Boards only see what they’re presented with and can easily become passive recipients of agendas created by powerful CEOs and senior executives. And corporate failure raises questions as to what the board knew and what more it could have done. Board members can play a transformational role in a company by asking questions that create a space for deep reflection and strategic change — not just responding to what the executive presents and then stepping in to deal with a crisis when things become difficult. The authors present 10 questions for board members to ask that can enable change at the level of individual board members and the board as a whole.
Being a board member isn’t easy. You have responsibility for a company but limited means to really understand it — and that understanding is often mediated by management. How aware are you of what’s really happening in the company you’re responsible for governing? What did board members at Boeing, Carrillion, Wirecard, and Theranos know about the problems on the horizon before those companies experienced their existential crises?
