So it’s time to upgrade or replace your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and the suits are shocked at the price. You nobly avoid rolling your eyes since this system penetrates every aspect of the business and may even make coffee in the morning the thing is so powerful. How, you wonder, can your board of directors again be doubting your ability to find a reasonable price for a system so vital and so large? How can they question a decision that they don’t have the expertise to make while not realizing how important this software is? But then you realize you’re not asking the right question. You should be asking why you haven’t been building relationships with your board so that they know they can trust you.
ERP AND THE BOARD: IF THEY TRUST YOU, THEY WILL COME
I know, I know, why did they hire you if they don’t trust you? Well, humans aren’t entirely rational. You have credentials that most of your board won’t even understand, but it’s not your credentials they need to know. It’s you. Rightly or (probably) wrongly, your board wants to know how you think and who you are because we all think that having a sense of the person gives us a sense of that person’s decisions. And, yes, the decision should be able to stand on its own and be critically judged on its own, but even the most successful business leaders fail to do that without some social component.
You may be more than qualified to make a decision regarding your ERP (or other large software) system, and you may have a pocketful of credentials, but those are rational measurements and humans really aren’t always rational—but they are social…and emotional. Making people feel better, whether you like it or not, is part of your job and people who have good relationships feel better about those people. So, spend time with your board members—lunches, coffee, even tours of your data centers. Build those relationships to build trust so that your decisions are given more weight and there’s less resistance to improving your company for the future.
Check out part 1 and part 2 of this series for more advice on how to tackle The Board when trying to push you company’s ERP.