Is your Board a key asset for sustainable success?

05 Feb 2013

Well he certainly does a very thorough risk analysisThe unprecedented complexity faced by leaders across every industry and every sector drives the need for skilled leadership. CEOs are confronted by the magnitude of change and its complexity across societies, the economy, global change, unpredictable and new risks as well as opportunities, a distributed world and political power shifts.

The challenges facing CEOs and the executive team makes the role of Boards in contributing to governance, leadership and supporting the executive essential. Their role in strategy today is very different to how it has been in the past when Boards tended to be regarded as financial performance monitors and a control on the CEO performance. They now have a very different role in co-creating strategy, providing advice, an external view, raising awareness of risks, creating and protecting stakeholder value.To be a key asset, however, Boards must be skilled and undertake ongoing development to adapt to their role. Almost all of the research and leadership development focus has been on executive and management leadership development. The emphasis for Boards must be about diversity of knowledge, not just gender and geographical diversity. Board networking and education are an imperative.