Humanizing boards

Partnering with entrepreneurial leaders of companies going through a transformation, we have seen that the focus is often on the change agenda for the organization and less on the changing role of the board. For boards to successfully go through business innovation and stay resilient in times of change requires board renewal. Sometimes a different board composition is needed, more often a different dialogue is wanted that can be realized by humanizing the boardroom dynamics.

Here are the fundamental principles we’ve identified to discuss and agree on your rules of engagement, building on the 5R model:

1. Respect: Requires professional credibility, presence, personal style. 
2. Role Purity: Clarity about governance model and mutual acceptance of roles and responsibilities. 
3. Relationship: Building trusted relationships through ego reduction, empathy, and open communication.
4. Reflection: Ability to perceive, courage to state things. 
5. Room: Space for diverse perspectives, real dialogues, and sharing dilemmas: expertise, exploratory mindset, emotional safety. 

Are you having the right type of strategic dialogue in your boardroom? Could humanizing the dynamics help you create future value?