Significance of Board Governance

A few weeks ago I posted about the quiet "takedowns" of high-performing talent, especially women, inside organizations. It struck a chord. The response was overwhelming. Tens of thousands of views and my DMs full of women (and a few men!) from around the world who reached out to share personal stories of being sidelined, overburdened, lied to, gaslit, and ultimately pushed out—not for underperforming, but for being too honest, too bold, too willing to challenge the status quo, too unwilling to play along. Listening to their stories in an effort to help others has been an incredible privilege. That got me thinking: How are Boards assessing the true cost of this behavior? Because while these takedowns might be invisible to most, they leave a trail: - Severance and legal settlements buried in G&A or hidden in a different P&L - Leadership tables that are suddenly younger and less diverse - Costs related to recruiting and onboarding replacements (often more than one!) - Loss of institutional knowledge and momentum - Erosion of culture, innovation, and trust - Leaders who consistently churn talent but escape scrutiny Boards are responsible for more than financial performance—we're stewards of people, reputation, and long-term value. If we’re not asking the right questions, we might be missing the red flags that are eroding performance from the inside out. Questions worth asking in the boardroom: - As executives are hired, what reputation do they bring with regard to talent?  - How are executive turnover patterns being monitored and explained? - How are executives measured with regard to talent? - How is the organization surfacing cultural risks in a way the board can see? - Are we rewarding leaders who build resilient, trust-based teams—or just those who hit short-term targets? It’s time to connect the dots between talent risk and enterprise value. What else would you want Boards to ask? #BoardOversight #Governance #ExecutiveAccountability #WorkplaceCulture #TalentRisk #WomenInLeadership

Boards Can No Longer Afford to Overlook HR Public company boards are evolving from passive overseers to active stewards of human capital—and that transformation requires a strategic partnership with the HR function. In a timely and insightful article in Directors & Boards, outlines why human capital sustainability must now be central to board governance, especially as talent, culture, and workforce risk increasingly impact organizational resilience and shareholder value. Key Takeaways: - Align talent strategy with long-term business goals and growth plans - Expand the role of compensation committees to oversee culture, DEI, and workforce health - Make culture, leadership development, and employee experience regular boardroom topics - Track real metrics—engagement, pay equity, turnover—to drive accountability - Build or access HR expertise at the board level to support informed oversight This matters because partnering closely with HR enables directors to move from reactive oversight to proactive leadership on critical workforce issues. The benefits are real and measurable: - Faster and smarter talent decisions - Reduced workforce risk and regulatory exposure - Stronger succession planning and leadership continuity - Improved employee engagement and retention - Greater trust with investors and stakeholders around ESG performance If people are considered a company’s most strategic asset, this alignment is no longer optional. Boards that embrace a collaborative relationship with HR will be better positioned to navigate disruption, drive innovation, and create sustainable value over time. Read the full article by Ramesh Nuggihalli: The Board’s Expanding Role in Leading Human Capital Sustainability https://lnkd.in/dYm9-vXM #HumanCapital #BoardGovernance #CHRO #Leadership #HRStrategy #Sustainability #FutureOfWork #ESG #CorporateBoards #TalentStrategy #DirectorsAndBoards

The Death of "Nose In, Fingers Out" 💀 **28% of management teams go defensive when boards engage.** That's not governance—that's a competitive liability. My reflections on NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors)’s BRC Report "Culture as the Foundation: Building a High-Performance Board"* After years in C-suite and boardrooms overseeing technology, cybersecurity and culture transformations, I've learned this: **The old "nose in, fingers out" model isn't just outdated—it's dangerous.** ## The New Reality ⚡ Today's challenges don't wait for quarterly meetings: - AI disrupting entire industries overnight - Supply chains collapsing in real-time - Talent wars determining market winners **Management teams focused on execution often miss these strategic inflection points. **Boards that stay passive watch competitors pull ahead. ## What Winning Boards Do Differently 🎯 **Create #psychological #safety.** When management shares bad news early, boards can act. When they hide it, companies die. **Ask the hard tech questions:** - Are we building moats or just buying software? - What happens when our core technology becomes commoditized? - How do we balance AI innovation with existential risk? **Treat #culture as #strategy.** The best talent chooses companies where boards think beyond compliance theater. ## My Approach 🚀 I don't wait for problems to surface in board books. I build relationships across the organization. I ask uncomfortable questions. I challenge assumptions—including my own. **The NACD's BRC Report on high-performance boards makes it clear:** The boards winning the long game aren't playing defense. They're shaping the #future. --- **Question for fellow directors:** What's the most valuable strategic insight you've gained by going beyond traditional board boundaries? #KSgems #KhwajasTake #CIO #CTO #CISO #CFO #BoardLeadership #TechnologyGovernance #CEO #StrategicOversight #NACD #NACDBRCReport #CultureFoundation #CompetitiveAdvantage JUST Capital CECP Business Roundtable

