In a past private company director role, I was confronted with a combative CEO who was able to silence even the sharpest of directors. They consistently shut down directors’ questions and comments, replying with a list of reasons why it was not relevant, detailing why it would not work or suggesting directors were wading into management’s territory. After observing this behavior in my first few meetings, I was astounded. I wondered, how did we get here? How had the board allowed this to occur?
How Could a Board End Up in This Situation?
Whether it is a board, executive team, advisory council or even a book club, dynamics occur because they all involve groups of humans, where intuitive, unintentional pressures to conform are always present. Even more important in high-stakes environments where anxiety is contagious, when it takes root, it impacts rational decision-making. If directors do not actively manage these pressures, dynamics become counterproductive.
Think of board member relations as a network of interactive fields working in concert. The instinctual urge of the network is to maintain the status quo. If directors are not equipped with strategies to avoid going with the flow, particularly in the face of strong personalities, boards risk becoming more check-the-box than strategic.
This results in missed opportunities and can have a profound impact because strategic risks are the single largest destructor of long-term value in a company.
How should a board address these challenges? Directors need more than dashboards. They need discernment.
The Role of Coaching in the Boardroom
Coaching cultivates the judgment to interpret data in context. It raises the right questions at the right time and speaks hard truths in hard rooms. Boards benefit by learning how to address power and legacy dynamics without personalizing or escalating conflict. Knowing how to influence without escalating is particularly useful for private company directors in situations where CEOs wield outsized power.
Coaching supports governance evolution by clarifying roles and expectations while addressing undercurrents that appear subtle, yet, over time, erode trust and governance quality. It builds capacity to stabilize volatility during transitions, allowing directors to hold steady, model calmness and build strong leaders. Coaching develops courage to speak up by equipping directors to stay present in discomfort. And it helps board chairs or lead directors hold productive tension while preserving trust.
It isn’t about surface-level advice. It’s about interrupting entrenched patterns and equipping directors and the companies they govern to engage differently. Coaching considers that directors do not operate in isolation by homing in on the leadership and group interactions necessary to achieve specific, measurable results or outcomes. It is even possible to develop coaching contracts with metrics to calculate a return on investment.
A Better Way to Ignite Change and Build Trust
Looking back at that combative CEO, I could see early on that a new approach was needed to spark change. This particular CEO wasn’t going to respond to gentle nudges; rather, they needed the board to step up with clear expectations and goals. I spent the next three years with my fellow directors bringing the issue to light through individual conversations, building alliances and influencing new directors to bring up riskier topics so the CEO heard the message from the entire board. This built trust and drove change in both the board’s expectations of management and how the board communicated with the CEO.
Over time, this strategy successfully shifted the board’s style from reactive to strategic. For example, the company introduced forward-looking initiatives and began addressing the future in annual reports for the first time in at least 25 years (the tenure of this CEO).
After seeing this success, I wondered, “How would involving a board coach earlier or more formally have helped?” In this case, more formality earlier on would have likely built the capacity to expand products and services much sooner than it did. Perhaps years sooner.
Systemic Executive Coaching
There is a formal coaching approach that goes beyond individual performance and development. It integrates the director’s or board’s role, behavior and mindset within the broader context of organizational and board dynamics, relationships, culture, strategy and systems. This is called systemic executive coaching.
This approach in coaching strengthens both the person and the system. It brings boards and directors back to first principles: purpose, resilience and integrity in action. When a director grows, the whole board strengthens and stewardship matures. The result? A strategic, high-functioning board and a private company exponentially more capable of navigating risk, complexity and change.
This is a perfect fit for private companies where interpersonal relationships are linked with strategy, control and legacy because it relies on family systems theory as a foundation.
Competitive Edge
Systemic executive coaching creates a competitive edge through a multitude of interconnected benefits.
Shift from firefighting to results. Directors learn frameworks and behaviors that clarify direction and goals. Coaching provides the safe place directors need to adjust and practice the best interactions and behaviors. This elevates boards from crisis or reactive urgency to moving the needle on long-term results and strategic stewardship. Think of it as an antidote to short-termism.
Clarify purpose. The integrative nature of systemic executive coaching clarifies purpose because it aligns intention, function and structure from the top down.
Surface hidden dynamics. From unspoken power struggles to quiet resistance to change, systemic executive coaching names the real barriers to progress and provides the tools to hurdle them.
As an example, a past board client was unaware of a power imbalance that allowed management to dominate. The hidden dynamic? Power and influence were heavily concentrated with the president. The CFO had insight into this dynamic but could not approach the board without support from the CEO. Their solution? Collaborating with a trusted advisor and coach who helped her frame the issue and arrange facts into a board digestible format. Using this new approach, the CFO convinced her CEO who took the situation to the board. The board oversaw an internal investigation, which revealed the president had been manipulating systems and delaying accountability.
Develop resilience through reflection. Systemic executive coaching introduces a cadence of inquiry and adaptation that creates agility. It builds the board’s muscle to act early and identify opportunities prior to competitors.
Build leadership capacity. It develops the skill of credible challenge, which is thoughtful and well-constructed questioning presented in a respectful and reasoned manner. The goal is not to disrupt or undermine but to provide an opportunity for critical thinking and improvement. This strengthens leadership by supporting courage and confidence, both individually and collectively.
Reduce organizational risk. By identifying leadership blind spots and unlocking collective wisdom, coaching decreases reliance on “heroic” executives and broadens institutional strength. See the power imbalance example in hidden dynamics above.
Prepare for succession and disruption. Systemic executive coaching helps boards see beyond the current leader and prepare for future challenges. It also equips directors with the skills to groom current leaders for future roles.
Positioning for Long-Term Value
Systemic executive coaching is a strategic asset. In a world where strategic risk is the largest destructor of value and disruption is the norm, coaching becomes both a safeguard and springboard. It helps directors escape the gravitational pull of the status quo and equips their companies for competitive advantage and long-term value.
The question isn’t, “Should private company boards invest in coaching?” It’s “How much more value could we unlock if we did?”