OUR STORY

BUILDING A MOVEMENT OF PROGRESSIVE LEADERS

At The Boardroom, we know that CEOs and business leaders are ultimately judged on the quality of their decisions and their outcomes yet have less than 10% of the required information to make consequential decisions. High-level decision taking is progressively getting harder in this fast-paced world, often impacting on the executives’ mental health and well-being.

Our proven methodology and business model aims to create a movement of thousands of empowered business leaders, who build highly successful and impactful businesses. We curate external boards of 10-12 like-minded peers from complementary industries, with handpicked seasoned business leaders chairing and facilitating a trusted, nonthreatening environment, for our members to have their own personalized wise counsel, enabling an optimal decision-making process.

The Boardroom exists to empower CEOs and business leaders to make quality decisions which will decrease their stress, and allow for a growth mindset, with heightened creativity. All of this is key to build sustainable and innovative businesses.

CEOs do not need to endear all the stress alone, to survive, conquer and thrive in this fast-paced world, building great businesses. We provide CEOs an unfair advantage when making important decisions, to be ahead of the curve.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

THE BOARDROOM SOUTH AFRICA

The Boardroom’s CEO & Founder, Vic Barreto, started The Boardroom concept in the late 90s in South Africa along with his then business mentor. The premise for this endeavour was based on the fact that 87% of all start-ups fail within the first 3 years; a concerning figure at the time and still today. The root cause was attributed to a lack of wise counsel and accountability.

If CEOs/senior business leaders seek wise counsel and they are willing to hold themselves accountable, the chances of their business not been successful will diminish significantly.

Most companies do not have a board, let alone members that are nonthreatening and provide a trusted environment, where the CEO/senior business leader can be vulnerable and receive the necessary wise counsel.

We set out to change that by offering CEOs and senior business leaders their own board. A board that is akin to a personalized wise counsel of peers, who were and are facing the same problem of not having their own wise counsel in-house to succeed. The criteria for joining such a board, was that members would not conflict with each other’s businesses hence no competitors or suppliers were allowed to sit on the same board.

Over a span of three years, Vic Barreto and his mentor grew The Boardroom South Africa to 347 groups, with 10 to 12 members per group. It was a roaring success and had a tremendous impact not only on the members, but also resounding positive changes to the stakeholders in their respective businesses, the communities they served and their families.

FAST FORWARD

THE MISSION IN THE UAE

During Vic Barreto’s recent tenure as CEO of the Capital Club Dubai (DIFC), a private member’s club of 1,000+ business leaders, he gained an acute understanding of the challenges CEOs and business leaders face in the UAE and the wider region. Through Vic’s leadership, it led to a new club business model that aimed connect to relevant people in a way where value was added.

Working with senior business people and government representatives, Vic and his team set up various working committees for different segments of the business community. He secured the membership and working relationships of various cabinet ministers, bridging the gap between business and government.

Vic’s recent success made him realise that The Boardroom concept will have a significant impact on the economic landscape in the UAE and beyond, and that it is a much-needed platform in this region.

With a clear mission to make a long-lasting impact in the country that he now calls home,Vic sought the council of senior leaders and advisers in the UAE for building a movement of progressive business leaders, by launching The Boardroom in the UAE. There was a unanimous agreement on the value and impact such movement and he secured key persons’ commitment to help build and grow The Boardroom.

THE IMPACT OF THE BOARDROOM UAE

CREATING A MOVEMENT OF EMPOWERED AND PROGRESSIVE BUSINESS LEADERS THAT VALUE AND EMBRACE WISE COUNCIL

The Boardroom enables its members to be ahead of the curve and become a driving force behind economic development. We believe this will result in the development of a robust middle-class, and therefore economy. A safe and trusted an environment where hand-picked executives from all walks of life and from around the world, will want to join and be part of.