Remember playing the game Snakes and Ladders (called Chutes and Ladders in the U.S.)? You felt the thrill of scaling a ladder, only to slide down a snake moments later. Running a business can feel remarkably similar—with exhilarating highs followed by devastating lows, with your fate determined by forces beyond your control.
The statistics are sobering: More than 60% of businesses fail in their first three years. But perhaps more concerning are the countless companies that don’t fail but remain trapped in what I call “fighting for position,” a state of perpetual struggle characterized by high stress, erratic performance, and the constant feeling that a breakthrough remains frustratingly out of reach.
As CEOs, we’re expected to have all the answers, navigating complex decisions with confidence. Yet leadership at the top can be profoundly isolating. You’re “commercially lonely,” dealing with decisions that can’t always be discussed with your team, while simultaneously being “constructively discontent,” knowing that your business could achieve so much more if only you could unlock its potential.
The hidden advantage that separates breakthrough CEOs from those who remain stuck can be an advisory board—”hidden” because most CEOs are unaware of its advantages.
THE FIGHTING FOR POSITION TRAP
Most struggling businesses aren’t failing spectacularly; they’re grinding through each day in survival mode. Picture talented people working long hours, where new initiatives consume resources without delivering results, and where the leadership team defaults to agreeing with the CEO rather than providing challenging input.
This is what I categorize as the fighting for position stage: established businesses with loyal customers and recognized brands that cannot break through to their next level of success. Performance remains erratic, stress levels run high, and despite everyone’s best efforts, the business feels like it just can’t break through.
The fundamental challenge is capability. John Maxwell noted that businesses cannot outperform the capability of their leadership. When your ambition exceeds your current skill set and that of your team, you face a critical choice: Accept incremental growth or find a way to rapidly expand your capabilities.
The businesses that transform from fighting for position to industry leaders share a common thread: the strategic decision to surround themselves with expertise that elevates their entire organization’s performance.
Advisory boards represent a distinct approach to accessing expertise. Unlike consultants who address specific projects, advisory board members are vested in you and your organization’s commercial success. Unlike hiring full-time executives, you access world-class expertise when you need it. Unlike boards of directors, you retain complete control while gaining invaluable counsel.
The magic lies in what I call the “unleash effect.”” When you create a safe, confidential environment where the “undiscussables” can finally be discussed, transformation begins. You gain objective advisors who challenge your thinking without hidden agendas, provide expertise in areas where you lack experience, and hold you accountable to your stated goals.
Research validates this impact: A Business Development Bank of Canada study found companies with advisory boards achieve 24% higher annual sales and 18% higher productivity than those without them. Additionally, 86% of business leaders report that their advisory board significantly impacted success, particularly in vision, innovation, risk management, and profitability.
The transformation isn’t just in business metrics; it’s in CEO effectiveness. Advisory boards enable leaders to shift from “exertion” (pushing the business forward through sheer force) to inspired leadership (pulling the organization toward a compelling vision). This multiplier effect creates space for what only the CEO can do: linking external opportunities to internal capabilities, defining strategic direction, and shaping organizational values.
HOW ADVISORY BOARDS TRANSFORM CEO EFFECTIVENESS
Consider the Eisenhower matrix, a framework that distinguishes between urgent and important decisions. Most CEOs spend their days trapped in urgent-but-unimportant tasks because they’re easier to tackle than the important-but-not-urgent strategic decisions that actually drive long-term success.
Advisory boards force focus on what matters most. Every meeting centres on strategic issues that move the business forward. This isn’t operational troubleshooting; it’s about unleashing potential constrained by limited perspective, inadequate skills, or insufficient confidence to make bold moves.
The transformation manifests in enhanced strategic clarity, faster decision-making, improved risk assessment, and access to networks that would otherwise take years to develop. Perhaps most important, advisory boards provide the objectivity that CEOs simply cannot attain about their own businesses.
When barriers that once seemed insurmountable become permeable, when you can access expertise—be it in, for example, international expansion, strategic finance, or digital transformation—without massive upfront investment, your business’ potential expands exponentially.
MAKING IT WORK
Success requires genuine commitment beyond good intentions. The most critical decision is selecting the right advisory board chair, someone with broad commercial experience and the emotional intelligence to facilitate meaningful discussions while challenging your thinking constructively.
Common pitfalls include appointing friends or family (compromising objectivity), selecting advisors without relevant expertise, or treating meetings as information sessions rather than strategic working sessions.
Advisory boards aren’t panaceas. You still need differentiated products, customers willing to buy, and a business model that generates sustainable margins and cash. What advisory boards provide is the strategic guidance and capability acceleration to maximize these fundamental strengths.
THE COMPETITIVE EDGE
The choice facing every CEO is simple: Accept incremental change or pursue transformational leaps. When disruption comes from unexpected quarters and competitive advantages erode rapidly, the ability to quickly access and integrate new capabilities isn’t just helpful—it’s essential for survival.
An advisory board represents the difference between pushing a boulder uphill alone and having experienced guides show you the path around the mountain. They’re your hand-picked team of advisors who have navigated the challenges you’re facing and are vested in helping you succeed.
If you’re tired of fighting for position and ready to unlock your business’s true potential, maybe now is the time to discover the “hidden” game-changer.
Anthony Moss is a leading authority on advisory boards and author of The CEO Game Changer: How an Advisory Board Can Unleash Your Business Potential. With over 30 years of commercial experience and a track record of working with more than 180 companies, he helps private company CEOs break through growth barriers with clarity, confidence, and capability. As founder of Lead Your Industry, he partners with ambitious leaders to build high-impact advisory boards that fast-track results. Learn more at leadyourindustry.com or connect with Moss on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/anthonymoss.
