All information exchanges are built on a human platform.
I think of Maya Angelou whenever I enter the boardroom "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel."
The hours you spend in the boardroom as an advisor, board member or management team requires self leadership so you can use the invitation to add to the overall effectiveness and culture. Boards do important work enhancing shareholder wealth. As safety professionals, we do too.
Your CEO, C-Suite executives and directors have new needs for information based on their business strategy and growing external expectations. The question to consider is "In our Digital Age is your boardroom still being briefed on EH&S with Industrial Age thinking."
If you start your briefing process with this question it allows you to align the information you want to prepare. Listen first before you consider the best metrics and reporting for informing your boardroom on three important areas within our practice expertise:
Risk Assessment & Management
Sustainability
EH&S
Although it is smart to take the advice to speak the language of business you also need to translate Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S), Risk and Sustainability compliance and voluntary reporting metrics. This EH&S translations helps the c-suite lead and directors govern.
I have been thinking recently about how to refresh EH&S reporting for boardrooms large and small. If our EH&S reporting has been focused predominately on compliance we are being given an opportunity to expand to voluntary and leading indicators.
