38 | Accountability, Strategy, Risk: Byron Enix on Getting Board Work Right

In this episode of Build Better Boards, host Richard Fagerlin talks with Byron Enix (retired President & CEO, American AgCredit) about what boards owe their organizations before, during, and after a CEO transition.

• The three real jobs of a director: Accountability, strategy, and risk. Get those right and CEO selection becomes the natural outcome of good governance.
• Build the playbook before you need it: Draft a CEO transition playbook long before it's needed, with clear expectations for the board, the selection committee, leadership, and any outside search firm. The firm works for you.
• Keep the full board in the decision: A selection committee can run the process, but the full board needs to stay engaged enough to test the recommendation. The CEO also has a role to play in preparing the organization, within clear boundaries around confidentiality and influence.
• Honoring tenure without losing honesty: Long-tenured CEOs deserve real respect for what they've built, and a board willing to have honest conversations about present performance and future needs.
• Pay for performance, not for baseline: Big checks for big expectations make sense. Incentives layered on top of a CEO simply doing the job they were hired to do do not.

Connect with Byron on LinkedIn ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/byron-enix-2943b153/⁠.

Find show notes and more at ⁠buildbetterboards.com/podcast⁠.