What do I mean by

Advisory Board?

Advisory Board

Many years as a member of different Board of Directors (BoD) has identified a need for something in between the typical corporate consultant and a BoD. Hence, I have strengthened my own consultancy with specialists throughout my network - both strategic and operational and give you the possibility to make use of them inside the framework of the Advisory Board.

The Team

Each person - apart from myself, in the Network prefer to be listed without names but with profile. This is because most of them have a professional carrere with their employer already and is doing this primarily on the side (but in full transparency with the employer). You can read more about them by clicking the heading "The Team".

Whether you just have started a business, or you’ve been around for several years…
Whether you are part of a small company or a large corporation…
You will always come around with the need to make choices and decisions, or the need for
  • creating clarity and alignment on strategic direction and priorities founded in business realities
  • solving specific problems now and putting the solution into action
  • translating strategies into real change in operating model, organization and individual behavior with clear accountability and follow through
  • accelerating commercial development through clear and actionable segmentation and stronger value proposition
  • understanding the nature and discipline of change execution – driving actual long term change and making it stick 
This is the time of life where the life as a Manager you often feel alone and look for unbiased experienced peoples to discuss with.

 

That is why we decided to establish…

…The Advisory Board…

 
…which is here to be your preferred discussion partner, independent of level you are on in the organization and whether it is of a…

…Strategic or an Operational level

My network of 20+ top players with their individual and specialized competence and area of experience.
Each and one of them ready to be engaged together with myself to ensure the best possible team of discussion partners for you.
To be a discussion partner for any Management Team, any Manager or any Specialist

– that is the idea of my Advisory Board – 

made available to you and your company.
I wish an Advisory Board was available when I started as CEO for the Fund Management Company in the Storebrand Group in Norway. A real challenge for anyone at the age of 40 in a high-end company.  And, everyone is not as lucky as I was to have good mentors and coaches that want me to succeed inside the Group. I had that.
You can have it too through The Advisory Group.

So, how does it work?

It all starts with

YOU

by contacting me here. After that anything can happen.
 
After a free-of-charge 30 minutes session where you and whoever you invite go through your situation and potential challenges, we will together discuss if I can be of any help and potentially involve anyone in my network (that can also be done later).
Scope and Meeting frequency (if needed or wanted) is agreed, and we take it from there. 
I am there to be your discussion partner and to set up a fixed agreement is not viable in this context.
In most cases these talks are all done using Zoom where I will take care of the administration and invitations.  In some cases it can also be the best solution to have meetings on-site but to save time and money and be as effective as possible, the cloud is preferably used.
And that’s it!

What's in it for you ?

All Corporations are obliged to have a Board of Directors and for many that can be a challenge, both process of handling it as well as discussions in it.  But most Corporations need guidance, a 2nd opinion and in some cases also corrections. 
An Advisory Board might therefore be a good idea – a forum where you have a handful of competent non-biased persons where one can look for advice without the peculiarities sometimes part of a Board of Directors.
If you are uncertain on whether or not to have a Board of Directors, an Advisory Board could be a good idea to test out as a pathfinder to finally set the right scope for the Board of Directors.
So, what is the real difference between an Advisory Board and a true Board of Directors?  Isn’t it in fact two forums with different names?
  • An Advisory Board is optional whilst a Board of Directors in some cases is needed due to legislation.
  • An Advisory Board can have but not necessarily, a commitment towards the Corporation.
  • An Advisory Board gives – as the name itself indicate, advice. Whilst a Board of Directors has the necessary authorities and governance to bypass decisions made by the CEO.
  • An Advisory Board consist of members with no legal responsibility.
  • An Advisory Board is often discussed in the terms of a Low-level Board of Directors as opposed to the real Board of Directors on the High-level.
  • An Advisory Board and A Board of Directors often have different fee structure.  
Consequently, should you choose an Advisory Board or a true Board of Directors?
  • First, have in mind your Advisory Board can also be a Board of Directors with the same persons but different authority and different role.  Can often be a good idea as long as the capability to distinguish between the roles is present
  • Whether it is an Advisory Board or a Board of Directors, the true difference comes down to the persons you have selected.  A group of people with no commitment and engagement have no value in either of the settings whilst a committed person is valuable wherever he/she is
  • An external discussion partner is essential when it all comes down to strategic questions, business plan, business model, growth strategy (or not), M&A, HR and a lot more topics.  An Advisory Board could definitely be the solution in these cases.
    • A good guideline can be to use Advisory Board for
      – SMB Corporations and/or newly established companies
      – project/program related parts of the Corporation for example implementing new markets, new lines of business, new technology, migrations, branding etc
      – where the owners want to have a seat in the Board of Directors, an Advisory Board can be a perfect solution to ensure external discussion partners
  • Another generic guideline is that whenever you have “something in the pipeline” the Corporation often will benefit from External competence and External input
Thinking about setting up a Board of Directors? Or, maybe an Advisory Board?

Tell us about it