Effective Board Members – Leading Organisations to new Heights of Success

Good governance is the key to the success of any organisation. A well-governed business in the private sector enjoys financial success and growth in a sustainable and ethical way. In the public and voluntary sectors, the governance and leadership of organisations can literally mean the difference between life and death.

Good or bad governance affects us all, whether it is through your child’s education, the delivery of health services, local politics or the workings of big corporations and major employers. Good governance is not an option, it’s not a function and it’s definitely more than just compliance.

 

Failure at any level in an organisation can normally be traced back to the governance and leadership of that organisation. Governance is not just about sticking to rules and regulations. It cannot be delegated to a department within an organisation. It is much more than having systems in place, although this is important. Every organisation needs to be run by effective board members in order to maintain high standards of good governance.

 

The negative impact that bad governance can have on our lives and our society is the reason that I have devoted many years to helping people understand and develop the key attributes, disciplines, knowledge and behaviours that every effective board member needs. For many years this has been done through delivering the successful Effective Board Member Programmes. This year I decided to complement and reinforce that training with a new book, aptly called The Effective Board Member, which is designed to support and inform people who want to contribute to the leadership of an organisation.

 

This book will help people who are already serving as directors of private companies, charity trustees, school governors or non-executive directors of an NHS Trust. Perhaps you are sitting on a board, or about to take up your first appointment, but you have no formal training? This book will help anyone who wants to make a positive impact to the governance of any organisation.

 

Many executive directors aspire to serve on the board of the organisation to which they report. If this is you, my book will help ease that transition from making an executive to a non-executive contribution. This book will help you to acknowledge and understand your core strengths and add to them some new skills, tools and insights.

 

So what do I mean by an ‘effective’ board member?

Board members are leaders and not managers. Effective board members can come from a variety of backgrounds. They will all have different strengths and diverse styles. They should be strategic, not operational. An effective board member is someone who is informed, knowledgeable, willing and able to apply the principles of good governance and effective board room behaviour. Effectiveness is a discipline that everyone can learn, but it requires a particular perspective.

 

So how do you acquire that perspective? I would suggest that you should reflect on the following questions:

• Why do you want a board appointment, and what skills would you bring to the role?
• What is your role and your duties and responsibilities as a non-executive?
• How much do you know about how to find and secure your ideal board appointment?
• Do you know how to work effectively once you are in post and what are the crucial issues you face in the 21st century?

 

You need to understand precisely why you want to sit in a boardroom as a non-executive director (NED). You need to understand the role of a NED, both the statutory duties and the core principles, and the boundaries within which you are expected to work.

 

I would suggest that in order to be an effective board member you have to be a specialist, expert or thought leader in your core area of expertise. You need to leverage that expertise and demonstrate the contribution you would make to a board in order to secure your ideal appointment. You need to master the art of analysing, scrutinising and then influencing and that will help you to make a positive and effective impact in the boardroom. An effective board member puts all their knowledge and skills into practice and remains committed to making a positive contribution to society and business. They use the boardroom as their way to make a difference.

 

There are already a number of excellent books on governance. I strongly recommend that board members read The Fish Rots From The Head, by Bob Garratt; Corporate Governance: Principles, Policies and Practices by Bob Tricker and Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards by Richard P. Chait, William P. Ryan and Barbara E. Taylor.

 

My new book will bring these technical and sometimes mundane concepts to life in an innovative way that contains understandable, practical steps that every board member can take to become more effective. Readers will be inspired to carry out their duties and responsibilities in the best possible way and the performance of the whole board will be raised, leading the organisation to new heights of success.

 

 

Until next time…