Leveraging Leadership
Leadership is messy. Most advice isn't built for the reality of competing priorities, difficult stakeholders, limited time, and imperfect information.
Leveraging Leadership is a practical leadership podcast for Chiefs of Staff, executives, founders, and senior operators who want to lead more effectively and navigate complexity with confidence.
Hosted by Emily Sander, former Chief of Staff and executive advisor, each episode delivers real-world lessons, practical frameworks, and candid conversations with leaders across business and beyond.
Topics include executive communication, leadership presence, decision-making, delegation, organizational influence, operating rhythms, team effectiveness, and the often-unspoken challenges leaders face behind the scenes.
If you're looking for thoughtful conversations, practical takeaways, and leadership advice you can actually use on Monday morning, you're in the right place.
Leveraging Leadership
Q&A: Turning Board Back Channels into Your Strategic Leverage
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Emily Sander answers a listener question from Sarah in Charlotte, a Chief of Staff handling board governance, leadership meetings, and benefits rollout. The episode covers how to build strategic relationships with the board, use back channels professionally, and avoid being seen only as admin support while keeping the founder focused and the team aligned. Real examples include collaborating with consultants and prepping the chairman for meetings.
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Want help building stronger board and executive relationships? Book a clarity call w/ Emily here.
Who Am I?
If we haven’t met before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.
Time Stamps:
00:25 Listener Question Setup
01:20 Sarah’s Challenge
03:00 Leverage Board Access
05:20 Build Allies and Backchannels
08:03 Talk Strategy Not Admin
10:30 Coach the Board on Focus
13:15 When Founders Spiral
16:07 Create More Board Touchpoints
17:48 Wrap Up and Next Steps
Welcome back to Leveraging Leadership, where we unpack the art of business leadership. I'm your host, Emily Sander, chief of staff to an executive leadership coach. This show is all about finding your points of greatest influence and leveraging them to better serve those around you.
Listener Question Setup
All right, listener question time. Some of my favorite episodes and favorite times, so please keep the questions coming. Um, I'm gonna read this one from Sarah in Charlotte. Uh, by the way, we had one comment, commenter on the YouTubes saying, "Why do you read funny?" Like, why do you read poorly, basically. And I was like, "Hmm. Okay, interesting." Um, one of the reasons this could be happening is because my team sometimes gives me the questions in advance to look at, but f- frequently and more recently, they have been like, "Here's the question, but don't look at it. Don't read it until you're on the air. We want your first opinion. Make it organic, make it natural, make it your real thoughts," all of those good things. So anyway, um, if anyone else has been questioning my reading ability, I do know how to read, but sometimes that's why they sound a little funny. Without further ado, here is the question.
Sarah’s Challenge
"Hi, Emily. I'm Sarah in Charlotte. I support a founder/principal who is brilliant but honestly kind of all over the place. He jumps between priorities, gets excited about new things constantly, and I feel like a lot of my job is trying to wrangle focus without becoming the nagging admin person. The tricky part is I actually have pretty broad exposure. I run our leadership team meetings, own new hire orientation and benefits rollout, work on board governance, help prep our chairman for meetings, and I'm coordinating with a consultant on an upcoming board retreat, so I'm touching a lot of strategic stuff. I also have regular one-on-ones, time with my principal, which is great, but somehow I still feel like I'm seen more as executive, uh, sorry, e- execution support more than a strategic partner. How do you shift that perception while also keeping your principal focused and on track without damaging the relationship?" All right, Sarah, fantastic question Few things here. So I think that you're right in saying I am working on a lot of strategic stuff, so, uh, I'm just thinking like benefits rollout, that's the entire company. So you're touching the entire company there. You're coordinating between large departments, uh, running our leadership team meeting. All of these are hallmark chief of staff items, new hire orientation. Lit- literally in the name of the title, chief of staff, so you're taking care of the staff, which is great. Um, time with the principal, always good. So I hear a lot of people go, "I don't speak with the principal. I speak with them once a month, and why am I not more plugged in?" So you've got all those bases
Leverage Board Access
