How Evelyn Dilsaver prepares for board meetings
Evelyn Dilsaver’s board meeting pre-planning is all about research, relationships and the occasional nut.
Before every meeting she reads the board book and all related business documents from end to end, and sometimes reads them twice, even if there are hundreds of pages. She also sets Google Alerts for each company she serves on to make sure she's on top of the news; and she reads job search site Glassdoor, which posts employee reviews of employers, to get a feel for employee relations.
She also likes to test drive products and services, and keep an eye on the competition. For example, she spends lots of time going to stores to check out mattresses, and traffic at apparel retailers.
Since most of the board-related paperwork for public companies has moved to board portals, she has all the information she needs on an iPad she takes to every meeting. She used to have to lug huge documents to meetings, which was causing her back trouble, so the portals have been “a godsend.”
But the move to digital means management can add things to documents on the portal at the last minute, giving her less time to review and analyze any changes before meetings. “We've been trying to put the breaks on that,” she stresses.
In addition to the iPad, she brings a gray notebook to jot down to-dos she needs to remember after board meetings, but no comments on company matters.
Since there are hours of sitting in meetings, she makes sure to bring sneakers with her so she can walk from the hotel to the board meeting for some exercise. But when she goes into every meeting, she wants to look her best and puts on what she calls her “sitting shoes” — high heels that admittedly aren't the most comfortable.
Since she likes to snack, she's got healthy treats on hand, including almonds and walnuts, and Hershey Kisses with nuts for the occasional pick-me-up. Food provided at most meetings, she says, is usually loaded with carbs and sugar.
For flights to board meetings, she packs stretchy isometric bands for working out at hotels. And her luggage is always small enough to fit under her seat to bypass checking her bags for those non-direct flights to places like Tempur-Pedic's headquarters in Lexington, Ky.
Long before she even boards a flight, she makes sure to regularly check in with company management to find out what's going on and to develop a solid relationship with the key leaders. Where she chairs audit committees, for example, she has monthly one-on-one phone or in-person meetings with the CFO, the comptroller, and other finance managers.
“Having these one-on-ones develops the relationship so when they call me with a problem they're not worried what my reaction will be,” she notes. “If you don't have that relationship there's a tendency for people to hold back.”
Evelyn Dilsaver is
- Director, Chair, audit committee, Tempur-Pedic;
- Director, Chair, audit and risk committee, Health Equity;
- Chair, compensation committee, Blue Cross of California;
- Advisory board member, Protiviti;
- Director, Bailard Real Estate Fund