Santiago Aparicio, Founder, Terramarte 

At Terramarte, we would get together, but it felt more like meetings of friends with the other partners. And finally, at a certain point, we made the decision that the organization was not going to be led by any of the partners, but that instead we would bring a third person. And that was very healthy and led us to a point where there was already a manager, a third party, whom a headhunter helped us find, and it was easier for us to establish rules on how we wanted to to ask that person for accountability. And that's how a board of directors came into being. As of now, we are partners and have an agenda, with a formality, but we do want to raise the bar a little bit, and start bringing in third parties who will even question us, the partners, not only as those who are in the organization working on a daily basis, but also to each of the partners themselves. And ask us the difficult questions, guide us. I think that's the next step.

Rocio Alejandra Castellanos Arias, Advisor to the General Directorate, The Agency for Reincorporation and Standardization (ARN)

Some aspects that led me to consider having a board of directors in my organization were the need to be able to visualize more strategic scenarios to take my organization to the next level. Having a board of directors drives us to be more transparent within the organization, to have accountability processes, to commit to each other, and to have processes in place to monitor the objectives that we have within the organization.

For the first time, it is important to have objective criteria. It often happens that when choosing people, we go with those we already trust, but it is important to have objective criteria that allow us to also measure the potential of those individuals who serve on the board of directors. Likewise, it is important to give them confidence and autonomy so that they can exercise their leadership within this organization. 

Key takeaways

• Add new board members from outside the current team to gain new knowledge, formality and follow-through.

• Your board should help you maintain focus, accountability and transparency in the management of your organization.

• Incorporate diverse professional viewpoints to identify risks, find new opportunities and think big.