Make Your Board Your Biggest Advantage

Every leader knows that no journey is taken alone, but managing a board can feel like a necessary evil rather than a competitive advantage. Based on his research and personal experience, including attending literally hundreds of board meetings, Marc Stockli proposes that, in fact, Boards can take companies from good to great—but only if you know how to make boards work!

If you're building a company, your board can be a burden—or a force multiplier. Marc shows how to make it the latter. ‘Make Boards Work’ is an honest, practical guide for entrepreneurs, and investors, who want their boards to create value instead of being mere decorum.

Most business leaders invest heavily in improving their operations, their teams, and their strategy, but overlook the board entirely. Marc Stöckli makes a practical, experience-driven case for why that's a missed opportunity, and lays out a clear path to fix it.

Drawing on extensive real-world experience across global organizations, Marc reframes board work from a perceived formality into a powerful engine for strategic value creation. For founders, family business owners, CEOs, and directors operating in both global and Japanese contexts, this book serves as a valuable guide—and a timely call to elevate the role of the board.

Most CEOs experience their board as friction. The rare ones experience it as leverage and that difference is almost entirely a function of how the chair shows up. I had the privilege of building Beekeeper for 14 years with Marc as my first investor and board chairman. This book is the craft he used on me, distilled. It's not theory, it's a battle tested playbook.

‘Making Boards Work’ is a practical guide written by someone who has done the work. Marc brings years of board experience, including chairing the global Entrepreneurs’ Organization, and translates it into clear guidance leaders can actually use. Board members and CEOs building a board will find this book full of perspective, discipline, and real-world lessons.

Boards are highly underestimated and often times treated as formalities by founders and as control mechanisms by investors. Marc Stöckli’s Make Boards Work is one of the rare books that addresses the real issues in private company boardrooms: trust, incentives, composition, psychological safety, and the disciplined preparation that turns discussion into value creation.

While management literature has explored countless performance levers down to the finest detail, one critical factor has remained largely overlooked: the effectiveness of boards. Marc O. Stöckli’s book fills this gap. It is essential reading for any committed board member seeking to elevate their contribution.

The author of ‘Make Boards Work’ demonstrates a profound understanding of leadership at the board level, particularly the role of serving as an “elder” within an organization. The insights offered on making boards effective, efficient, and truly invigorating are both practical and thought-provoking.

This is a must-read, period. Drawing on decades of hands-on experience, Marc lays out a compelling vision for how high-performing boards can amplify leadership, enhance decision-making, and create long-term value. As a founder and investor, I’ve seen firsthand how the right board dynamics can make or break a company.

Marc Stockli’s ‘Make Boards Work’ is a practical and timely guide to modern governance. Grounded in real-world experience, it translates complexity into clear frameworks and actionable tools that can be applied immediately. Essential reading for those committed to elevating board performance and impact.

Marc identifies that for boards to succeed in collaborating with the CEO and C-suite leadership team, the interactions must be managed with a high degree of psychological safety. The message being the board should no longer be a rubber stamp or tokenism, and be positioned to be indispensable through participating in robust discussions.

The book presents an engaging and actionable collection of perspectives, tools, and techniques that can help transform board meetings from procedural obligations into truly strategic forums for value creation. For those who wish to ensure their board is a strategic asset rather than a mere formality, Make Boards Work is a valuable and worthwhile read.

One of the most powerful insights in Make Boards Work is Marc’s emphasis on psychological safety in the boardroom. Too often, boards become arenas of hidden agendas or silent tension. When trust and role clarity define the boardroom, it becomes more than governance — it becomes a true competitive advantage.

Make Boards Work is a masterful exploration of both the complexities and ethical dilemmas faced in boardrooms - and how to navigate these on the way to becoming a high-performing Board. Stockli provides insightful, real-world examples and is must-read for anyone who sits on, reports to or wants to be part of the Board of Directors.

‘Make Boards Work’ is a masterclass in boardroom realism. Marc Stöckli brilliantly exposes the hidden tensions that often derail private company boards and offers practical tools—like the ‘Reported Clause Rule’—to navigate them with integrity and clarity. A must-read for any board member serious about governance.

This book is the rare mix of deeply personal and genuinely practical. The stories aren’t “fluff”…they show these lessons were earned, the hard way, in real boardrooms with real consequences. What makes it invaluable to me is that it doesn’t just showcase the wins - it includes the bad calls, the missteps, and the messy moments it took to get there.

I've learned that most 'change failures' aren't really failures of change itself so much as they're failures of governance. Marc's 'Make Boards Work' cuts straight to why that is: trust, psychological safety, role clarity, and the discipline to turn talk into decisions. For anyone serious about making their board a genuine unfair advantage rather than a compliance checkbox, this is essential reading.

Boards are leadership's most underused lever. Marc cuts through the clichés to show how private-company boards can shift from obligation to catalyst. Essential reading for every founder, CEO, and director who wants their board to actually deliver.

Most boards fail not because they lack competence, but because of a lack of trust and a culture where genuine debate is not possible. This is precisely where Marc's approach comes in. A clever mix of stories, data, and concrete tools that can be applied immediately — essential reading for anyone who wants to transform their board from a mere formality into a real competitive advantage.

Marc's book discusses contemporary board leadership and its strategic role in a comprehensive and practical way, also shedding light on some deep and overlooked drivers of success such as leaving your ego at the door. Highly recommended!

Board quality often determines company trajectory more than markets or models. In Make Boards Work, Marc Stöckli offers a clear framework for getting it right. For investors, few value drivers matter more than an effective board. This book is practical guidance on how to create one.

In Make Boards Work, Marc Stöckli offers a thoughtful and highly practical perspective on how boards can move beyond formal oversight and become a true source of strategic guidance and value creation. A timely and insightful contribution to the practice of modern corporate governance.

Marc's challenge for boards to be real safe zones for honest debate and dialogue is much needed. Vulnerability among any group of people is truly a superpower, and it's even more so in the boardroom. Marc's experiences, stories, and practical advice will leave you wanting to build a board like that — one where politics and confusion are fully absent.

Boards shouldn't be a formality. Done right, they improve decisions, build trust and strengthen companies. Marc Stöckli's Make Boards Work offers practical frameworks, real-world experience and tools you can apply immediately. A highly valuable read for anyone who wants to turn their board into a competitive advantage.

Marc's voice is a much-needed burst of fresh air in stuffy board rooms. He combines his years of fantastic international executive and board experience with an incisive candor to make this a must read for CEOs, board chairs, and anyone working with boards of directors.