The Savvy Director Blog

How can directors possibly know what is going on in the organizations they serve? After all, while management spends all their time immersed in operations and strategy, board members spend a comparatively small amount of time on their board duties and seldom step outside the boardroom.

That makes for a huge information gap.

As a board director, you’re pretty much completely dependent on management reports and presentations to best inform the discussion that’s needed to fulfill your responsib...

“It’s really hard to publicly support the board’s decision when I personally disagree with it.”

Yes, that’s a tough one for a well-intentioned board director who cannot support the will of the majority of board members. But is it necessarily a bad thing to vote against a motion?

I’d suggest it’s not. What’s important to the board is reaching consensus. When I refer to consensus, I’m thinking of a description from McKinsey that I read a few years ago. It went something like this:

Consensus...

When the Board-CEO partnership thrives, so does the entire organization. But when it falters, the repercussions can be swift and severe.

In today's complex and rapidly changing world, boards face the challenging task of providing proper oversight while allowing management the autonomy needed to be effective. This delicate balance is crucial for organizational success. It requires a flexible decision-making partnership between the Board and the CEO.

By understanding and managing the inherent...

“Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.” – Guy Kawasaki, American marketing specialist

When we asked our Savvy Director readers, “What boardroom skills do you want to have help with?” a number of you responded with variations on the themes of how to exercise more patience, how to be more tolerant, and – to be brutally direct – how not to get frustrated with other directors.

I get it. Sometimes, after an unsatisfying board meeting, I’ve thought to myself, “Board work would be ...

Whenever we write a Savvy Director blog — or create any other DirectorPrep content for that matter — we make a critical assumption about our readers.

We assume that you want to be the best director you can be, that you want to be seen as a valuable member of your board, and you want to be able to influence board decisions.

In other words, you want to be savvy, as in Savvy Director.

In our view, being a savvy director is all about what you know, and how you think, communicate, and behave in...

There are times when your CEO or Executive Director may approach the board with a specific request for direction on what to do about a high-risk situation.

When time is of the essence, a director’s view may be required immediately for input to the board’s discussion so that a consensus can be reached quickly, and direction given. Or your CEO may be looking for validation of their pending decision. In that case, your job is to act as a sounding board to help ensure nothing has been missed.

If you’ve served on a board for a year or more, you’ve probably lived through an external audit. It’s one of those governance fundamentals that you need to have a handle on to fulfill your director responsibilities.

Failing to exercise proper oversight over external audit has caused a lot of grief for boards in the past. You can help make sure your board doesn’t become one of them.

In a nutshell, an external audit involves an independent auditor reviewing an organization's financial statem...

Within the global discussion about the need for more diversity in the boardroom, the higher-level goal of maximizing diversity of perspective seems to get lost in the mix of what’s truly important when key decisions are being made.

On their own, completing a compliance checklist or creating a complicated matrix of gender, race, age, orientation, faith, and social status won’t result in better decisions. Creating the conditions for all directors, of all backgrounds, to feel comfortable expres...

Disruption risk is the potential for unexpected events that can interrupt or significantly alter an organization’s operations, market position, or strategic direction.

Disruptions can be caused by factors such as technological advancements, market shifts, regulatory changes, natural disasters, or other unforeseen events. The potential impact ranges from minor operational hiccups to significant threats to sheer survival.

Such is the case with tariffs.

In today's complex global economy, board...

“That’s a big decision. I’m going to sleep on it.”

What kinds of decisions require additional time to consider?

• Maybe someone has made you a job offer - but it feels like it might not be the right move.
• Or let’s say you are a CEO who needs to decide between two outstanding candidates for the CFO position. Both are great, but for different reasons.
• Is it time for a new vehicle? Maybe it would be best to lease for the next three years. You’re thinking about going electric but you’re just n
...