covered. The one thing that I'm re-scanning your question and, and drilling in on is this board governance piece. So it sounds like it's not just, let me make the slides pretty for the board meeting and send it through or just give that to the leadership team to present. Um, it sounds like you're helping prep our chairman for meetings, and I'm coordinating with a consultant on an upcoming board retreat. So that sounds pretty involved to me. That sounds, that sounds like you've got a channel with the board, which is excellent. Which is excellent. So number one, if you can plug yourself in to the board level and say, position yourself as one, "Hey, I'm a place where you can get accurate, reliable, relevant, helpful information," that's step one. So make sure, hey, when the board interacts with you, they feel good about that. That's a positive touch point. Hey, every time I interact with Sarah, I-- it's, it's prepared, it's to the point, it's good intel. I have a feeling, uh, I have a feeling, um, I have many feelings, one of which is I feel like I have a pulse on this company. I have a pulse on what's going on, and I have a direct conduit to the source of that information. So that's one thing to keep in mind. Uh, the other thing to keep in mind is information that would be helpful and relevant and keep you informed, and therefore keep the leadership team and the company informed. So if there are useful and relevant bits of information and decisions or thinking or inclinations or ideas the board is talking about that would be useful to bring into discussions with the leadership team or with other members of the team at your organization, you can do that With that, be a little careful, right? We're not gonna do, like, a total, you know, transmission of full information where it's a half-baked idea from one board member and like, whoopsie daisies, I just mobilized an entire department to do this thing over here. That's not what we're talking about. Um, but you know what I mean, being that buffer, that filter, that, okay, I just need to get people socialize this idea, get them used to it, because this is, this is gonna happen in one form or another. It's taking shape, and I just wanna get people used to the idea, and then once a decision comes down, they'll be informed of that, all that good stuff.
Build Allies and Backchannels
Um, you wanna build relationships with these people. So just like your principal, you wanna build relationships with these folks as much as you can. If you are prepping the chairman of the board, that's a great conversation or set of conversations to develop that relationship with that chairman with. Um, ba, ba, ba, bum. It sounds like you're coordinating with a consultant. So the consultant themselves could be a good sounding board, could be a good ally, depending on the dynamic and relationship, depending on the scope of their work. It could be, um, someone else. I've... Someone else to kind of back channel through. So I've had a chief of staff, uh, who works with a consultant as well, and that consultant was, was very bullish on the chief of staff and saw the value in that role, and some of the board members had not worked with the chief of staff. They weren't necessarily against the role, but they were also like, "Wait, what is this? And how do I interact with this person? And what value do they bring?" And the consultant was able to make an argument for a chief of staff in general, and then because that consultant interacted with and interfaced with the chief of staff pretty regularly, that consultant was able to relay specific examples of how the chief of staff was bringing value to the board. So in the conversations the consultant was having, they would bring, um, examples to the board, and then the chief of staff themselves would, of course, speak about what they were working on and what they were doing to the board members as well. But the fact that two people were saying things, and one of the people was not the chief of staff themself saying good things about themselves, that went a long way. So if you work with a consultant or any third party, try to build a relationship with them and build a dialogue with them, and not in a manipulative way, but you know, if they have certain conversations that you're not in, if they have conversations where they're saying something they feel is true and they've experienced by interacting with you, they're gonna pass along that information in conversations that you're not in, and it's gonna land a little differently because it's not coming from you. So anyway, I would use that as a back channel as well. And when I say back channel, I'm not saying whisper and gossip and Pretend like you're in high school again. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying back channel in a mature, professional way. There is that version of back channeling. And by the way, back channeling can be a huge advantage. So there's formal communication channels that you use, and then there's informal ones that you use as well. You should be aware of both, and back channeling in this type of situation is one of the latter examples.
