How The Best Executive Teams Prepare For Investor, Board Communication
Part of the executive job description includes the ability to deliver important messages to investors, the media, and their own employees or board. The best executives make it look easy, but in truth, it can take weeks (or months) of preparation to have the desired impact when the stakes are high.
What do the best leaders and teams do differently when it comes to (seemingly) effortless communicate in high pressure situations? Here’s a sample list:
They make it obvious. The best executives don’t assume others see the value behind their products, strategy, or solutions to the degree to which they do. For instance, consider the executive team that was describing its “disciplined approach” to growth to an audience of shareholders. While the benefits of discipline may seem straightforward, in reality, the idea sounded like a buzzword the audience had heard a million times before. Far less obvious was how the company’s disciplined approach translated to growth and value, or how discipline might positively impact TSR, operational efficiency, ability to compete, and so on. Once the team recognized the need to better connect the dots between discipline and company performance, the value behind the idea became much more obvious to the audience.
Role clarity. Preparing for an investor day, board meeting, or company-wide event can be a significant undertaking, even for experienced executives. Ask them about what makes these events particularly challenging, and they’ll tell you: Too many cooks in the kitchen. Understandably, good companies want to be prepared on all fronts when it comes to delivering a strong, unified presentation. Getting to that point, however, requires hundreds of decisions, from key messages to Q&A, handoffs and transitions, to slide design, and more. Even strong teams can become inundated with input, with dozens of changes and versions coming from all sides. That’s why the best executives create clarity from the very beginning of the process to ensure all participants understand their role, what’s expected, and decision rights. It’s a simple step that goes a long way in cutting down on the fatigue, confusion, and multiple revisions that could have otherwise been avoided.
Eyes on the prize. Many executive team presentations are prepared individually, with each team member working on their portion of the message behind the scenes. With each executive focused on a part of the story, it’s too easy to lose sight of the unified message and bigger picture. That’s why the best executives make sure the team keeps their eye on the prize and never forgets the real purpose and objective behind the presentation. Consider the example of an executive team from an energy company presenting to investors: One by one, members of the executive team stood on stage and delivered their portion of the message to the audience. Slides were dense, details were many, and the sheer volume of information buried the gems in the content. Worse, there was no energy, no sense of urgency, or excitement that would compel an investor to act. In all the preparation and effort, the team took its eyes off the prize and lost sight of the fact that they weren’t only there to inform or tell, but also to energize, influence, and sell.
It’s rewarding to deliver a strong team presentation, but real value for teams comes from all the moments along the way. The long meetings, the hard work, the practice and preparation, the many revisions and rewrites are where the muscles of teamwork are fortified and strengthened. The memory of delivering a great presentation is short-lived; far more meaningful is the trust you’ve built, knowing you can rely on each other to achieve something outstanding together.
