I think I am generally a patient business professional, always looking for a way to work around a problem, willing to listen to a variety of inputs (with healthy debates), not in a rush to make decisions, but a times I have no patience when someone hears good advice but does not seem to integrate it into the way they think and act. Basically, they make the same mistakes again.
This is really important for a CEO as it relates to their Board of Directors. Regardless of the knowledge of the Board, the experience of the Board, the sophistication of the Board, the CEO always has to do what can be done to keep the focus on the relevant issues of the business. As soon as the CEO stops listening to what the Board needs, stops adhering to the requests the Board asks for, continues to produce poor materials with little depth, the more the Board will focus on the irrelevant and less on the real issues that impact the business — happens all the time I bet. Probably one of the top three reasons CEO’s start developing a distaste for Board meetings — they feel they get nothing productive out of it — but fail to realize they are the ones leading everything down the useless path.
I wish people would listen!