Talk Strategy Not Admin
Okay, so what are we back channeling? One, all the fantastic stuff you do. Two, all the strategic ideas and questions and prompts you have for the board So if you wanna be more strategic, board is a great place to build relationships. It sounds like you've got inroads and channels there. Utilize them, and when you are in front of the board, and when you are interacting with the board member, the chairman, the consultant, you are talking about strategic stuff. You are not talking about, uh, "Should we move this calendar invite from 2:00 to 2:30 on Thursday?" Mm-mm. Mm, mm, mm. No, no, no, no, no. You are asking around, say, "Hey, this adjacent market is opening up. Should we look at that for M&A? Is it... You know, AI is doing this in our industry. How does this affect our workforce? Can we get on board with this piece over here? Actually, we're a thought leader over in this area. We have so much data and so much proprietary information. If we can use AI to help tee up some of that information, to help transform some of that information, to push some of that information to our constituents in real time so they can action it, that's gonna be a game changer." You're talking about that sort of stuff. You're talking about, "Hey, here's the roster of our executive team," including the CEO, and I believe you said... You didn't say, but I'm assuming founder principal. Okay, founder principal, um, founder CEO. The, the staff, the roster that you're discussing with the board includes the founder. So again, we're not tattletaling. We're not, uh, being manipulative in a negative way, but chief of staff, you are taking care of the staff. You have tabs on the staff. You have a unique vantage point to the staff, and the board doesn't have that vantage point. The board doesn't have the day-to-day interactions that you do. The board isn't seeing the tactical execution or tactical miscues that are happening across the team. The board member might not be aware that the founder is great, they're visionary, they're also deep diving in our stuff. They're also deep diving in places they don't need to be, and it's throttling the teams. So all of that information you bring to bear. How you say it and how you deliver it and how you position it is all up to you. You know the situation best, Sarah, but I think this is a huge opportunity
Coach the Board on Focus
for you. And, you know, you wanna be careful to, like you said, don't damage the relationship with your principal, with anyone, but with your principal especially, so you're not overstepping, or you're not saying, "Hey, the principal is doing a bad job." It might be more descriptive, um, if you get to that point, and what I mean by this is, uh, you said he, "he jumps between priorities and gets excited about new things constantly." Okay, um, so that's such a, such a common thread W- what I'm trying to say is you're not tattletaling to the board of, "Oh my gosh, like my principal is all over the place, and he can't keep his head on straight, and we're getting thrown over by the team," da, da, da, da. Y- you might say, "Here's where I think the team needs to focus for the next two quarters," or, "Between now and end of year, here are the two things that our team needs to focus on to get us where we need to be." And you could even tie that conversation, that talk track in to s- to things the board member or board as a whole is saying is important to them. So if you've gotten clear direction from the board, like, "Oh my gosh, like they're making this crystal clear, like revenue numbers here and partnership numbers here. Got it. Okay. So board, um, here are the two, two biggest levers I can see from my unique vantage point to get us to that revenue target and expand our number of partnerships. Okay? So here's the two levers we need to stay fo- focused on." You might expand that and go, "Here's what I'm doing with the team," or maybe like, "Here's what's happening with the team in general, um, to work our way to those things." Okay, you've set the table. You've set the table with that. I've heard what you said is important. I'm making sure you know that I know that by saying it back to you in so many ways. I've thought about this. I have my own independent thoughts about this. I have an opinion and perspective on this. I'm going to share that with you. My recommendation is these two things. Here you go, clear as day. And you've set the table. So then if you need to or if you decide to come back to that conversation through the lens of, "Hey, some folks aren't as focused on these things. I need them to be focused," you've already set the table So it's not brand-new information, nor is it I am, I'm complaining or tattle-taling on people. It's, "Hey, th- I've set the table. Here's where we need to go. I gotta get people focused on these two things. We have folks who aren't quite focused." And they're like, "Oh, okay, the people that aren't focused." So if I'm interacting with folks from the leadership team as a board member, I gotta make sure we're focused. I gotta make sure we got our eye on the ball. So that's a way you can shape the conversation.
