Boardroom INSIDER for… SEPTEMBER
In Search of “That One Great Director”
Every board has “that one director.” This is the person who really knows the company; puts in the extra hours for better boardwork; and is respected both by other directors and the chief executive. She volunteers to lead new board projects, and taps her networks to benefit the company. Both the CEO and the rest of the board view her as an honest broker, and she’s able to give the chief frank, tough news when needed.
In the September issue of online monthly Boardroom INSIDER, publisher and boardroom speaker Ralph Ward writes that every board has that one member who is “if not irreplaceable, is certainly invaluable.” Yet Ward write that most boards still manage board search and succession planning as if such governance gold arrives purely by luck. “What if you set out to recruit and develop a whole boardroom full of ‘that one director?’”
Also in the September issue of Boardroom INSIDER …
The surprising ways AI is shaking up online board meetings What the board and compliance staff would really like to tell each other
Q&A: How does a founder step back from leading the board?
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Ralph Ward’s new book…
Hacking the Boardroom (Taylor & Francis) is the lifesaver every director needs today. This is the intelligence that boards must have to do a better oversight job, in less time, with less effort, and fewer legal dangers. Proven “how to” insights from front-line board members, CEOs, corporate staffers, top consultants and legal advisors. Corporations, nonprofits, government enterprises… any organization where directors are battling 21st Century governance realities will learn from the hacks in this “owner’s manual for the boardroom.”
Visit the Hacking the Boardroom site today!
NEW – the audio version of Hacking the Boardroom now on Audible!
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RALPH WARD…
…is an internationally-recognized writer and commentator on the role of boards of directors, the secrets of how benchmark boards excel, gaining a board seat, and the future of governance worldwide.
Ward is the publisher of the online email newsletter Boardroom INSIDER, the worldwide source for practical, first-hand advice on better boards and directors ( www.boardroominsider.com).
He is author of the books Hacking the Boardroom (2025), Board Seeker: Your Guidebook and Career Map into the Corporate Boardroom (2018), Boardroom Q&A (2011), The New Boardroom Leaders (2008), Saving the Corporate Board (2003), Improving Corporate Boards: The Boardroom INSIDER Guidebook (2000), and 21st Century Corporate Board (1997).
Ward is a certified trainer, and speaks internationally on board and governance topics, and presents a “Boardroom Masterclass” seminar worldwide, with recent programs in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. His media appearances including CNNfn, C-SPAN, Voice of America, Bloomberg Money Show, National Public Radio, Marketplace, and CNBC (U.S. and U.K.).
Ward has also edited The Corporate Board magazine, the international journal of corporate governance, since 1990. He writes and comments on boardroom matters for a number of other publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Across the Board, Crains, Vital Speeches, the Detroit Free Press, Barrons and INC.com., and serves on several advisory and non-profit boards.