There's a joke about the factory the future: it will be run by one human and a dog. The human's job is to feed the dog. The dog's job is to stop the human touching the machines. AI will replace the work of human operators in many leading companies. But there’s still no compression algorithm for ethical clarity or board governance - oversight can’t be vibecoded. In FT Agenda, the Financial Times' platform for corporate directors, Vilas Dhar and I share a call to action to Board Directors to demonstrate meaningful leadership in AI. As automation speeds up execution and flattens organizational layers, the role of governance becomes even more important. At BCG, we focus on ensuring that the behaviors, judgements and norms of humans are built into every technology loop. Here, we pose five questions every board should answer at their next meeting: 🤖 Where are humans being sidelined? 🧠 What assumptions are baked into our algorithms? 📜 Can we explain AI-driven decisions to regulators—and to ourselves? 🔍 What’s missing because it never shows up on a dashboard? 🗣️ Who speaks up when something feels off? Boards that win in the #GenAI era dont just ask about technology adoption - they explore culture, risk, and responsibility.  They are curious, questioning, and unquestionably human.   Boston Consulting Group (BCG)) BCG Henderson Institute NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors)#BoardGovernance, #ResponsibleAI, #Leadership, #AIEthics, #CorporateBoards, #Strategy, #AIGovernance #futureofwork

It's interesting to read board chairs now spend 40% more time on strategic decisions than they did five years ago. Recent Korn Ferry research confirms what I've witnessed and represents the most significant governance evolution in decades. The days of passive governance are over. #AI disruption, geopolitical volatility, and activist shareholders demand boards that pivot in real time. The traditional quarterly oversight model is dying fast. Today's most effective chairs are strategic partners and real-time decision makers. With 85% of 2024 CEOs being first-time leaders and 75% of directors citing urgent needs for innovation, the transformation is accelerating. This aligns with NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors)'s 2024 Blue Ribbon Commission calling for boards to "strengthen oversight, deepen insight and develop foresight." As I share experiences with peers, chairs and boards seem to be increasingly orchestrating "creative friction" by deliberately challenging groupthink through constructive tension. They're building "T-shaped" expertise with directors who have deep specialization while maintaining strategic perspective across the entire business. Most importantly, these chairs create cultures where directors feel safe to speak up with contrarian views. As one recently told me, "This is a full-on, real-time job." What's the biggest strategic challenge you tackled this quarter? https://lnkd.in/eRMkgA-F #BoardGovernance #Leadership #CEO #Strategy #CorporateGovernance

𝗜𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗔 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 In our recent LinkedIn Live session on "𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙝 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙎𝙪𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨® 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙁𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚-𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙤𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚," Gregg Anderson and I posed a challenging question to board directors and C-suite executives: 🤔 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻? The uncomfortable truth? When we survey board directors and executives, most respond with "unsure" or a flat-out "no." ⚠️ Today's boards face unprecedented challenges—from AI and cybersecurity threats to economic volatility and geopolitical instability. ❌ The old playbook of relying solely on CEO/CFO experience and backward-looking metrics is no longer sufficient. What's the solution? 🎯 In our latest article, we reveal a powerful framework called The Five Leadership Superpowers® that equips boards to balance critical tensions in governance: 1. How to focus on today while preparing for tomorrow 2. When to trust experience vs. embracing new learning 3. Taking smart risks while building resilience 4. Integrating strategy with execution 5. Balancing accountability with collaboration The stakes couldn't be higher. 👎 Boards that fail to develop these capabilities risk value destruction, loss of stakeholder trust, and becoming targets for activist investors. 💎 Want to discover how your board can transform from compliance-focused to value-creating? Read our full article to learn how The Five Leadership Superpowers® can equip your board for future success—and the four immediate steps you can take to begin your transformation. Don't wait until disruption forces your hand. The time to build future-ready governance is now. #Leadership #CorporateGovernance #RiskManagement #Future #TheFiveLeadershipSuperpowers #TopVoice