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These notes reflect the collective wisdom of CEOs and CFOs in our network, drawn from our recent roundtable in Phoenix. What emerged wasn’t a formula, but a shared instinct: strong board relationships are built through rhythm, clarity, and trust.
What follows are working ideas that surfaced repeatedly—ways leaders are shaping their communication habits to stay in sync with their boards and keep the work moving forward.
Some common principles showed up across the board, regardless of organization size or structure:
Many leaders have landed on a predictable cadence—usually quarterly—for board updates. This regularity reduces one-off requests and helps boards stay focused on progress and patterns, not just moments.
One CFO noted that a consistent update rhythm "cut down on backchannel questions and helped board members come to meetings better prepared."
CEOs and CFOs emphasized how much stronger the relationship gets when they stop trying to sound polished in every update. One CEO put it plainly: "Our board’s full of smart people who’ve led teams—they don’t expect perfection, just honesty." The updates that resonate most include not just the wins, but also what’s unclear, or where the team is still finding its way.
Another leader shared, "We started naming the things that felt murky or in-progress, and that’s when the best board conversations started happening."
It’s not about writing less—it’s about helping board members know where to look. Clear structure, bolded section headers, and a quick "what matters this time" summary help readers engage quickly and stay anchored in what’s important.
A well-formatted one-pager was described by one CEO as "the highest-leverage 45 minutes I spend each quarter."