Boardroom INSIDER for… OCTOBER

Do Board Books Bury the Real Dangers Under CYA Disclaimers?

The “board book” that goes to corporate board members before meetings has something in common with today’s power tools, kitchen appliances and electrical devices, says the October issue of online monthly Boardroom INSIDER.  Publisher and governance speaker Ralph Ward writes that both now suffer from “safety sticker” syndrome.  For modern gizmos, writes Ward, the device is “so plastered with warnings” of obvious dangers that it’s hard to figure out how to actually use it.

In the boardroom, “board book bloat” has pushed the briefing material directors must review into the hundreds of pages.  Yet Ward asks how much of the bloat is really “due to growing board workload and responsibilities… and how much to company staff and legal assuring they can say that The Board Has Seen This.”  Such board book CYA inflation can bring the same danger as over-safetyed power tools: “A real corporate red flag ends up buried and lost under qualifiers and disclaimers.”

Also in the October issue of Boardroom INSIDER …

How smart board chairs team up with the corporate secretary
A “first 100 days” onboarding plan for new directors
Q&A: How can we shape (and enforce) our board AI use policy?

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…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.