Demonstrating leadership during times of uncertainty is an ongoing challenge for corporate boards. Former GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving, who currently serves on the boards of Autodesk, DocuSign and ZipRecruiter, recently discussed the challenges boards face and what they can do to lead their companies successfully through the turmoil at the recent Rouge Media Group 8th Annual iLeadership Summit held September 10 at the offices of Morgan Stanley in Westchester County, New York.
The following are edited excerpts from Irving’s keynote address at the summit addressing the major challenges for CEOs and boards trying to lead their companies through the current environment of unprecedented uncertainty.
“First, AI is going to improve some companies’ bottom line, and that is going to create stress and pressure on other companies that are not adopting AI. Market analysts are going to ask boards, ‘Why aren’t you doing the same thing Company X is doing’ because their profits are way better than yours? So, companies will have to start employing the same stuff others are doing—that’s happening right now, and it’s kind of scary. There are factories now that are all AI and all bots, there’s hardly any people in them. It’s pretty profound.
“Second, I know CEOs of companies that will not say what they think because they are afraid that they’re going to get smashed. These are big time, big company CEOs who are nervous about doing the right thing. When it comes to Diversity Equity and Inclusion, for example, most of us have adopted the “do more, say less” approach. We’re all scrubbing our documents of words that the government has deemed illegal. I’ve seen the words equity and equality, taken out of corporate documents because of new laws.
“It’s very, very tricky. CEOs that are running their companies, trying to do the right thing, are now saying, ‘I don’t want to be the tallest nail on board [the tallest nail gets hammered first], so I’m going to try to bring myself down to the level of what everybody else is doing so that I’m not putting myself out there.’
“And then finally, you can just combine all these things, the risk and uncertainty. There are some opportunities with tariffs, but most of it is super risky and they’re driving businesses crazy because they can’t be predicted. Boards don’t know what’s happening. You don’t know if what the government said was going to happen is actually going to happen from week to week. Will the 5 percent tariff be 25 percent now, and on which products? It’s so confusing that small businesspeople and big businesspeople are having trouble navigating it and understanding it because there’s no solid ground.
“I would advise CEOs and boards to focus on customers. Keep your head low—don’t be the tallest nail on the board. There is safety in numbers.
“I think you will find that whether you are a small business, big business, minority owned business or any type of business, that your problems are all common right now. What’s happening now is you have to pay attention to tariffs. You have to make sure you understand your supply chain really well. Make sure the language in your proxy statements and other communications is carefully crafted so that you’re not breaking any laws. When I’m advising companies as a board member, I’m giving them that kind of advice.
“The last thing I’d say, is that in this environment, your business model really matters. People are getting very, very comfortable with subscriptions. So, if you’re not in a subscription business, it is not a bad idea to think of how you can turn your non-subscription business into a subscription business, because that’s the best business on the planet to be in. Subscription businesses can generate radical revenue numbers every month or every quarter depending on how you sign people up. That can eliminate a lot of bumpiness in your financial performance. There is less up and down, or cyclicality of people buying in seasons. Whether you’re selling a yearly subscription, or a three-year subscription, it’s a way to make your company more solid. I started doing that in my business during the 15 years I worked at Microsoft and it worked out well.”
