– PILLAR 4 –
Board Effectiveness
At MAYBERY, we believe that to be truly impactful, the rubric, that one, must influence from the very top echelon ought to be enthusiastically embraced.
We enable Boards of Directors to be effective value creators and not merely value stewards.
We achieve this commercial imperative by fostering a culture [behavioural values] of, conscious accountability, action orientation and constructive collaboration.
We believe that ethical governance cannot be regulated and must be emblematic in the collective morality of the board. It is the pivotal foundation from which excellence is enduringly manifest.
We develop and create effective Boards, by inexorably causing the Directors to focus in on:-
- regular CEO assessment;
- CEO and C-Suite succession;
- the crafting of a compelling strategy;
- being acutely aware of the ever-changing business environment and being receptive to change;
- developing prescient dexterity by remaining contemporary;
- actively developing talent;
- providing lucid commercial insight, business advice and perspective;
- mentorship to the Executives;
- being masterful at providing regular, honest, robust and actionable feedback to the Executive Leadership Team;
- zealously evaluating both their individual and collective performance; and being role models of continuous self-development.
We extol the Boards we work with to:-
- ensure that the discussions are strategically and operationally relevant, rigorous and unerringly penetrating;
- commence each Board meeting with the executive session in which the Executive Leadership Team are unable to ‘hijack’ or ‘filter’ the content of the session; voluminous Board packs become a relic of the past and the focus is on, the quality of exchange of pertinent information and brutal honesty;
- challenge ill prepared directors and executives;
- jettison cliques and mischievous fragmentation;
- avoid dominance by one or more ‘characters’;
- create social cohesion;
- be outstanding at conflict resolution;
- be adroit at problem solving;
- be available and accessible.
From 1986 to the present day, inappropriately constituted and incompetent boards of directors have systematically destroyed enterprise value with impunity. A surfeit of obsequious and insidious directors directly benefit from an antiquated and incestuous network. It is unconscionable that blundering boards who destroy value, should be enriched because of a flawed regulatory framework.
~ Robert C. Maybery - New York City 2013