Governance - Are boards part of the problem or part of the solution? | Ralph Ward, Editor, The Corporate Board

Climate change has transitioned from a distant environmental concern to a pressing business issue. The rhetoric between business and climate activists has hardened. Friends of the Earth in the Netherlands have sued Shell and are now in the process of suing ING. What should boards do? 

In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses the thinking behind the move to sue ING Bank and learnings for boards with Donald Pols. Donald is the Director of Friends of the Earth in the Netherlands. 

 “We can and will manage to address dangerous climate change if all relevant actors contribute, including the financial sector.”
Donald is bringing the climate fight to boardrooms. He cites the reality of the regulatory gap as a key factor- He explains that while governments sign agreements and individual countries make pledges, large multinationals often have no one person or entity truly holding them accountable. Often, the financial sector operates in this regulatory gap, which is why he is using a lawsuit against ING to make an example as ING is one of the largest financiers of fossil fuels in the world, which gives it a unique opportunity to shape climate change impacts.

“It's time to start acting on all these initiatives instead of only talking.”
The first step in a democratic society is always a dialogue and a conversation, but Donald notes that conversations have happening for decades with no real progress. So, taking things to court is an intentional escalation. Donald sees going to court as part of the democratic process, which allows parties with a difference of opinion to get a judgment on those opinions. It also creates a way to close the regulatory gap. 

“If there's only one message I can give to your listeners, it is that climate change is not an ESG issue. It's a material issue.”
Donald feels that for boards to truly take climate change seriously, they must stop treating it as a side issue. It is a material issue that is crucial for the financial continuity of a company. 

“What we notice in our engagement with companies on a C-level is that climate change knowledge is lacking in general.”
In Donald’s view, acting on climate change starts with leadership from the top. Boards must make climate change a company-wide priority. Ideally, this will result in climate change being a fixed issue on the board agenda, whose importance influences policies not just for the firm, but also for suppliers and clients.

“The boards of multinationals that I visit are concerned with achieving and measuring impact. However, the way we measure impact is fundamentally different.”
As Donald sees it, most boards measure shareholder value. Firms in the activism and non-profit space, measure stakeholder value. For them, it is less about how much money is made and more about what noticeable changes are achieved and what societal support is won.

The three top takeaways for effective boards from our conversation are:
1.      There's a need to act to prevent dangerous climate change, and this need has become a new societal norm applicable to all corporate and financial institutions.
2.     Climate change is a material issue with fiduciary implications. Not acting in accordance with this responsibility already has and will have legal implications in the future.
3.     On a more personal note, you're a CEO, but you're also a parent and a grandparent. You're a board member, but you're also responsible for life on Earth, especially for your family. The discussions you have and the decisions you make daily will have an impact on the future of our shared planet. There's no profit on a dead planet. Act accordingly.

The board is a powerful asset for tech start-ups. Yet, since the interaction takes place behind closed doors, there is a lot of uncertainty about how the CEO and director dynamics play out. How open is the communication between both sides? 

In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses tech start-up boards with Yael Benjamin,   Founder/CEO of research firm start-up Snapshot, and Tzahi (Zack) Weisfeld, Vice-President and General Manager of Intel Ignite, Intel's accelerator program. 

"One of the main conclusions of the research is the focus on communication, or we'll call it the lack of communication, and transparency between tech CEOs and their directors"
Yael research finds one of the biggest issues is communication. Some 61% of the CEOs say they're not fully transparent with their board. 

"The lack of transparency is leading to a situation where CEOs do not utilise the value of the board"
Yael's research finds the lack of transparency and trust leads to extra challenges and diminishes the value board members can bring.

"There's a difference between first-time founders and people trying to manage or work with a board for the first time versus the more experienced founders that have a better handle on the governance of their start-up"
Zack feels the experience is a large and underappreciated factor here, both on the side of CEOs and founders and also on the side of board members. 

"CEOs that are young and inexperienced need to get the right kind of mentorship"
Zack feels it is important for young and inexperienced CEOs and founders to find advisors who can be great sounding boards and resources for managing board situations. He feels consultants are not a good choice. 

"A great way to help first-time or younger founders is to have an independent board member"
As founders seek advisors, Yael's research shows that 60% of start-ups do not have an independent board member. 

