Hook
Your board meets on Thursday. The plan you presented in March has slipped by a quarter.You know why. Two senior hires started late and your largest customer delayed their roll-out.You have three options:Option A: Present the numbers as they are and explain on the day.Option B: Call your chair on Tuesday, walk them through it, and agree what the board needs to decide.Option C: Push the slip into next quarter’s forecast and hope Q1 catches up.Most CEOs I coach pick A. It feels honest.But a board that hears bad news for the first time in the meeting spends the meeting on the news, not on the decision.Option B is the one that works. The chair arrives knowing. The board discusses what to change, not who knew what.Option C is the one that costs you. Not this quarter. The next time you present a number.I’ve sat on 12 boards. The CEOs the board trusts most are not the ones with the best numbers. They’re the ones who are never a surprise.Which option would you pick?
