The skills and approaches IROs can utilise to add value in the boardroom

The theme of the Society’s 2026 Annual Conference is ‘Creating Opportunity from Uncertainty’, exploring how IR is increasingly being seen as a trusted strategic advisor to senior management and boards.
In this quick-fire interview, Mark Hayes of Breakwater Strategy shares his view on the skills and approaches IROs can utilise to add value in the boardroom.

From your experience, what makes an impactful contribution from an IRO in strategic boardroom discussions?

Define reality clearly.
An impactful IRO contribution starts with strong business judgment, not a focus on market commentary. In a boardroom, the IRO is most valuable when they help management and directors better define reality: What are investors really signaling? What assumptions is the market making about our strategy? Where is there confidence, and where is there concern? 
The strongest IROs do not bring investor sentiment into the conversation; they clarify the facts, probe the underlying story, and help frame the strategic, financial and operational alternatives in a disciplined and fact-based way. That is what makes the discussion better and connects board decisions to valuation.
Executive presence matters here as well. By that I mean the ability to be concise, insight-driven, calm under pressure, and comfortable engaging at the level of enterprise value creation. A board does not need more noise. It needs someone who can synthesize complex external information into a clear point of view and do it with confidence and credibility. The IRO becomes influential when directors see that person as someone helping the company think more deliberatively and connecting the dots.
The take home message here is really that the IRO needs to focus on being viewed as a necessary catalyst for board level strategic thinking. Part of that is focusing on leading yourself to that level of success. Another element is taking every opportunity to consistently exceed the limits of the formal ask and operating at a meaningfully higher level.

What do you think IROs need to understand most about the board’s priorities when strategy is being debated?

Ask the kind of questions that improve the collective thinking.
IROs need to understand that when a board is debating strategy, it is usually less interested in a single ‘right answer’ than in the quality of the thinking behind the choices and looking for disciplined judgement about risks and choices. Boards are trying to understand assumptions, alternative paths, unintended consequences, and the probable range of outcomes. Good board decision-making is fact-based, but it also requires judgment about what could happen under different scenarios. That is where an IRO can add value: not by suggesting certainty exists, but by helping directors see what the market has the potential to reward in valuation, what it may question and create downward pressure on the stock, and how those views change across different strategic paths and scenarios.
The other thing an IRO should focus on is that boards are guardians of the company’s long-term future. They are looking beyond any single quarter or even any single CEO. So, the question they have top of mind is not, ‘How will investors react next week?’ It is, ‘How does investor confidence intersect with long-term strategic credibility?’ That is a much more important board-level contribution and positions an IRO for a future seat at the table.

How can IROs bring investor insight into strategic conversations in a way that is influential rather than informative?

Focus on assumptions and alternative paths and scenarios, not certainty.
The difference is context. Informative is saying, ‘Here is what investors are telling us or sharing the output from a set of investor intelligence.’ Influential is saying, ‘Here is what investors are telling us, here is why they may be seeing it that way, here are the assumptions embedded in that view, and here is how that should inform the strategic choices in front of us.’ The IRO must connect external investor insight to decision quality in the board room and as a result sharpen and connect the dialogue to valuation.
I would also say that investor insight becomes influential when it brings clarity rather than volume. The board does not need every data point or every investor nugget; it needs the signal. What are the two or three external truths we should wrestle with as a group? What are investors seeing about our competitive position, capital allocation, growth profile, or execution risk that we may not be seeing clearly enough ourselves? The IRO should come in prepared to sharpen the discussion, challenge internal blind spots, and help leadership think through consequences. When that happens, investor insight moves from being a report-out to being a strategic asset and positions the IRO as a repeat and more frequent participant.
 

Mark Hayes
Partner and Head of Breakwater Capital Markets 
Mark is the Founding Partner of Breakwater Capital Markets, the capital markets advisory arm of Breakwater Strategy, where he advises boards and executive leadership teams on how valuation is formed and how it can be elevated across global capital markets. He works with venture capital-backed, pre-IPO, public companies, private equity sponsors, investment partnerships, and family offices to align capital markets, business, and investor communication strategies to drive long-term value.
Mark@Breakwaterstrategy.com