"Investors overestimated the value they're providing versus what those CEOs said they're receiving"
As an additional consideration when looking at investors as board members, Yael's research finds there's a large imbalance in the perceptions of the value of advice and guidance. 

"The reality is that VC partners are often on too many boards" 
Considering Yael's data and his own experience, Zack feels an issue not often talked about is that VCs and investors are on too many boards. 

"When we talked about selecting your advisor, your mentor, you need to select a partner that's going to invest in you"
At times, the only thing a VC has to offer is their cash. This means start-ups need to look for someone else to serve in that mentoring or advising capacity very intentionally.

The top takeaways from our conversation are:
1.      Yael notes that a lack of transparency is going to prevent getting value from the board.
2.     Zack wants to remind everyone to choose your mentors, VCs, and board members as carefully as possible – with at least as much care as you would a co-founder or spouse.
3.     Zack would also like to remind CEOs and founders that they are in control of their companies, not the boards. While boards play advisory roles, the ultimate responsibility for managing the firm lies with the CEO.
4.    Finally, Zack notes when it comes to boards, mentors, and advisors, adopt a "help them help you" approach. The more friction you can take out of the process, the more likely you are to get the help you need from busy people.

Environmental risks make up half the Top 10 risks over the next ten years. Climate change remains one of the most urgent challenges confronting boards in their oversight capacity. How can boards improve their oversight of climate-related risks? And what does accounting have to do with it?

In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Director of Better Boards, discusses how boards can improve their oversight of climate-related risks with Mike Mahoney. Mike is the CEO of the E-liability Institute, a global non-profit organisation advancing accounting upgrades to drive green innovation and reduce carbon emissions. In November 2021, Professor Bob Kaplan of Harvard Business School and Professor Karthik Ramanna from the University of Oxford published a prize-winning paper, Accounting for Climate Change, which is the foundation of the E-liability concept. 

"Let's focus on the fact that investors say climate change poses one of the largest sources of financial risk to companies and their asset owners"
Climate change has been discussed for years in the context of ESG and sustainability, but Mike says it remains a top risk for boards. Of course, risk is often the flip side of opportunity. Mike feels companies can develop and sustain advantages in how they effectively mitigate these risks or in how they help customers mitigate these risks. These are important strategic issues for management and boards alike. 

"As emissions continue to grow around the world, the current system simply isn't working"
Most companies use approaches to carbon accounting based on carbon disclosure requirements that aren't fit for purpose. To appropriately analyse and mitigate climate risk, companies need to precisely understand the carbon intensity of their operations and that of their suppliers. Instead, firms are leaning on estimates and industry averages, which can be highly inaccurate and introduce so much distortion as to render carbon disclosures useless. 

"There are six questions to answer about how the company and management are thinking about measurement and accounting of climate-related and emissions data"
Listen to the podcast and add the questions to your repertoire.

"With e-liability, instead of accounting for costs, we're accounting for carbon"
E-liability is an accounting algorithm that allows organisations to produce real-time accurate and auditable data on their total direct and supplier emissions and those of any of its products and services. It is a simple, open-source, free-to-use set of principles that can create an accurate and auditable total "cradle to grave" carbon footprint number. 

The three top takeaways from our conversation are:
1.      Climate risk is financial risk, and companies and their boards should manage it as such. Climate risk can be quantified, measured, and mitigated. It can represent a strategic opportunity for competitive differentiation as long as the company's claims for differentiation can be audited and are meaningful to its customers.
2.     It matters how a company does its carbon accounting. Management and the board need rigorous emissions accounting to understand and mitigate risks and seize opportunities.
3.     Everyone should learn more about how companies can improve their carbon accounting by visiting the E-Liability Institute (https://e-liability.institute/). The site has a wealth of information, including the original papers published Bob Kaplan and Karthik Ramana, and a chance to connect with the company to learn more and explore pilot adoption of this approach.

 Generative AI will profoundly impact how we work and how organisations operate. My podcast partner has said that it is the most dramatic change we have seen since controllable electricity. Yet, in our board evaluations, we see little about the systematic integration of AI in the agendas of boards. What questions do Directors need to ask in the boardroom?

In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses the questions boards need to ask about AI with Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School Joe Fuller. 

