High Performance Boards

CHAPTER 3The Successful Director: Values and Character

Board decisions concern large amounts of resources, and impact people within the organisation as well as external stakeholders. This means board directors wield tremendous power. It is key, therefore, that they adhere to a culture underpinned by fundamental values. In turn, they need to uphold board values, and ensure that their behaviour reinforces the board culture.

Along with their power, board members must accept and embrace their responsibility toward the company they serve. This requires having total clarity regarding their role, and the conscientiousness to perform it to the full. Directors need to acknowledge that the board has a duty to oversee the organisation's success. It must also supervise risks that are important for the organisation and impact employees and their families, customers, and society as a whole, often into the next generation.

Accountability is another key value. Board members must be prepared to explain and justify decisions that have been taken, and to be answerable to the company's stakeholders. Being a board director also requires moral authority – the adherence to a set of principles founded on a correct course of action.

Finally, while diverse opinions and constructive dissent need to be heard in the boardroom, it is essential that directors embrace the ‘one-voice principle’ once a decision has been taken. In other words, they must fully respect the decision and support it within and