A VC in Vacationland

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What's going on here?  For the third time in as many months, I am dealing with a board member who is trying to become CEO of one of my portfolio company.  Note: these are all different companies. The wannabes are making blatant attempts to convince other board members that the current CEO is "incompetent", should be chucked out and that they are best able to run the company.  And oh, they want 5% of the company as well as a hefty salary/bonus to do it.

These are all successful companies, well on their way to the next level of performance under current leadership.  The present CEO's all have some improvement areas we need to deal with, but all are capable of successfully running their businesses.

It appears to be pure greed on the part of these Board members. It's not that these wannabes could not run a company.  But if we wanted them to run these companies, we would have asked them.

How can a CEO avoid/deal with CEO wannabes on their Boards?

• Careful selection–make sure the board members have the best interests of the company in mind before asking them to join.  Beware the board member who is always shopping your company to VC's–he probably wants to run it after they invest.
• Stay in touch–CEOs need to be close to all Board members to constantly take their temperature and to make sure they are helping the company be successful.  This is also a good way to root out any dissatisfaction with your performance.
• Have your allies–you will always have board members you are closer to than others.  Use them as a sounding board for your performance. They can also give you insights as to who said what in the executive sessions of the board meetings.

Renegade board members can cause a lot of havoc within a company and take valuable executive/board time to deal with their issues.  Make sure that you work to not let this happen.