"Companies are asking entirely the wrong questions"
Prof Fuller feels many companies are still asking the wrong questions. Too many firms look at AI as a super SaaS product. It's not, and that misunderstanding is limiting them in preventable ways. Instead of asking, "How can this make my current process more efficient?" Professor Fuller feels companies need to ask, "How do I build the processes to make the most of this technology?" That shift captures the astonishing breadth and potential of AI. 

"It's very important that boards and management go on a learning journey together"
According to Professor Fuller, management and boards need to work together to demystify AI for their employees. AI is the subject of a lot of spurious reporting and a lot of rumors. Worse, while some 60% of workers feel AI will change the world of work, only 25% of workers feel it will affect them. That's a level of disconnect Professor Fuller feels will catch many people by surprise.

"For a board not to be asking these questions and, through their dialogue with management, learning how to ask better questions, I think, is a rather important abandonment of their responsibility"
AI has many positive applications, but it also brings with it risks. Who owns those risks, tracks them, and is held accountable for them? Professor Fuller feels boards can play an essential role here, helping set up governance structures and models of use to protect and serve the company's operations. 

"If you have a lot of data, that's a huge natural advantage with AI. And so the question becomes, how quickly can I train that data?"
Professor Fuller feels success with AI has two parts – the amount of data available and how fast that data can train your AI into a useful state. Companies that use AI and keep pace with updates could end up with a permanent competitive advantage. 

"The skills we're going to be looking for will change as this technology becomes firmly rooted in business processes and provides management with the types of insights and data that were often unavailable to them in the past"
Professor Fuller notes that what companies will be looking for in top talent and for board members is changing. Responsive technology trained on historical data has the potential to replace traditional time-linked credentials and make tenure in a role less valuable.

The three top takeaways for effective boards are:
1.      AI is as important a development in business as we've seen in the last 200 years. It will drive a permanent, critical transformation as impactful as the steam engine or controllable electricity.
2.     It's changing rapidly, and while there is a learning challenge, companies have to view this as an unbelievable opportunity to create a competitive advantage. 
3.    AI is a very powerful tool. We hope it will be used for good but boards need to be mindful of what a powerful tool can do in the hands of bad actors, and guard against that risk where possible. 

What does good look like? What does it mean to lead an effective board? These are probably two of the questions I most often hear. In our board evaluations, we see vast differences in how Chairs and boards perform.

In this podcast, I, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses leading an effective board with Andreas E.F. Utermann. Andreas was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vontobel Holding AG in 2022. Previously, he led Allianz Global Investors. Beginning in 2012, he initially served as a co-head and Global Chief Investment Officer. In 2016, he became the CEO, a position he held for multiple years before transitioning into an advisory role, philanthropic, and external board work.

"The transition is greatly helped if you feel you've done what you need to do and what you thought you wanted to do as an executive"
While some executives struggle to move over to board work, Andreas feels the transition is much easier if you feel you've both done what you needed and wanted to do as an executive. 

"Getting transparent, honest feedback individually is super, super helpful for personal development. It's also really helpful for group dynamics"
On many boards, regular performance evaluations are still uncommon or held for later in a board member's tenure. Yet Andreas feels getting those conversations going right away is critically important for good governance, board futureproofing, and overall board effectiveness. So, as soon as he joined the Vontobel board, he helped initiate Board Evaluations in partnership with Better Boards. 

"If you want to be successful, you need to be a contrarian"
Andreas is aware this approach to board evaluations is a little contrarian. This is intentional. Andreas credits his training as an investment professional and his upbringing by his parents for giving him the instinct to avoid groupthink and work opposite to the crowd. To him, if you want to beat the market and be truly successful, your best bet is to do something different.

"Good chairs need to have a high EQ"
Being effective as a board chair these days requires a high EQ. Andreas notes that modern boards tend to be quite diverse, with strong personalities to manage. Along with this, Andreas feels good chairs must help create safe spaces for high-quality conversations. 

"The sequencing of board meetings is a significant part of a successful board meeting"
Before each board meeting, Andreas asks his assistant to block time so that he can reflect on the key topics that need to be addressed. Then, he works to organize the board meeting so that the most intellectually complex and emotionally intense conversations happen early in the day or first thing in the meeting. 

