Latest / Executive Careers with Fexingo: VP, C-Suite, and Senior Leadership Career Strategy / How Senior Leaders Conduct Personal Board Audits
Transcript
- Lucas: You've probably heard the phrase 'your network is your net worth' so many times it's become background noise. Luna: Right. It's one of those things people say but rarely actually audit. Lucas: Exactly. And for senior leaders, the quality of that network matters far more than the quantity. But most executives I talk to have never done a structured review of who's actually on their personal board. Luna: A personal board audit. I like that framing. So what does that look like in practice? Lucas: I'll use a specific example. Let's say you're a CFO at a mid-cap company, we'll call her Sarah. She's been in the role for three years and is thinking about her next move—maybe a larger company, or a CEO role. She has a handful of people she goes to for advice: her former boss from a previous job, a peer from an industry group, a retired CFO she met at a conference, and her current CEO. Luna: That sounds pretty typical. What's the issue? Lucas: The issue is that most of those people share similar backgrounds, similar industry exposure, and similar assumptions about what success looks like. Her former boss and her CEO both come from the same finance function, same kind of company. The peer is in a similar role. The retired CFO has been out of the game for five years. So her board is actually an echo chamber. Luna: And she doesn't realize it because she's not systematically evaluating them. Lucas: Exactly. So the first step of a personal board audit is to list everyone you currently use as a sounding board for major career decisions. Then you rate each person on three dimensions: candor, relevance, and accessibility. Luna: Break those down for me. Lucas: Candor is the most important. Will this person tell you something you don't want to hear? If they always agree with you, or they're too polite to challenge your thinking, they're not adding value. Relevance means do they understand the current landscape you're operating in? A mentor who retired five years ago might have great wisdom, but they may not grasp the dynamics of the current market, or the specific challenges of your industry today. Accessibility is about how often you can actually get time with them. Someone who's brilliant but only available once a year isn't as useful as someone who can take a call every quarter. Luna: So you rate each person on a scale of one to five on each dimension, and then you look for gaps. Lucas: Right. In Sarah's case, her former boss and her CEO might score high on relevance and accessibility, but low on candor because they have a vested interest in her staying. Her peer might be high on candor but medium on relevance because they're in the same boat. The retired CFO might be high on candor but low on relevance. So she has no one who scores high across all three. Luna: That's a powerful insight. I remember talking to a CEO who did this audit and realized two of her five board members were essentially redundant—same industry, same functional background, same blind spots. She replaced them with a private equity partner and a chief marketing officer from a different sector. Her promotion to a larger CEO role came eighteen months later. Lucas: That's a great example. And it highlights something important: your personal board shouldn't just be people who validate your path. It should include people who can see around corners, who have different functional expertise, different industry perspectives, even different risk appetites. Luna: So what's the actual process? How often should someone do this audit? Lucas: At least once a year. Ideally at the beginning of your planning cycle—so for most people, that's January or when you're thinking about your annual goals. You literally create a spreadsheet or a document with three columns: name, relationship, and then those three scores. Then you look at the average scores and identify the weakest dimension. Luna: And then you take action. You might need to add someone who brings a missing perspective, or you might need to consciously shift how you use certain people. Lucas: Exactly. For example, if you have low candor across the board, you might need to find a mentor who has no stake in your current organization. Someone who's completely independent. If you have low relevance, you might need to connect with peers who are in the trenches now, not people who've been retired for a decade. Luna: One thing I've seen is that senior leaders often underestimate the value of peers at the same level but from different industries. A VP of engineering at a tech company might learn a lot from a VP of operations at a manufacturing firm, because the challenges of scaling a team are universal. Lucas: That's a great point. Functional diversity is underrated. A CFO can benefit from a CMO's perspective on brand risk. A CEO can benefit from a chief people officer's view on talent strategy. The most valuable board members are often the ones who think differently from you. Luna: So how do you actually recruit new members to your personal board? You can't exactly send a LinkedIn message saying 'I need more candor, please join my board.' Lucas: Right. It's more organic. You start by identifying the gap, then you look for people who exemplify that quality. Then you find a reason to connect—maybe you ask for their perspective on a specific challenge you're facing. If that conversation is valuable, you follow up and suggest a quarterly check-in. Over time, it becomes a mentorship relationship. Luna: And you should be explicit about what you're looking for. I've had people say to me, 'I really value your candor, and I'd love to have you as a sounding board on big decisions.' That directness is actually refreshing. Lucas: It is. And it's important to reciprocate. A personal board is a two-way street. You should also be offering value to the people on your board, whether it's your perspective, your network, or your support. Luna: Let's talk about the practical output of an audit. What should someone walk away with? Lucas: A clear list of who stays, who gets upgraded, and who needs to be replaced. And a specific plan for filling the gaps. For example, if you're a VP of sales and you realize you have no one who can give you candid feedback on your executive presence, you might seek out a communications coach or a senior leader known for their gravitas. Luna: And you might also decide to let some relationships go. Not in a harsh way, but you can be intentional about how much time you invest. If someone consistently scores low on relevance and candor, you might shift them to a social connection rather than a career advisor. Lucas: Exactly. And this is where many senior leaders fall short—they hold onto advisors out of loyalty or habit, even when those advisors are no longer adding value. A personal board audit forces you to be honest about that. Luna: Speaking of honesty, I think there's a parallel here to how we think about this podcast. We try to be candid with our listeners, and we hope it's valuable to you. Lucas: Yeah, we do. And if you've gotten something out of these episodes, especially if you've used them to think through a career decision, we'd love your support. These shows are ad-free, and listener contributions make that possible. A couple of dollars a month at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo genuinely helps keep them going. Luna: It really does. And we appreciate everyone who's already chipped in. Now, back to the audit—once you've identified the gaps, what's the first concrete step you'd recommend for someone listening right now? Lucas: Block thirty minutes this week. Open a document. List the five people you most often turn to for career advice. Rate them on candor, relevance, and accessibility. If the average score is below four, you have a gap. Then commit to reaching out to one new person who could fill that gap within the next two weeks. Luna: Simple, but powerful. And it's something you can do regardless of where you are in your career. Lucas: Exactly. Whether you're a first-time VP or a seasoned CEO, your personal board is one of the few things you can directly control that has an outsized impact on your trajectory. It's worth the time. Luna: Agreed. And I'd love to hear from listeners who do this audit—what gaps did you find, and how did you fill them? We might do a follow-up episode with the best stories. Lucas: Great idea. Until then, take a look at your board. You might be surprised by what you see.