Board Impulse Thoughts (BIT) – A little BIT for everybody

34th Board Impulse Thoughts with Dr. Pascal Decker and his expectations of 2022 as a Strategic Advisor.

1.?Which were your biggest learnings over the past 12 months?

Restrictions can release creative energies. Our sector, the art market, is traditionally based on face-to-face meetings and trust relationships. During the pandemic, an (often involuntary) shift online took place across the sector. New opportunities arose, yet also previously unknown risks became visible. Covid-19 presented new strategic and legal challenges to the clients of our consulting firm. The sudden, widespread rise of new issues in dealing with NFTs and crypto led us to develop new services such as an anti-money laundering app. During times of social and travel restrictions, many clients were furthermore freed from their daily operational work, which gave some of them time to focus on underlying conceptual work. This, in turn, allowed us to extend the strategic consulting department of our firm, advising our clients in the art, culture and non-profit sectors on improving their business models. Covid restrictions were initially tough on both for-profit and non-profit businesses, yet our clients all managed to use initial limitations as springboards for something new.

?2. How does an advisory board work best?

Every CEO should aim to hire board members who are better and smarter than himself. The primary task of a board is to supervise, steer and criticize a company’s actions in order to help it in moving forward. Many companies, especially family businesses, tend to assign board roles to their friends and buddies. This can be dangerous, since buddies tend to be yes-sayers and often do not want to ‘betray’ their friend, the CEO, by criticizing them. As a result, the CEO will only hear what he or she wants to hear. In times of change, family businesses can become their own biggest challenge simply by doing things the way they have always done them. Therefore, a board needs to be staffed with experts who are rigorous and impartial to personal loyalties.

?3.?What are your observations on executives over the last 12 months, did they change their habits and attitudes?

?Many executives learned to develop from a boss into a leader. In office settings, it is easy for an executive to overly manage their employees’ work. Working remotely requires a shift towards more autonomy and self-organization, highlighting the benefit of trusting employees to deliver results. A boss overly monitors employees, hindering them from getting work done. A leader will set the overall vision, provide guidance, help when needed, and make sure the team runs smoothly. This is part of a transformation of work that values result-orientation over control.

?4.?What do you expect from 2022?

?I am looking forward to seeing how the art, culture and non-profit sectors will implement the recently arisen changes and opportunities in the longer term, and which ones of the ‘old ways’ will be carried forward. The calendar is set for a bustling season filled with events and being able to meet people again in greater settings. From an investment perspective, I will also be paying close attention to the development of art as an alternative investment asset type, now that the newly-arisen NFT market has demonstrated a considerable increase in the trading of digital artworks.

Dr. Pascal Decker is a participant at the Board Academy . He is a strategic advisor to the art market. His professional legal expertise and strategic practice include establishing foundations, company successions, market positioning and artists‘ estates. Among his clients are collectors, artists, galleries, and museums, as well as medium-sized entrepreneurs, organisations, and foundations.

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