INSIGHTS & ARTICLES
Future Directors teams up with The Governance Collective to offer courses on effective board practices
Future Directors, the pioneering holistic board tech platform, in collaboration with corporate governance expert Lisa Coletta from The Governance Collective, is thrilled to launch new online education offerings designed to increase the accessibility and innovation of board director skills development.
Something Good?
Working in a high-performance board means building trust, strong relationships, and allocating time to hard discussions and harder decisions. It’s the recipe for unlocking empathy. Increasing trust, empathy, and connection can be as easy as truly listening to what others have to say. Active listening, in particular, is a basic principle of strong relationships, with the bonus of an Oxytocin boost.
Unpopular Governance Opinions (You Should Lean Into)
Diving into the heart of what makes or breaks the boardroom is not just a pastime for us governance nerds—it's a mission. A few of my fellow future-focused enthusiasts and I went down this rabbit hole about the most unpopular governance opinions, which spiralled into rich insights, debates, and a few controversial takes on the state of corporate governance today.
I thought I would reflect on and summarise the common themes, particularly the most unpopular ones! Anytime a big governance conference rolls around, I also notice that some of these themes are still getting under people’s skins. If it’s not all too triggering for you, here are 10 of the big ones and why I think they’re lurking underneath the politics and dynamics of well or not-so-well-functioning boards.
Harmonising Your Board
What type of board member are you? In this HBR article there are six “types” identified by the authors: Narcissist, Data Chaser, Deferential, Status Hound, Unprepared, and Stakeholder Champion.
I don’t think the six types cover anywhere near the full range of director types, so it got me thinking about my experiences of sitting on boards, styles of leadership, and facilitating outcomes where difficult member dynamics prevail.
The Art of Subtraction & Self-Governance
The seemingly endless need to work harder, smarter, more focussed, less distracted, more complex, and (far) more nuanced in response is well,...frankly, it’s exhausting.
Self-governance has many elements, but the start is self-awareness. What are my drivers? What do I truly know about myself and my "operating system"?
Hindsight, Foresight, Insight: 2023 Year in Review
For the final One Thing of 2023, Future Directors Paul Smith and Aisling Blackmore, alongside our international governance network, reflected on the year that was and the year that’s coming.
Becoming An Elephant In The Boardroom: The Real Role of the Modern Director
As we see big brand companies like Qantas and OpenAI go through what we can safely say from the outside is a bit of a ‘governance crisis’, it has brought up the need to be very clear about what is board leadership and why is it different to other leadership roles.
Peeling Back Board Purpose
In a world of ever-evolving organisational governance, where boards serve as the nerve center of decision-making and strategy, it is surprising how often the simple question of purpose remains unanswered. Boards of directors, entrusted with steering companies through complex waters, frequently grapple with their roles, often searching for their true north.
The Diversity Imperative For Boards
A recent study conducted by Monash University in Australia delved deep into this very issue. It's just the latest study on the topic. They interviewed remarkable women from diverse backgrounds, and what they unearthed is a wake-up call for every boardroom across the world.
Boardrooms are where decisions are made, strategies and policies devised, and yet diversity remains most elusive. This is not just a moral quandary anymore; it's a strategic blunder, a governance gaffe of epic proportions.
We’re asking too much of board directors
Last month, the Global Network of Director Institutes released their “The Future of Board Governance” report. The GNDI is a collection of 24 national governance institutes from North and South America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, with combined memberships of 150,000.
Why are key business issues being lobbed into the long-term bucket buy boards? Critical issues like board composition, technology and climate change all impact financial sustainability. These risks only increase when we put them on the back burner.
Bringing the Future into the Boardroom
Bringing The Future Into The Boardroom
Future Directors and Shaparency unite to transform board performance with a combined governance technology and community solution.
What >65,000 Years of Governance Looks Like
We’re always working toward inclusivity and intersectionality at Future Directors. By this I mean the sustainable, sensitive, and sage form of governance that looked after this country and the people within it, for the (at minimum) 65,000 years prior to European invasion and, encumbered but proudly and continuously, through to this day.
10 Questions Funders Are Asking Boards to Judge Effectiveness
The board plays a critical role in success by overseeing strategic decisions, mitigating risks, and ensuring ethical conduct. To assess the strength of a company's governance structure, funders will often ask a series of important questions.
Five Governance Reasons Funders Are Rejecting You
When it comes to attracting capital investment, philanthropic or government funding, companies of any type must not only showcase their purpose and operational excellence but increasingly demonstrate strong governance practices.
Holistic Board Leadership
Increasingly, what separates modern board members from the pack is their holistic approach to their role(s).
They don’t see themselves as computers spitting out technical knowledge needed to aid a decision-making process. They are fully integrated and present humans and see their personal development and professional development as one and the same.
Earned Skills vs Learned Skills of the Boardroom
In this month’s ONE THING, Paul Smith looks at how we might better judge and nurture our learned skills, not just earned skills.
“Many boards are forced to recruit non-qualified directors to their boards even though most of them make a qualification a pre-requite. On the face of it, and if there was good work done to create a "screener" for candidates, this wouldn't be a problem. However, I believe the system of governance education is inherently flawed.”
Board Directors ARE the problem
Language is just one of the systems that shape our understanding of boards, and how their work is viewed. It’s the linguistic system that frames the role. There are also class systems, power structures (from external to interpersonal), regulatory systems and more.
Unhivemind: The questions high-performing boards are asking
We’ve consulted with boards in various fields. Over the past year, we’ve helped them assess and implement modern strategic governance approaches, and trained them on everything from future-fit codes of conduct to more holistic stakeholder maps – all to get their governance teams functioning at a higher level.
Likeability In The Boardroom
To have truly honest and productive conversations about an organisation’s big strategic manoeuvres ahead, board directors need to feel safe and at ease around each other – to put something out, into the air, and not feel like they’re going to be judged for it.
Artificial Wisdom
What things should Artificial Intelligence be making board directors think about? ChatGPT’s (and more broadly, AI’s) implications for boards, strategy, risk and their role as organisational stewards. What things should it be making board directors think and talk about? What risks and opportunities does it pose for your organisation?