The Savvy Director Blog

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...

“Conflict is inevitable, combat is optional.” – Max Lucado, US author

As a board director, I find there’s nothing like robust boardroom debate to get me really engaged. After all, that’s what we’re there for, isn’t it? To wrestle with big, important issues; to help guide the organizations we care about around dangers and into a bright future; to make sound decisions in the interests of all our stakeholders.

But what about when the debate is not so healthy, when it degenerates into disrup...

Recently, our local newspaper ran a column about the importance of character in our political leaders. It got me thinking about how important it is for board directors to “be of good character.”

Character is a foundation for effective decision-making. That makes it vital for board directors. Sure, directors’ competencies determine what they can do, and their commitment affects how hard they work, but it’s their character that drives how they make important decisions, not just in the boardroom...

We say it all the time – ‘Preparation is the key to success in the boardroom.’ That’s why we call our company DirectorPrep. That’s why our tagline is ‘Ready for your board meeting?’

And that’s why we developed the PREP Framework that provides individual directors with a consistent, repeatable process to prepare for board meetings. We want to support directors to be ready for their board meeting every time. (Visit the PREP for Success page on our website to download the PREP Framework.)

Bein...

In our last Savvy Director blog, we explored how a director may incur personal liability because of their board service. Practicing due diligence is all well and good, but a director’s actions or inactions may still expose them to litigation and penalties. That’s why companies provide their directors with protection through indemnification.

Well-crafted Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance provides an additional line of defense. As a director, it’s a good idea not just to confirm that there...

When you join a board of directors, and throughout your service on the board, you probably won’t give much thought to the personal financial risk you’ve taken on. And yet, a past board decision could come back to haunt you.

In general, the legal structure of a corporation provides you with protection from personal liability. But that protection is limited. There are instances where directors are held personally liable for a company’s violations of laws or regulations. The possibility of being...

Your success as a board director isn’t about how smart you are, it’s about your willingness to do the work. I’m calling it ‘Boardroom Grit’. Is there such a thing?

Think about the wealthy dude who gets a seat at the high profile charity board table because of the size of his family’s foundation and the potential for a sizeable gift someday … how gritty is that when he never opens the meeting materials and confirms that reality with his off-topic comments and rabbit-hole questions?

Today’s S...

Here’s a recent email from a DirectorPrep member: “I am serving on a board that does not have much understanding of risk management. What suggestions would you have to get the discussion going?”

That’s a great question from a risk instigator – a board director who’s looking to find a way to push their risk management rock up a hill when their fellow directors don’t see much value in having the discussion.

That’s okay. It won’t be the last time directors view risk management as nothing more ...

For the modern board director, using AI to help prepare for board meetings allows you to do two things at once.

First, you’ll increase your comfort level with generative AI. Experts advise board directors to increase their awareness and knowledge of AI. One way to start is to get hands-on with an AI tool that suits your own purposes.

Second, you can turbo charge your meeting PREP, making the whole process faster, easier, and more robust.

Ready for Your Board Meeting?

Modern directors ne...

I like the metaphor of “getting in gear” to refer to the topic of board engagement. It’s a familiar phrase that means “starting to deal with something in an effective way.” When a board of directors gets in gear, it starts to deal with the issues and concerns in front of it in an effective way. In other words, it makes an impact. 

To stretch the metaphor just a bit further, let’s think of individual directors as the gears. When directors are appropriately engaged, they work together to change...