Corporate Boards
The board is accountable for overseeing the company and ensuring that it’s operating legally and in the interests of its shareholders and other stakeholders. It is also independent from the management of the company as well as its day-to-day activities.
In the last 10 years the boards have shed their reputation as a club made up of powerful insiders that work solely to make money and are reluctant to sack CEOs. Instead, they’ve become advisory teams – like player coaches – who are able to handle a variety of demands ranging from traditional such as growing revenues and creating solid succession plans, to more recent ones like the reduction of a company’s carbon footprint and increasing social equality.
How do the most influential board members today managing the flood of risk and the whirlwind force that is shaping our future economic? To answer this question, Fortune surveyed board members and examined information from a variety of companies. While we didn’t find any one board that’s fully emblematic of the latest model, the most successful boards share several essential characteristics.
Diverse board of directors
The COVID-19 outbreak taught boards that it’s ever more important to have a wide range of perspectives and backgrounds within the boardroom in order to determine strategy and weather crises. The most effective boards have a culture that is transparency and trust and work to keep their knowledge up-to-date through continuous learning and training, directors said.
The majority of active boards are more hands-on and delegate fewer responsibilities to committees. This helps maintain the need for separation between the board’s responsibility and the management. They also work to strengthen their financial literacy and have a better knowledge of the technology they’re using, as well as the latest in cybersecurity and other issues facing businesses today.