- by Sophie Pinkoski

A high functioning board isn’t something that happens overnight. In fact, it takes deliberate continuous effort, ensuring your directors have everything they need to do their work effectively. This isn’t just exclusive to giving them tools, resources, and onboarding needed to succeed, but also cultivating a healthy culture for productive decision-making discussions that best align with your organization’s objectives. The chair acts as the steward of their board’s culture, modelling and upholding the responsibilities and ideal behaviours for directors in a way they can understand and emulate. Because an organization’s priorities are constantly shifting in response to industry change, the necessary board culture should evolve with it. This involves regular reflection on what aspects of the board’s culture and make-up no longer serve the organization in its current state and what would better support where the organization is going. What once worked well a few years ago may not be so applicable now. Over time, with routine board composition shifts, comes new interpersonal dynamics, which means the chair must remain attentive to developments influencing the overall board culture away from what the board is striving for.

Here are ways to nurture a high functioning board culture:

Evaluate your current board culture–– It’s important to regularly assess your board’s effectiveness. Culture issues have a way of creeping in unnoticed, and in time, can fester to a much larger dysfunction. Major change has a way of pressure testing your board’s culture. Weaknesses tend to become more apparent in times of crisis, CEO transition, or in response to emergencies.

Don’t wait for an emergency situation for an excuse to improve your board’s culture.

Take advantage of phases of calm to assess what is currently working and what’s not. Do your directors feel they have the psychological safety to speak candidly in discussions? Are dissenting opinions given the same respect as those that align with the prevailing thought?  These things should help, not hinder uplifting the organization’s values and strategically move its objectives forward. If your board talks the talk, but can’t walk the walk, it may be time to investigate what’s keeping it from achieving its potential.

Identify ideal traits for your ideal board culture–– It can be difficult to identify weaknesses in your board’s current culture if you don’t have a solid idea of what a healthy culture means for your board. The values, expectations, responsibilities, and behaviours are going to look different to every board according to your organization's unique needs. What’s more, ideal traits that reflect your organization's needs aren’t going to stay static.

The healthiest culture for your board dynamics will evolve as the organization and its board members change. 

Accommodating new faces and leadership styles means updating the board’s culture to match it. Healthy board culture empowers directors to provide strategy, oversight, and future planning for the organization through open, honest, respectful debate and inclusive decision making. How you implement these traits will depend entirely on what your latest board of directions responds to best.

Check the energy you bring into board meetings–– Everyone is going to bring different energy levels to board meetings. As the board chair, your energy can be a major tipping point in these meetings as you guide the direction of the conversation. Brené Brown points out that “you are responsible for the energy you bring into the room.” This includes taking stock of the energy shifts throughout a meeting and knowing when and how to lift up the mood to settle any rising tensions and bolster waning interest. 

When the chair models the ideal behaviour expected in meetings, the directors will shift their energy to match.

Uplifting the energy in the room can mean giving quieter individuals the floor to speak or keeping to the agenda when discussions begin to stray from board priorities. Be mindful of your own energy even before a meeting starts. If you’re tired and inattentive, individuals may disengage. Do what you need to do to lift up your own energy while preparing for a board meeting so you can maintain the group’s focus and engagement throughout discussions. Be aware of dips in the group’s energy and what might be causing it. If these shifts happen on a regular basis, it could be a symptom of issues with your board’s culture in general or it could be as basic as structuring the agenda with more, shorter breaks.

Set the tone–– A board’s culture lives or dies with its leader – in this instance, its chair. Regulating the energy you bring to meetings is only one part of setting the tone for your directors. A healthy board culture means fostering a space where curiosity, openness, respect, and honesty can thrive. It’s about including and accepting diverse voices at the table, which requires a deft hand that can build trust amongst the group. If your directors feel psychologically safe enough to be honest with each other, even with the possibility of raising disagreements, they will be more likely to speak up and share their unique perspectives. From there, you can balance your board’s priorities.

A sustainable board is one that not only puts out fires but looks to the future as well.

A healthy board culture means holding one another accountable for both directors’ behaviours and for bringing its strategic decisions to the organization in an actionable way.

Every decision, every silence, every raised eyebrow in board meetings culminates into the board’s culture over time. Healthy board culture creates a high performing board. It takes time, energy, and attentiveness to get there, but the reward of being able to bolster your organization is well worth the work. By actively building trust, accountability, and psychological safety, you can get your board that much closer to performing to its full potential.

Further Reading

Leadership of the Board Chair in Creating Board Culture, Board Source

Top 5 Ways to Improve Board Culture for Your Organization, Board Effect

10 Things That Make a Great Board, Leading Governance

How To Strengthen Boardroom Culture, Corporate Governance Institute

Cultivating Board Culture for Excellence and Impact, Henry Reed

Building a Healthy Board Culture, Director Prep