Who’s really adding value in your organization?

Mike Crill from Atlas Accelerator gave a great talk earlier this month on best practices for creating & managing a board of directors. As part of his presentation, Mike shared a two-part test to determine if your board members are providing value. You should be able to answer “yes” to at least one of these two questions:

1. Have they stopped you from doing something you thought was a good idea?
2. Have they initiated something that was beneficial?

I think this test has legs beyond board members as well. How many of your employees or members of your leadership team are doing a great job at what they’re asked to do, but fail to stop and question whether it’s a good idea? Or fail to draw upon their growing knowledge and expertise to suggest something new?

Which members of your team are best at respectfully questioning otherwise-assumed precedents or initiatives? And which sit quietly through most of your meetings?

Not every employee needs to be this proactive. But depending on the level and role, you want people around you that are doing this regularly, not just your board members.