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The digest follows the workshop "Executive Committee Efficiency" done in partnership with Visconti Partners, aiming to optimize the efficiency and autonomy of the ExCom while remaining aligned with the founding vision.
Access the resource "Establishing an Effective Executive Committee" shared by Visconti Partners.
The workshop is led by Hubert Reynier, CEO of Visconti Partners, whose mission is to help leaders reach their full potential. This mission revolves around executive coaching, supporting Executive Committees, and advising Boards of Directors. You can contact him here.
ExCom Objectives and Expectations
The ExCom (Executive Committee) is key for aligning strategy, managing priorities, and driving decision-making. Beyond being a validation forum, its objectives are:
Execution and Governance: Focus on strategic projects and delivering results. ExCom positions should neither be symbolic nor political.
Strategic Contribution: It serves as a forum for meaningful managerial and strategic insights that drive impactful, organization-wide decisions.
Cultural Leadership: Define, assume and enforce a strong ExCom culture. Formalize and write values to avoid ambiguity and set your leadership tone.
Do not hesitate to remove unaligned member, even if it seems risky at first.
Who Should Join the ExCom?
Building the ExCom requires carefully selecting members aligned with the company’s culture, strategy, and expectations, ensuring their successful integration.
Criteria for eligibility
Key Strategic Contributors: Both managerial and strategic contributions. They must add real value.
Cultural Alignment: They are the ambassadors of the founders and company’s vision, values, expectations.
Collaborative Posture: Members must demonstrate autonomy, alignment, and constructive opposition.
Being an important shareholder or a long-time employee does not give a seat at the ExCom.
Effective Curation and Management
Resources to deep dive into ExCom Composition at each stage
Series B Blueprint
“Understanding the Series B Executive Team” p.72-77
Series A Blueprint
“Building your first Exec Team” p.16-20 ;“Org Change at Series A” p.62-67
The Partner Map an invaluable tool to assess alignment and avoid destructive dynamics.
What to Expect from ExCom Members
A common mistake is delaying your ExCom member objective-setting by 3 to 6 months to allow for "acclimation." Provide a clear target from the start.
Posture/Skills | Expectations | Warnings | Score |
Strategic Contribution | Deliver clear, concise, and well-structured insights that align with company objectives. | Avoid unfocused or overly detailed contributions that derail discussions. | |
Constructive Opposition | Provide data-driven and well-reasoned challenges to enrich decision-making | Avoid opposition for its own sake. | |
Accountability and Ownership | Take ownership of issues and avoid deflecting responsibility. | Avoid blame-shifting or lack of follow-up on key actions. | |
Collective Decision Alignement | Support and communicate decisions collectively, regardless of initial disagreement. | Avoid members saying, “They decided that…”, decisions are collective. | |
Cultural and Organizational Alignment | Reflect the company’s culture in behavior and decisions. Contribute to cultural alignment. | Misaligned actions can erode cultural cohesion and credibility. | |
Operational Execution | Ensure timely execution of agreed-upon actions from ExCom meeting. Deliver progress updates | Delayed execution risks eroding trust in leadership capability. | |
Cross-Functional Collaboration | Act as a bridge and facilitate collaboration across departments for broader challenges. | Operating in silos can hinder collective success and alignment. | |
Effective communication | Explain not just the “what” but also the “why” to prevent misunderstandings. | Perceptions are the reality. Be careful with corporate communication | |
Duty to Contribute | Speak up, even on topics outside your domain, to bring valuable perspectives. Raise critical questions. | Staying silent on critical issues may result in missed opportunities. |
What is expected from you, the CEO
Balance priorities, ensuring the continuity and stability of activities (operations, performance) while managing strategic and transformational projects designed to improve the organization.
Ensuring ExCom Effectiveness
These guidelines are to ensure ExCom Effectiveness by maintaining a structured rhythm, prioritizing well-prepared discussions, and fostering clear decision-making processes.
- Cadence: Hold weekly, 1:30-hour meetings more effective than 3-h monthly sessions.
- Strategic Monday: Start the week with aligned decisions, after team meetings. Establish rituals like monthly ExCom lunches for engagement.
- Steering Meetings: Dedicate 1 out of 4 meetings to identifying problems, root causes, and finding solutions.
MEETING AGENDA EXAMPLE:
15 min - Intro: Presentation of the agenda, priorities, and context for the topics to be discussed.
60 min - Strategic Discussion: Debate on go/no-go decisions or a focused brainstorming session on a specific topic.
15 min - Recap: The Sherpa summarizes the decisions made and actions to be taken (5 decisions, 4 actions).
A Sherpa ensures ExCom meetings run smoothly and effectively:
- Agenda Preparation: Work with the CEO to set clear priorities before ExCom.
- Quality Control: Validate the content of dossiers presented by ExCom members.
- Time Management: Keep discussions focused and within the allotted time (e.g., 1h30).
This role can be given to a high potential talent within the company.