When Founders Spiral
And then if it really gets to it where this founder is out of control, and I've seen that happen. This can happen. Founders can get out of control, they're panic- they're panicking and doing all sorts of things that are swirling people up and whipping people up, and you've gotta calm that situation down. One of the levers you have is to work with the board and coordinate with the board a message to the founder/your principal. And this isn't, like, an intervention per se, unless it gets extreme, but it can just be like, "Hey, I think, you know, what would really help, uh, you know, so and so..." Let's, uh, Jason. "What would really help Jason is, um, emphasizing his value in these areas. He's used to being down here. He's used to having control. What makes him feel comfortable is to micromanage, and we need him up here doing the fundraising, doing the media bit, n- doing the visionary stuff that he's amazing at." Um, you said he's brilliant at certain things. So whatever he's brilliant at, highlight those things. "We need Jason here. We need him to double down here. I've got this other stuff on lock. We have processes. We have people now. We don't need him to be that involved." Any sort of that dialogue, okay, that just shapes the conversation, and it gives the board members some useful information to help direct their founder. All right? 'Cause if they're at the board, they're looking at their founder/CEO going, "Okay, that's part of my purview. That's part of my scope. How is the CEO doing? How is our founder doing? Are they in good position to be fulfilling this role? Are they doing the right things?" And at the extreme cases, "Is this our guy? Is this the guy to get us from, from point A to point B?" This is part of the board's job. This is part of the board's job. So if you can help them do their job, great. I would inform them of things going on. I would be as objective about that as possible in certain ways, and then also offer your recommendation when asked for it or when the opportunity arises. But you're being descriptive with your language, you're being factual with your language. If you have a strong recommendation or opinion, I would present that. But you're, you're having this conversation and ongoing dialogue with the board members. Maybe you're hearing some things from them from conversations that you weren't privy to, that you weren't privy to. Oh, I didn't know you talked to Jason about that. Okay, good to know. That helps shape my conversations. Okay. Oh, I didn't know that you and Jason had already talked about that, and there's a timeline to this initiative, and it's longer than I thought. Okay. That changes the dynamic. That changes what I'm gonna say to the executive team and to team members who ask me about this thing now that I know that. So you've got this back and forth ongoing dialogue.
Create More Board Touchpoints
Um, all by way of saying here, Sarah, I think the board piece is your biggest, um, point of focus here. I think that if you wanna be more strategic and you want to corral your principal, so to say, I think this connection and these connection points with the board is the biggest bang for your buck. So I would leverage those. I would reinforce those and continue to have those. I would generate those if you can, and if they make sense. Don't manufacture them just to have them and then have nothing to say. But if there's opportunities or something presents itself where like, "Hey, you know, like, you know, Sarah, we could use, um, an update on X, Y, and Z." Um, "Oh, okay. Like, I can provide an update on X, Y, and Z. Uh, do you wanna meet on that in, uh, two weeks from now? Let us... Let, let, let the team get some work done and then have our first flush of data in two weeks, and I can meet with Thom- meet with you on that. I can even just call you really quick and give you, like, a quick informal out brief of that information." "Oh, yeah, that would be great. That would be fantastic. Maybe, like, you and I can prep that, and then we can do a larger presentation to the larger board audience, um, like maybe in, maybe in a month or maybe next quarter at our next board meeting," something like that. So listen for and build in those touch points when it makes sense and when it makes sense for you to have one. But all things being equal, if you have the opportunity, then take it. So I would build this relationship with the board. I would keep these channels and back channels going. I would have dialogue and build these relationships, and then I would generate more of these if and when you can.
Wrap Up and Next Steps
I would also This, hmm, I'm thinking out loud here. This could be... I, I would also consider, you know the situation best. I would also consider opportunities for you and the founder, who I've named Jason in my head, for you and Jason and board members to have connection points. So if you think that would be positive, where like, hey, we literally can all be on the same page and talk about this stuff, great. If the dynamic is such where it's like, mm, for whatever reason that's not gonna be a good idea, that's gonna be a no-go situation, Emily, then don't do that. But I would consider it. So and that can kinda help with, um, not damaging the relationship, because it's not feeling like he's getting overstepped or stepped on or talked about behind his back or all these different things that's you are not clearly in that position by what you have described. so you're where you need to be