the direction of a best-practice advisory board ... as and when aligned with the phases of your business growth path.
- Inclusive of doing some assessments as and when appropriate as part of a Board Starter Program (Growth Score Assessment, Value Chain Assessment, Growth Pathway Assessment)
- All in the framework of Cracking the Agility Code ... whether you are a smaller company or a larger company.
some additional Resources
Cracking the Agility Code
The battleground of business is shifting yet again. I invite leaders to begin a 5 Level Reset, Cracking the Code of Agility from C2C: Conversation-Flow to Cash-Flow. From the very top-line of your conversation-flow to the very bottom-line of your cash-flow, where the trajectory of your conversation-flow goes, the trajectory of your cash-flow follows. We used to say cash-flow is king, but not anymore! Conversation-flow is king and cash-flow is just a way of keeping score! You show me a business with poor cash-flow and I will show you a business with poor conversation-flow.
Adding up to The One Advantage
5 Levels which add up to the one and only competitive advantage you have these days which has any degree of permanence. A peer-powered culture of agility. In an age of exponential disruptive change, everything else is increasingly temporary, increasingly quickly. Probably bigger, faster and sooner than you think!
Level 4 is about Developing an Advisory Advantage.
In an exponential age you can’t possibly keep up by trying to have all of your intelligence in-house. You have no choice except to rely more and more on external input to help you scan your radar scope and make sense of what is coming up over the fringes in your direction. A Business Advisory Board can be a great answer. It helps drive the top line of your conversation-flow trajectory which the bottom-line of your cash-flow trajectory follows.
Podcast: "What is an Advisory Advantage?"
- I had a blast doing a podcast with Udo Doring, Chairman of the Advisory Board Centre on the subject of an advisory advantage.
- No one wants to be blindsided professionally or personally. A good way to prevent this is to diversify our perspective with input from both inside and outside our organizations. External peer advisory boards, corporate or business advisory boards and internal peer forums can help gain perspective, prevent blind-spots, and lead to innovation.
- Join us with special guest Udo Doring, Chairman of the Advisory Board Centre, as we explore ways to develop an advisory advantage.
Fantastic webinar with Udo Doring, Chairman of the Advisory Board Centre, giving a great overview of the Advisory Board sector in the USA and the UK.
- Why there is a rising tide of interest in advisory boards as a complement to governance boards and peer advisory groups? Learn about the need for a professional body.
- What are the roles and responsibilities of those contributing to best practice advisory boards, and what are the differences when compared with a governance board? Learn about research-based best practice.
- Who is involved? Which companies and at which stage of their life-cycle? Which capabilities/disciplines are in demand? Learn about the drivers of demand for advice at different levels of corporate maturity: including Startups, Scaleups, Mid-Market Companies & Corporations.
- How can you get started and make an impact on either side of the advisory equation? Leaders of organisations learn about our complimentary Advisor Concierge service. For advisors, learn how to differentiate yourself through best practice education and credentials to put you on another level.
I had a blast doing a video podcast interview with the Advisory Board Centre, exploring some great topics:
- The rising tide of interest in advisory boards as a complement to governance boards and peer advisory groups
- The simultaneous maturity and immaturity of the advisory boards sector in the USA
- The challenge of Agile C2C: Conversation-Flow to Cash-Flow
- How easily the trajectory of Conversation-Flow can derail and what it takes to keep it on the rails with confidence of future proofing the business.
I moderated a great webinar recently about How to Get on Paid Governance Boards & Advisory Boards
- What are Boards looking for in new Board members?
- What is the difference between a Board of DIRECTORS and a Board of ADVISORS?
- How much do Boards pay their board members?
- How do I best position & network myself to be considered for (paid) Boards?
- What are issues to be aware of on Boards of DIRECTORS and Boards of ADVISORS
- Are there organizations that can help me get on a board?
I had a great time doing a session for the Advisory Board Centre titled, "Adaptability and Agility for Advisory Boards"
... increasingly crucial in an accelerating VUCA world (of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity)
- Defining Agility
- Agile C2C: Conversation-Flow to Cash-Flow
- An Agility Operating System
- The Role of Advisory Boards in Future-Proofing the Business
- A Toolbox