One of my mantras when making major decisions for any enterprise is to consider the perspective of the board who follow me.  If a board’s term limit is six years, I am thinking about how a decision today is going to impact the board seven years from now when nobody on the current board will most likely be in the room.  Does the opportunity seem like the appropriate course of action today and years from now?

The downside to poor decision-making is that you are asking a future board to serve time for you.  In some cases poor judgment today is the equivalent of a jail term from a future board.  Consider the investment committees that positioned an enterprise’s funds with Madoff; the board that took on massive debt to build a new facility; a marketing campaign using a celebrity who is later charged with illegal activities.

How do you keep a longer term perspective?  Who speaks for the future board when strategic decisions are being considered?  Do you document the criteria you used to make a decision?