In this episode of the Build Better Boards podcast, Dr. Keri Jacobs, Richard Fagerlin, and Mitch Majeski explore how the Working Genius assessment can strengthen board governance. They discuss how understanding directors’ natural strengths and frustrations improves agenda discipline, decision clarity, and healthy oversight.
Working Genius looks different in a boardroom than on a management team. Directors operate with line of sight to strategy, accountability, and long-term value. In this episode, they discuss:

• The six types of work—Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement, and Tenacity—and how they show up in board conversations.
• Why boards experience “turbulence” when discussions shift altitude without clarity about the type of thinking required.
• How identifying each director’s Working Genius helps structure agenda items around purpose and oversight.
• The unique influence of the board chair in shaping group dynamics and maintaining the right altitude.
• What Tenacity looks like in governance: disciplined follow-through on priorities, clear motions and next steps, effective committee diligence, and consistent return to agreed metrics and commitments.
• How mapping a board’s collective strengths can reveal gaps in ideation, activation, or follow-through, allowing the board to adjust how it governs.

Follow Build Better Boards on LinkedIn for updates. Find show notes and more at buildbetterboards.com/podcast.

In this episode of Build Better Boards, Mitch Majeski, Dr. Keri Jacobs and Richard Fagerlin discuss practical strategies for integrating board development into the regular cadence of board meetings. They explore how directors and board chairs can foster continuous learning, build shared perspective, and support new members without relying solely on outside consultants or formal events.

• Bite-sized, micro learning sessions—focused on specific board responsibilities or governance topics—can improve board effectiveness and engagement.
• Development efforts should aim to build perspective, not just deliver technical insight, and help board members understand context and impact.
• Effective onboarding includes the full board, not just new members, and should be viewed as an ongoing process, not a one-time event.
• New directors bring clarity and fresh perspectives that can benefit the entire board; their questions can reframe long-standing assumptions.
• Creating a development calendar with essential and optional topics ensures intentional growth, relevance, and shared accountability.

Follow Build Better Boards on LinkedIn for updates. Find show notes and more at buildbetterboards.com/podcast.

In this episode of Build Better Boards, hosts Mitch Majeski, Dr. Keri Jacobs and Richard Fagerlin explore the often-unspoken challenges that make board work more difficult than it appears. They examine why even well-intentioned, committed directors can struggle to find alignment and move forward together.

• Misunderstandings around what it means to “represent” members can create confusion and misalignment in boardrooms.
• Personal perspectives, hidden agendas, and varying communication styles can disrupt effective group decision-making.
• Board chairs may avoid difficult conversations, contributing to a lack of clarity or unresolved tensions.
• Tools like assigning dissent and understanding “altitude” in discussions can improve dialogue and reduce friction.
• Thoughtful agenda design and intentional framing of board conversations help boards work more effectively.

Follow Build Better Boards on LinkedIn for updates. Find show notes at buildbetterboards.com/podcast.

In this episode of Build Better Boards, the team recaps their season-long focus on CEO succession and evaluation. They reflect on why these topics matter even when a transition is not imminent and how the processes and questions explored can strengthen boards and cooperatives overall.

• CEO succession and evaluation are not just “event” activities; treating them as ongoing processes helps boards clarify expectations, support their current CEO, and improve overall governance.
• The hosts revisit key frameworks such as defining the “avatar” for the next CEO, considering wartime vs. peacetime leadership, and weighing inside vs. outside candidates, emphasizing that boards should prioritize leadership fit, adaptability, and cooperative values over rigid categories.
• They highlight the value of executive search firms and outside expertise, arguing that using professional support in CEO hiring is a responsible use of members’ equity and can be part of good fiduciary practice.
• CEO evaluation emerges as a major theme, with encouragement for boards to move beyond box-checking, involve the CEO appropriately in shaping the process, and use evaluation to communicate expectations, provide meaningful feedback, and gather insight into leadership and culture.
• Looking ahead, they identify unfinished topics such as how boards navigate exiting a CEO, the ripple effects of CEO turnover across the co-op system, and the need to think about board member tenure and succession with the same intentionality as CEO transitions.

Follow Build Better Boards on LinkedIn for updates. Find show notes and transcripts at buildbetterboards.com/podcast.

In part two of this conversation on CEO evaluations, Dr. Keri Jacobs and Richard Fagerlin continue with guests Kevin Berchelmann and CEO Jason Brancel to explore how boards and CEOs build a process that is clear, fair, and genuinely useful.

We discuss how:

• Boards should clarify what they’re measuring, whom they’re hearing from, and how they’ll gather and synthesize input.
• Expectations and criteria must be co-created with the CEO, not developed in isolation.
• An outside facilitator adds neutrality, reduces bias, and strengthens the overall process.
• Evaluation and compensation should be connected but separated in time to minimize emotion and unintended consequences.
• CEOs are a 50% partner in the process and need to help drive clarity and alignment.