"Keep admin stuff to a minimum"
Another unique practice Andreas uses to keep his board meetings impactful is minimizing the administrative aspects. He feels board meetings should be focused on strategic discussion. So, Andreas uses a pre-meeting call to cover administrative details before physical meetings. 

The three top takeaways from our conversation for effective boards are:
1.     Be courageous. If you fail at first, try again, and keep looking at life as a learning experience.
2.    Be honest. If you're no longer passionate about what you do and are not learning anything, it's time for a change.
3.    Take time to reflect each day on what you're learning and experiencing, jotting down your reflections and insights so that you can incorporate them into your own continuous learning experience.

A crucial yet often overlooked aspect of board effectiveness: stories. Imagine a world where numbers and strategies come alive, painting a vivid picture of your company's future. When it comes to decision-making and leadership, how can compelling narratives inspire your board and drive tangible results? The ancient art of storytelling can be your modern tool for boardroom success.

In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses the importance of stories with Jyoti Guptara, who excels in helping leaders align narratives with corporate culture, fostering an environment where stories become a driving force for organizational identity and strategic direction.   

"We really want to tell a story that can connect people, tell them what we're all about, and invite people to join us on that journey"
Why do many mission statements fail to change behaviour? Why do most change efforts fail? Jyoti says that when these strategic communications are abstract, they don’t connect with people. An important lesson for businesses and leaders is to tell a good story that helps transform abstract ideas, strategies, and mission statements into something graspable and tangible. 

"The larger the organisation gets, the more important the story becomes"
Jyoti says companies are struggling to convince people why they should care. This is true even at companies that have a fantastic mission and story. They are struggling to tell a compelling story, and this directly links to the issues that many firms are facing with employee engagement and community building. Storytelling helps create clarity around the mission and work of the company. It also creates the space for community connection and for building a powerful community around a shared mission and values. 

"There are different stories for different contexts"
To Jyoti, telling a good story comes down to telling the right story to the right people at the right time in the right way. This requires narrative intelligence, a skill that can be learned and honed with practice. Jyoti recommends thinking about where you're telling a story and why: your goal with the story. Different contexts require different stories. He says one basic principle he's found helpful is to think about story sizes. Some situations have space for a five or 10-minute-sized story. In other situations, you've only got 60 seconds. 

"Boards that do get storytelling right can be a lot more effective"
To Jyoti, it's dangerous for boards to overlook storytelling. Board effectiveness improves when storytelling is in play, and good stories can also help with board development and governance issues. On an individual level, having a good story can influence who is brought onto the board and who stays on the board. So, to Jyoti, people need to develop strong personal narratives that showcase their experience and expertise. Once a part of a board, the individual stories can help unite the group and build cohesion as everyone gets to know and appreciate each other. This is especially important in board situations where you are trying to bring together a group with diverse backgrounds and perspectives and meld that group into an effective unit.

The three top takeaways for effective boards are:
1.       People are not rational. Our default mode is to be emotional and rationalise after the fact. Remember this, and try to appeal to the whole brain by using stories.
2.     When people hit you with fact statements or statistics, ask them to reframe it as an anecdote to give a fuller picture of the situation.
3.     Practice telling stories every day. This will help you hone that tool in low-stakes situations so that you can shine in high-stakes environments.

Executive pay attracts attention and scrutiny as companies and society at large face the challenges of rising prices and interest rates. It is a true challenge to strike the right balance between executives and stakeholders. The big question is: How can companies strike the right balance?

In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards www.better-boards.com, discusses executive compensation with Paul Norris, Senior Partner of MM&K Limited. Paul has over 35 years' of experience in executive compensation and advising on remuneration structures, policy, performance, and governance. 

"There's no doubt the role of remuneration committees and remuneration committee chairs has become more demanding"
Paul sees remuneration committees (RemCos) facing more demanding and more complex challenges than in the past. Why? It comes down to four key challenges. 
First, there's a much broader range of interests and objectives from a larger group of stakeholders to manage than ever before. 
Second, RemCos must pay attention to official regulatory groups and unregulated proxy agents nationally and internationally. 
Third, management succession planning is becoming more important. Paul sees a lot of scope and a good argument for mixing and blending the work of the nomination and remuneration committees. He feels this collaboration can bolster diversity and inclusion at the board and executive levels. 
Fourth, there's the challenge of solving the pay-for-performance equation. 

