DOES YOUR BOARD HAVE A BAD REP IN THE COMPANY?

Ever wonder what the office gossip is after a board of directors meeting?  In the May issue of online monthly Boardroom INSIDER, editor and governance speaker Ralph Ward raises that business question — and suggests the answers might disquiet board members.

“There might be some leftover donuts in the break room, but probably also grumbling and disillusionment,” Ward writes.  Though funding for a vital new project may gain approval, the board is more likely to have waffled with delays, half measures and irrelevant questions.  Did staff see directors overlooking obvious red flags in a report?  Did the chair seem lost, or at the other extreme, bully a holdout director into supporting a unanimous vote?

“Board actions, inactions and behaviors never stay inside the boardroom,” Ward observes. They shape the board’s reputation throughout the company, and imprint the style of management and staff.  “Sincere, informed and thoughtful — or untrustworthy, inept and panicky… what message does your board send to the folks in the break room?”

Also in the May issue of Boardroom INSIDER:

 Tips for finding your “boardroom voice.”
What’s the latest on board stock ownership guidelines?
Q&A: We can’t trust our board!