We dig into these ideas and more. Follow Build Better Boards on LinkedIn for updates. Find show notes at buildbetterboards.com/podcast.

In this episode of Build Better Boards, hosts Dr. Keri Jacobs and Richard Fagerlin talk with guests Kevin Berchelmann and Jason Brancel about one of the board’s most important responsibilities—evaluating the CEO. This is part one of a two-part conversation exploring why evaluations matter, how to make them meaningful, and how boards and CEOs can turn the process into an ongoing, productive dialogue rather than a one-time event. We discuss how:

• Effective CEO evaluations align with the board’s fiduciary duties and help ensure the CEO has clarity, support, and tools to succeed.

• Boards often mistake frequent communication for true performance dialogue; evaluations should address leadership competencies, strategic impact, and organizational health.

• A structured process includes defining expectations, gathering broad feedback, and turning themes into actionable goals.

• Bringing in an independent facilitator can improve objectivity and help boards avoid unintended biases and inconsistent evaluation practices.

• Separate the evaluation discussion from the compensation discussion.

Follow Build Better Boards on LinkedIn for updates. Find show notes and more at buildbetterboards.com/podcast

In this episode of Build Better Boards, hosts Dr. Keri Jacobs, Richard Fagerlin, and Mitch Majeski reflect on insights from a year of podcast episodes. They explore shifts in board dynamics, director behavior, and leadership expectations, sharing how boards can remain effective in a complex environment.

• Big G (governance) and little g (culture) must develop together for boards to thrive.
• Directors need to contribute effectively from day one, not learn slowly over years.
• Courage, humility, and peer accountability are essential for board health.
• Strong board chairs and clear norms help address underperformance.
• Recruitment, strategy engagement, and readiness are key to future-proofing boards.

Follow Build Better Boards on LinkedIn for updates. Find show notes or shoot us a message at buildbetterboards.com/podcast.

In this episode, hosts Richard Fagerlin and Dr. Keri Jacobs explore why top talent leaves and how boards can know whether turnover is a healthy sign of growth, or a warning signal. They introduce the “coaching tree” concept that highlights the power of developing leaders who, in turn, grow more leaders. Learn how to reframe turnover as launching leaders as part of building a thriving leadership pipeline.

• Distinguish the cause of departures: culture misfit, team toxicity (a CEO issue), or genuine readiness for bigger roles.
• Use structured oversight: periodic CEO 360s, robust board-led CEO evaluations, and talent development and employee satisfaction metrics.
• Provide senior leaders appropriate exposure to the board for learning and transparency; discuss when executive sessions without staff make sense.
• Reframe “we lost them” to “we launched them,” adopting a stewardship mindset that builds a leadership pipeline and maintains relationships with past employees.

Follow Build Better Boards on LinkedIn for updates. Find show notes and more at buildbetterboards.com/podcast.

In the third and final episode of our executive search series, hosts Mitch Majeski, Dr. Keri Jacobs, and Richard Fagerlin continue the conversation with John Wright (Kincannon & Reed), Kevin Drury (Hedlin Ag Enterprises), and Leigh Taylor (NRECA). Together, they explore how boards can navigate their most important decision: hiring the next CEO.
 • Discuss when and how to keep staff and members in the loop while protecting confidentiality.
 • Explore the ideal timing for announcing a retirement and launching the search process.
 • Consider how much overlap there should be between outgoing and incoming CEOs.
 • Examine what boards can do when directors are split between candidates.
Follow Build Better Boards on LinkedIn for updates. Find show notes and more at buildbetterboards.com/podcast.

In this episode of Build Better Boards, hosts Richard Fagerlin, and Dr. Keri Jacobs continue their conversation with John Wright (Kincannon & Reed), Kevin Drury (Hedlin Ag Enterprises), and Leigh Taylor (NRECA). The panel explores how boards should navigate internal versus external candidates, the importance of succession planning, and the common pitfalls that can derail a CEO search.

• Internal and external candidates should go through the same process; “courtesy interviews” create risk and do not serve the candidate or the board.

• Strong succession planning, transparent communication, and clear development paths help retain and prepare internal talent.

• Boards should not assume internals only maintain culture or externals automatically bring change; every candidate must be assessed on leadership approach and vision.

• Breaches of confidentiality, CEO involvement in internal candidacies, and off-line board member conversations are key process failures that can harm both candidates and organizations.

• Candidate and family fit with the community is a practical factor; engagement, responsiveness, and preparation signal genuine interest and suitability.

Follow Build Better Boards on LinkedIn. Find show notes and more at buildbetterboards.com/podcast.