"What works well is being visible"
With so many stakeholders and interested parties to satisfy, Paul says the role of the remuneration committee is expanding. To fulfill that role successfully, he feels communication is key.  Good communication between the committee, HR, and the CEO and targeted communication with stakeholder groups.

"Don't report what you'd like to do, report what you have done"
Paul says what shareholders are looking for is clear reporting of actual results.  Clear disclosure opens the door for feedback from stakeholders, shareholders, and regulators, both in the public sphere and internally. Getting this feedback is vital for effective governance and compliance, too.

"There's a much, much greater use of ESG performance targets"
One trend Paul sees globally is linking ESG targets with executive incentives on a much broader scale than before. It's not just a trend in the regulation, though that's a part of it, but there's also great pressure from investors. 

Controlling the company story and crafting a consistent narrative is key. You want to tell a story both stakeholders and regulators can understand and be able to match your story to demonstrate progress against targets. 

"The money's got to come from somewhere"
Paul says there has to be a balance between financial and non-financial performance targets in incentive plans. He feels that there will continue to be a rising use of blended performance scorecards, where most incentive payments will be based on financial performance measures, and the balance will be made up of strategic and perhaps ESG measures. This ensures that companies can continue to thrive financially, as the money for pay packages must come from somewhere! 

The three top takeaways from our conversation are:
1.     Don't be afraid to ask the right questions. They may be difficult questions, and that's the point.
2.    Get on the front foot and tell the story! Engage with stakeholders and shareholders.
3.    Ensure there is a robust corporate governance framework to which both executives and non-executives have fully bought in.

We all have dreams. When we sit in our offices, we probably all wonder what life would be like If we made some different choices. In this 100th podcast of the Better Boards podcast series, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses the inspiring life of a Director with Paul Halpin, who, together with his wife, made conscious decisions while developing a successful business and serving on the board of multiple organisations. 

Paul is an accomplished Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit & Risk. After 25 years at PwC in Europe and South Africa and eight years as an entrepreneur based in Mauritius, Paul became a portfolio Non-Executive Director. 

"One had to dream of the possibilities of working overseas"
Paul remembers entering the workforce in the early 1980s during tough economic times. Now, Paul looks back fondly on his "young dreamer" self, knowing how surprised that dreamer would be by the global path of his career. Paul counts himself fortunate to have secured a job with PwC that opened doors for him overseas. Yet, despite being a long-time partner in PwC, Paul says he wasn't satisfied. 

"There was an entrepreneur always trying to get out"
Paul is fascinated with business successes and failures, something he says his colleagues continually note about him. So, even as he rose to partner and built a robust 25-year career inside PwC, Paul says he always wondered if he could have a viable business life outside a Big 4 firm. In 2004, Paul had a unique opportunity to leave PwC. He recalls talking it over with his wife, and together they made a big leap – moving their young family to Mauritius.  

"After a successful exit, there's a natural inclination to step back… but it was also natural for me to work with other entrepreneur-led businesses"
Paul notes he is uniquely able to relate to entrepreneurs. This made being approached to be on his initial two boards feel quite natural and organic for him – he recalls there being no pressure about forcing it as a next step. 

"My work ethic, my hard-working time as an entrepreneur, was appreciated when I joined other people's boards"
Paul has a strong work ethic from his years at PwC. He also understands how to work hard in one's own business. His independence is also an advantage. Paul comes to boards as a financially independent player, free from encumbrances on his judgment. 

"The commonalities are greater than the differences"
Paul says that while everyone he works with comes from very different backgrounds, they have more in common as members of a board than one might expect. Their motivations are similar in terms of getting to the best solutions. He feels board effectiveness overall is enhanced by having top talent from a multiplicity of backgrounds involved and that rather than focusing on differences, his boards just get on with it in terms of problem-solving, evaluating strategy, and doing top-tier analysis.

"Most people I've met in the boardroom haven't gotten there by following a conventional path"
Paul says that while a board member's resume might imply they've followed a conventional path, most truly exceptional board members have a deeply individual story to tell. 

