Are Corporate Boards Effective?

Make Your Board a Force Multiplier, Not a Formality

Boards should sharpen strategy and protect shareholders. Too often they’re staged, slow, and short on real challenge. In this episode of The Elephant in the Boardroom, Terri Long and Jeremy Eden unpack what drags boards down—and how to rebuild for diversity, curiosity, and truth‑telling that actually helps management deliver.

Key Takeaways

• Composition matters. Age, gender, ethnicity, domain expertise, and lived experience diversity improve decisions—and earnings.

• Curiosity is non‑negotiable. It shouldn’t be item 10 on a survey. Great directors ask better questions and follow the facts.

• Term limits prevent stasis. Refresh seats regularly to avoid sinecures and keep learning high.

• Separate the story from the substance. Board decks are choreographed; boards need independent access to reality.

• Create access up and down. Invite operators and rising talent into the room; let directors reach into the org when needed.

• Encourage obligation to dissent. Directors should challenge respectfully in the meeting, not whisper after.

• Rethink chair/CEO roles. Splitting the roles can rebalance power and invite more candid oversight.

What’s Broken in Typical Boards

• Homogeneity and tenure lock‑in lead to blind spots and groupthink.

• Meetings are over‑scripted. Management decks shape the narrative more than the facts.

• Directors limit themselves to 4–6 meetings a year. Real oversight needs ongoing access and inquiry.

• “Don’t embarrass the CEO” norms dampen candor and risk detection.

Rebuild the Board for Better Decisions

• Refresh composition with purpose: add digital, customer, operations, and risk depth alongside market and finance.

• Set director term limits and structured rotation.

• Separate CEO and chair when practical, or appoint a strong lead independent director.

• Establish open‑door access: directors can meet anyone 2–3 levels down, and employees can raise issues to directors.

• Add operator segments: briefings by managers doing the work, not just staff owners of the deck.

• Require curiosity: directors prepare probing questions and request facts behind conclusions.

Practices That Surface Truth

• Run unscripted sessions: pre‑reads light, discussion heavy, with data at the source.

• Hold independent executive sessions every meeting without management present.

• Commission focused deep dives on risk, customer experience, and capital allocation with measurable follow‑ups.

• Track “promises made vs. delivered” across major initiatives. Ask after‑action questions when results diverge.

Real‑World Signals From the Episode

• Advisory boards of juniors sometimes out‑perform stale boards—lean into that energy.

• Directors should have skin in the game, not just stipends.

• Management spends huge time choreographing decks. Invite more operators and data, fewer slides.

Practical Steps You Can Implement This Quarter

• Define a 2‑year board refresh plan: skills matrix, diversity targets, and term rotations.

• Create an “operator’s voice” section in each meeting with rotating functional presenters.

• Add a standing curiosity segment: directors submit 3 questions tied to metrics or customers.

• Set a policy for director access to management at multiple levels.

• Pilot one meeting with 50% less deck, 50% more discussion and source documents.

FAQs

• Can a diverse board slow decisions?

Diverse boards ask better questions and make fewer expensive mistakes. Speed with rigor beats speed with blind spots.

• Our CEO insists on a scripted deck. What can we do?

Agree up front on unscripted segments, operator briefings, and independent exec sessions. Balance storytelling with raw facts.

• How do we add curiosity without grandstanding?

Set norms: concise, fact‑seeking questions and time‑boxed discussion. Publish pre‑submitted questions to focus prep.