凯鹏华盈合伙人：如何组建一个强大的董事会？

    每一位出色的CEO背后都有一个出色的董事会。但我注意到，对于成立一个强有力的董事会这项任务，许多初创公司创始人往往是一拖再拖。亚马逊和谷歌等成功的科技公司，在很早便成立了董事会。当然，这两家公司都是特例；通常情况下，公司很少会预想到没有董事会的后果，直至他们遇到麻烦。

    许多董事会认为他们只需要向CEO负责，结果却陷入困境。

    多年来，我一直在为初创公司提供董事会管理与高管招聘方面的咨询，我认为董事会真正的职责是聘用和解雇CEO。毕竟，好的董事会清楚他们要对彼此负责，对公司股东负责。此外，好的董事会在想法、背景和观点方面是多元化的。下面的统计数据值得反复思考：硅谷董事中仅有10%为女性，风投投资的初创公司中，女性创始人或CEO的百分比更低。

    如何组建一个好的董事会？下面是一些实用的建议。

    清楚公司的愿景。你希望公司实现什么目标？明确你需要董事会做些什么来实现这些目标。在考虑和确定你需要董事会成员具备的特性、技能与经验时，要牢记公司的目标。

    寻找正确的技能。制作一个简单的表格，将市场中现有的特性综合在一起。将你期望的“最终”董事会的所有方面在表格中列出。在表格中填写每一位董事的潜在想法，根据这些想法的深度或契合度以及成功聘用的可能性进行排名。对这个清单及时更新，将其作为董事会议上一个积极的讨论项目。

    确定董事会成员的职责与责任。正如吉姆•柯林斯所说：“你是否为合适的人准备了合适的位置？”成立委员会或划定关键责任范围永远不会过早。你是否有最优秀的审计主管或薪酬主管？谁是你在关键领域可以依靠的首席董事？

    创建一种文化，鼓励辩论。培养一种广纳谏言和独立的文化。你希望听到不同的意见和观点，帮助你思考各种选择。考虑你希望董事会带来的文化与互动：是富有激情的激烈辩论，还是头脑清醒、慎重的讨论？你希望董事会能够推动你前进，让你感觉不舒服，挑战传统思维。与此同时，你想要的是一个董事会，而不是运营委员会，所以设定界限很重要。

    突破舒适区。董事会往往倾向于实现熟悉的和舒服的目标，这样做的结果就是同质化。因此，你应该努力实现意见的多样化，不必担心违背他人的想法做事。牢记这一点，可以帮助你保持开放心态，考虑一些你不会第一时间想到的替补人选。（财富中文网）

    本文作者朱丽叶•德拜尔尼为凯鹏华盈高级合伙人。她为公司的客户提供公司建设方面的咨询服务，包括高管领导力、招聘、薪酬、公司治理和团队建设等。

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    审校：任文科

    Behind every great CEO is a great board, and I’ve noticed that startup founders tend to put off the task of building strong boards. Consider successful tech companies like Amazon and Google， that built their boards early on. They’re more an exception than the rule, however; more often than not, companies find that there are few, if any, consequences until they run into trouble.

    Many boards have gotten into trouble when they think they answer only to the CEO.

    After years of advising startups on board management and executive search, I believe that the only true role of the board is to hire and fire the CEO. After all, great boards understand that they are accountable to each other and to company shareholders. Also, great boards are diverse – in thought, background, and perspectives. The statistics bear repeating: Just 10% of Silicon Valley directors are women, and the percentage of VC-backed startups with a female founder or CEO is even lower.

    So here are some practical tips for assembling a great board.

    Know the company’s vision. Where do you want the company to go? Define what you need the board to do to achieve those goals. Keep that in mind as you consider and define the attributes, skills, and experiences that you need of your board members.

    Seek the right skills. Create a simple grid combining attributes that actually exist in the market. Draft a table with all the desired aspects of a “final” board. Fill in the table with prospective ideas for each director, ranking each in terms of depth or fit and whether that person can be recruited. Keep this list current, fresh, and ongoing, and make it an active item of discussion at board meetings.

    Develop role and responsibilities for members. As Jim Collins says, “Do you have the right people in the right seats on the bus?” It’s never too early to have committees or key areas of responsibility. Do you have the best head of audit, compensation etc.? Who are the lead directors that you as CEO can rely on in each critical area?

    Build a culture and invite debate. Foster a culture of open feedback and independence. You want different opinions and perspectives to help you consider alternatives. Consider the culture and interaction you want from your board: passionate and intense debate, or cerebral and deliberative? You want to recruit a board that pushes you, makes you uncomfortable and challenges conventional wisdom. At the same time, you want a board and not an operating committee – so setting boundaries is important.

    Break through your comfort zone. Boards tend to reach for what’s familiar and comfortable, which results in homogeneity. Knowing that, you should strive for diversity of opinion and not be afraid to go against the grain. Keeping that top of mind will help you be open-minded to alternatives you would not have considered in the first place.

    Juliet de Baubigny is a senior partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. She advises the firm’s portfolio companies on all aspects of company building including executive leadership, recruiting, compensation, corporate governance and team-building.