Do You Have a Healthy Boardroom?
Healthy boardroom? The board of directors is the source and measure of an organisation’s health. When you look at the functionality of your board does it have the impact you’d expect in your organisation? Is there a strong sense of alignment, with the board members all working toward the same aim, having the drive and result-orientated commitment? Is there a high level of accountability in the delivery of agreed targets?
What does it take to be an effective board member?
Is the board truly committed to the organisation where they will work tirelessly to achieve all that is agreed upon selflessly? The board members are comfortable with conflict around the table, and in fact, welcome it. They do so to ensure they are truly focused on organisational health, not because of self-indulgence but rather a high sense of doing the right things.
And most importantly they turn up 100% committed because of an unbreakable sense of trust around the table. The type of trust where you offer vulnerability and can turn up truly authentic because you know each of you has each other’s backs and the highest interest of the organisation. A major contributing factor towards achieving a healthy boardroom.
Have you set the conditions for the board members to really flourish?
In this blog, I will explore a concept designed to create highly a efficient and healthy boardroom, and by boardroom, I mean how you can set the conditions for the board members to truly flourish. Where ego is left at the door for the better interest of the organisation. Silos are eradicated and the true existence of collaboration exists. What’s more, is the quality of organisational leadership and management.
It is also important to recognise that boards are made up of people and likely the very best within the organisation. It’s also important to note that some have ascended to the board through merit, commitment, and contribution. So it’s not surprising that expectations can be high in terms of their output at the board level.
However, the most effective boards have great people around the table, where individual contribution amounts to collective strength.
So what are the ingredients for a healthy boardroom?
There are 3 elements key to developing a healthy boardroom:
- Having a variety of board competencies. (Article Link)
- Highly effective interpersonal communications and behaviours. (Article Link)
- A strong sense of self-belief and confidence without arrogance. (Article Link)
Variety of Board Competencies = Healthy a Boardroom
Competencies focus on the individual working genius (Ref Patrick Lencioni) the board members bring to the table and a personal understanding of them. There are 6 identified working geniuses that we all have and 3 levels to which we align them. The 6 geniuses are:
- Wonder – will always seek the art of the possible.
- Invention – can come up with original and novel ideas.
- Discernment – strong in the evaluation of ideas.
- Galvanising – seeks to inspire and rally people to action.
- Enablement – strong in encouraging and assisting others in delivery.
- Tenacity – always keen to get started to encourage others into action.
Every board member will possess these competencies at differing levels, their working genius, their working competence, and their working frustration. When a board has sight of the various levels of competencies around the table it can start to gain a truly balanced approach to its effectiveness and become a healthy boardroom.
A board lacking in tenacity will struggle to get into action, lacking in wonder will struggle to come up with fresh new ideas, lacking in discernment and there is poor accountability and evaluation of new ideas.
The challenge is to ensure the board has a good balance of members contributing across the 6 competencies and not heavily weighted in others. Having that balance ensures the production of great new ideas which are ratified and then delivered. These all contribute to a vibrant and healthy boardroom.
Interpersonal Communication
Board members need to be effective communicators, to be able to recognise and understand the communication and behavioural modalities of others. Essentially to understand the platinum rule:
To treat others as they want and need to be treated.
The key here is understanding that everyone has different behaviours and responds to others dependent on their own. Profiling offers great insight and specifically DISC. Unlike a number of profiles focusing on personality, DISC focuses on behaviours and thus offers greater insight into contributions around the table. DISC has 4 key behaviours it highlights; dominance, influence, steady, and consciousness.
Understanding one’s personal behaviours and by virtue of being able to recognise other behaviours offers the board member the knowledge to far greater communication. Having the ability to communicate effectively both in an understanding of the context and contents will bring the best out in others. It also offers a significant impact organisational-wide.
Self Belief
The third element is for towards creating a healthy boardroom is for those around the table to have a strong sense of self-confidence whilst avoiding arrogance. It could be said that by virtue of joining the board, it would be expected that self-confidence would be present. That will not always be, if at all the case. We all of us have an inner judge who will offer judgment on ourselves, others, and the circumstances or environment.
The judge can turn up unannounced and often unrecognised and plant seeds of doubt, anxiousness, apprehension, and interFEARence. Without a strong sense of self and being able to recognise when the judge is present and manage it, a board member will be held back.
If you have ever experienced a moment away from the board table when you know you should have made a contribution and didn’t in all likelihood that seed of doubt was planted by your judge. Maybe you made a judgment of another’s contribution and made wholly incorrect assumptions about them and their contribution. As such missed the point entirely. Or maybe you have experienced thoughts that the board is against you and your contribution.
All these thoughts are probably incorrect, unfounded, and way off the mark. As you can probably imagine this will have a damaging impact on the board and on the members. The good news is raising awareness and improving responsibility will lead to a significant shift in self-belief.
To Create a Healthy Boardroom…
A healthy boardroom will have a significant impact on organisational health. That will result in far greater engagement throughout, higher efficiencies, high performance, and improved growth in all areas. The challenge is often one of missing where to focus our efforts and often it wouldn’t be to look at the board.
This is not about poor performance at the board level but rather recognising the opportunity within the board and focusing efforts on improving its effectiveness.
Check out our YouTube challenge for more insights into contributing towards a healthy boardroom. 
