The Savvy Director Blog

Decisions can be skewed by the perceived authority of one individual. This article explores authority bias and how to manage it in the boardroom.

There are no HiPPO’s in the boardroom, are there? Yes, there are when HiPPO stands for “Highest Paid Person’s Opinion.”

The HiPPO effect is when the highest paid person’s opinion carries more weight than anybody else’s in the room. That’s because we subconsciously endow highly-paid people with a degree of authority that they don’t necessarily dese...

This blog explains what it means to apply critical thinking in the boardroom. It shows how directors can analyze information objectively and make better decisions.

Critical thinking is a key skill for board directors. But does that mean a director is expected to be constantly negative, cynical, and hyper-critical?

Not at all.

Critical thinking isn’t about criticizing. It’s about how you approach problems, issues, and arguments. It’s about asking questions like ‘Why?’ or ‘How?’ or ‘What hap...

Boardroom dynamics are shaped by personality. This article explains how introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts can improve contribution and decision quality.

There are days when it’s just not obvious what the subject of the next weekly Savvy Director blog should be. So, we happily welcome reader suggestions.

A couple of weeks ago, Jim sent an email with a link to an article from The Globe and Mail, ‘Introverts, time to add some extrovert skills into your repertoire.’ The gist of the article i...

What happens when arguments sound convincing, but aren’t logical? This post helps directors spot and counter logical fallacies in boardroom debates.

Ever since I decided to write this blog post about logical fallacies in our boardroom debate, I’ve had this refrain going through my head. I’m hoping that by sharing it with you, I will finally be free …

“Let's get logical, logical,
I wanna get logical.
Let's get into logical.
Let me hear your logic talk, your logic talk.
Let me hear your logic ta...

Even experienced directors are subject to cognitive bias. This article explores common biases and how they can undermine board discussions and decision-making.

Let’s face it, a board director’s main job is to think – to think about finances, risks, strategy and people, and about all the other matters that come before a board of directors over the course of a governance year.

And while there is room around the board table for diverse thinking styles - analytical and strategic; people-focused,...

Directors rely on assumptions, but many are hidden. This article explores how subconscious assumptions distort thinking and how to bring them into the open.

Over the years, I’ve reviewed countless proposals, reports, project plans and other documents in the course of my board work and as an advisor to boards. Somewhere in the document, often buried, there should be a section labeled ‘Assumptions.’ It lists the conscious decisions taken by management to treat the unknown as known. Typically, t...

After twenty years, it’s time to say goodbye to an old friend … my office chair.

We started the business together in the late ‘90s. We were successful. We collaborated through thick and thin ─ literally. Always supportive, never a complaint. Until recently.

The business has changed. Yes, we’re still helping board directors prepare for board meetings, so they are ready to collaborate, contribute and influence decisions. That’s why our DirectorPrep.com™ catchphrase is ‘Ready for Your Board Mee...

A recent email from one of our Savvy Director™ readers got me thinking about how diversity of experience actually influences the opinions and viewpoints that we bring to board discussions, as well as the decisions that we end up making.

It’s taken for granted these days that diversity at the board table is a good thing and that it contributes to more robust discussions and better decisions. But how does this actually occur? Especially in the light of board discussions with management about the ...

Directors must think independently, but also work as a team. This article explains how to find the balance between critical thinking and collegiality.

We are fortunate at DirectorPrep to have a group of engaged fellow board directors who seem to be quite willing to act as guinea pigs and to provide feedback on our ideas.

The inspiration for today’s blog arose from just that kind of feedback. As we tested out a framework for the essential behaviors of a savvy director, one director wrote “...