Good director/Bad director: The manual

A manual for Board Members inspired by tips from Xavier Helgesen's tweet.

SiNing Chan

What makes a good board member? How do you know if you are one?

Here’s a super lightweight list of 10 traits of good directors I came across in a tweet from

Xavier Helgesen⁠

, a longtime entrepreneur and founder who knows a thing or two about working with board members.

In his Twitter thread, he shares some of his top insights (10 of them, to be exact) on a what it means to be a ‘good’ (or ‘bad) board member.

Here’s a snapshot of his original tweet 👉

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Screen Shot 2022-04-05 at 8.36.06 PM.png

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Inspired by a format

@bhorowitz⁠

used to share insights on a “Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager”, Xavier similarly lists 10 key traits, presented as a comparison between what those might look like in a good director, versus in a bad one, based on his experiences.

Seeing how valuable these insights were and how much interest it sparked in the Twitter-dom, I decided it would be a good idea to convert his manual into a standalone doc so it can be easily shared as a resource.

As a bonus, I’ve included a

Self Assessment⁠

list for new (and seasoned) board members to rate themselves on the 10 traits Xavier’s presented—to see how you —what’s going well and what areas need some work. If you’re bold enough, you can even share it with someone else to get some feedback.

For more of this sort of thing, you can follow Xavier on Twitter

@XavierHelgesen 🌍📚🌳🇺🇦⁠

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Included in this doc:

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The Manual⁠

- 10 comparisons between a good director and a bad one

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Self Assessment⁠

- Rate yourself on the 10 values to see how you’re doing as a director

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Scorecard⁠

- A color-coded scale for you to visual how you’re doing with respect to the 10 traits

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Gallery

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