Boards That Deliver: Advancing Corporate Governance From Compliance to Competitive Advantage

Chapter Three

Group Dynamics

Group dynamics underpins the board’s ability to do all the components of its job—whether it’s compliance and monitoring or making contributions to strategy and CEO selection. Unless individual directors can gel into a working group, they simply cannot be effective. That’s why group dynamics is the first building block of a Progressive board.

Whether or not the individuals gel into an effective group is an unmistakable characteristic of a Progressive board. Every director should feel comfortable adding to the discussion. As Jeff Immelt, CEO and Chair of General Electric, says, “The boardroom has to be a place where every voice is heard. Our meetings are very open. Directors can interact with anybody, at any time.” ...