The three top takeaways from our conversation for effective boards are:
1.      Life is not a dress rehearsal. Focus on happiness in your life, which will help you in your directorships.
2.    A strong work ethic, while remaining focused on the strategy and the long-term, will earn the respect of your colleagues
3.    Always ensure you have a financial cushion to be truly independent in your board directorships.

One of the most frequently asked questions to Better Boards is “What does it take to be an effective Non-Executive Director?”  This podcast will shed some light on the topic.

In this podcast, Dr. Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Director of Better Boards, discusses how to be an effective Non-Executive Director with Marianne Loner. Marianne spent 35 years in an executive career in investment banking, commercial lending, and asset management in London, New York, Chicago, and Zurich with global organizations.  For the past 12 years, she has served on Boards in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe.

“Time flies when you are having fun!”
Marianne takes her work on boards very seriously but says there’s no doubt that after a long and successful executive career, it has been very enjoyable to bring her expertise to the companies she serves. She chooses to focus on emerging markets so that she can quickly make a visible difference with ESG and economic development in multiple countries.

“If you’re in one industry, you end up having very strong content”
Marianne says that while she works all around the world, by keeping her focus on one industry – financial services – she is able to be more effective. She can come into a company with a deep understanding of the regulatory frameworks, the competitive environment, and how firms can make the changes needed to innovate and be truly client-focused.

“No one country has a monopoly on best practices”
Marianne explains that governance and best practices can be very different between countries, which board members who stay in one region or country miss out on experiencing. Thanks to her global focus, she is able to make connections and see how different policies play out in different cultural and economic environments. This gives her a unique perspective.

“Have a clear idea of what you bring to the party”
To be an effective Non-Executive Director, Marianne feels that board members should have a clear picture of what they’re bringing to the role. How are you being expected to contribute? What role do you play in the dynamics of the board, in the decision-making, and in the company culture? Marianne recommends new Non-Executive Directors spend time actively listening and gaining an understanding of the company so that they can develop an effective personal strategy for influencing and shaping decisions, strategies, and tactics. 

“I read the entire pack, even footnotes!”
Board effectiveness depends on adequate preparation. Marianne has seen boards where members are not reading all the materials being provided, which she feels places them at a disadvantage in their contribution. For her, to be an effective contributor, it is vital to read every part of board packets, with a special focus on matters arising. 

“Hindsight is important for tackling issues that are still unresolved”
Marianne knows that the mandate for board members is to provide insight, oversight, and foresight. However, when issues aren’t resolved, hindsight can be useful, provided that the whole board meeting isn’t consumed by hindsight. 

The three top takeaways from our conversation for effective boards are:
1.      You cannot operate in a vacuum. To be effective, spend the time to build relationships with other board members and management.
2.    Silence does not serve the business. Have courage and stand up for what you think is right.
3.    To be effective, understand the details of the business but let management do their job so that you can keep a strategic focus and long-term viewpoint. 

The Board as a Team may be a surprising topic. Are Boards of Directors individuals in a group or a Team? If the Board is a team, who is on the team - the Execs, the Non-Executives, or both? The academic literature and practitioners are ambiguous about whether a Board is a team or not.

In this podcast, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses the concept of the Board as a team with Petri Hofste. Petri was for several years the No. 1 NED in the Netherlands (according to the independent analysis annually conducted by Management Scope). After a successful career as a CFO, she embarked on a portfolio career. She serves on leading organisations in the Netherlands. For her, it is vital that the Board is a team.

"A diverse Board means that in order to make it work, you have to work harder"

"The starting point is truly being interested in each other, as well as in the task at hand"

"Ensure that you focus on the right issues, and also ensure that you do not focus and do not discuss what doesn't need to be discussed"

"It generally works best if company secretaries really ensure to team up with the chairs"

"If you do not like being on a Board. If you do not feel connected to the other people on the Boards, how can you bring the best in yourself to that Board?"

The three top takeaways for effective Boards from our conversation are:

1.      A Board needs to invest in being a team. 

2.     Understanding where people come from and bringing forward the strengths of every individual as well as the strengths of the team is worthwhile. This investment needs to be on the personal and organisational levels. 

3.     Board members owe the companies they serve and society to bring the best out of each individual on a Board.