The Savvy Director Blog

Many of the problems that boards are faced with involve decision making under uncertainty. Rarely do we have the kind of perfect information that would allow us to predict with complete confidence what the outcome of our decision will be. Most of the time, it’s impossible to know that the facts we’re relying on are 100% certain.

To help decision makers reduce the uncertainty of the information at hand, business schools teach graduate courses on assigning probabilities to decision factors and ...

As I write this week from the northern hemisphere, the fall season is on its way. That means the start of a new governance year for many of us — including new board members who’ve just been recruited and appointed to a board of directors.

Whether you’re a wily veteran or a newcomer to board work, your first board meeting with a new board is a crucial opportunity to establish your credibility and build relationships with fellow directors.

“What will the first board meeting be like? Should I...

Last week’s blog dealt with board succession. If you read that post (A Better Way to Fill Board Seats), then you know I’m an advocate of treating board succession as an ongoing process of planned renewal.

Maybe you also noticed that we glossed over the whole topic of actually selecting the right director for your board – a process that is complicated enough to merit its own separate blog post.

So, let’s delve into the topic of board recruitment now.

Pinpointing What Your Board Needs Righ...

Does this sound familiar?

A long-standing, knowledgeable and well-respected director will soon be stepping off your board. This will create a vacant board seat.

Once the board becomes aware of this impending departure, a board committee is tasked with finding a good candidate to fill the seat. The committee scrambles to interview a few candidates and recommend one of them to the board.

The board rubber stamps the committee recommendation and – bingo! – there’s a new board member at the table....

I’m often asked about CEO evaluations. I’ve helped boards with everything from developing a process, to designing the method, to gathering and analyzing information, and even communicating the results.

I’m a strong proponent of conducting an annual CEO evaluation. For one thing, it’s the board’s job to do so. The board-CEO relationship is an important one and an effective evaluation process can help strengthen it.

It’s hard for any CEO to get honest feedback. Even in organizations where sta...

Once you’ve established yourself as a director on one board, you may very well find that you’re being approached to serve on one or more additional boards.

Is saying “yes” a good idea? What should you think about before deciding? And what is the ideal number of boards to serve on?

As so often with the topics we explore in The Savvy Director, the answer is, “It depends.” In this case, it depends on some very personal considerations, such as the stage of your career, your family situation, an...

At its core, a board of directors is the ultimate decision-making body for an organization. The board’s ability to make sound decisions based on consideration of reliable facts, coupled with the good judgment of its individual members, is a key element of organizational success.

That makes it important to understand the factors that lead to good decision-making as well as those that detract from it. One risk to good decision-making is what’s known as decision fatigue. The term refers to the d...

You’ve read the material. You’ve seen the presentation. You’ve listened to management’s request. Now it’s time for the board to make a decision. It’s an important decision, too. You’re expecting a robust discussion.

But the room is quiet. Maybe a couple of directors ask a question or two, just for clarification. Now it looks like the board chair is about to call for a vote.

What’s going on? Groupthink, that’s what. Your board has fallen victim to Groupthink.

We’ve all been there, at one tim...

Boards make decisions in a variety of ways. Simple majority vote, ranking, scoring, and multiple voting rounds help directors consider options but don’t necessarily get the board to a place of agreement. Consensus decision-making helps a board achieve agreement, even if the decision made is not everyone’s first choice.

Consensus that emerges from discussion involving a diversity of perspectives is a powerful force that tends to lead to good decisions. Once consensus is achieved, directors lea...