Board service is a fantastic opportunity to step away from your daily business routine and develop your ability to consider advisory board an organization as an entire entity, not only the functional areas you’ve been in charge of in the past. You’ll also be exposed to a wider variety of problems and issues faced by businesses. You may have to make difficult decisions that could affect the people around you, for example, making a decision on redundancies or shutting down branches. These situations teach you how to think clearly and not be swayed either by your own emotions or the feelings of your colleagues.

Another issue that comes up is how to ensure that a broad spectrum of voices are heard during the decision-making process and deliberations. There are a number of techniques that boards use to accomplish this. Some boards allow directors to be devil’s advocates during meetings, while others make use of whiteboards for brainstorming and spit out ideas prior to making a decision. This takes the decision-making process away from individual personalities and could assist in avoiding groupthink.

Boards can also improve their effectiveness by embracing the need to question the established practices that have been in place for decades. For example, a number of board members are reviewing their committee structures. They are evaluating whether they are serving their purpose and are the most efficient method to conduct the meeting. They are looking for innovative methods to discover patterns and insights hidden in digital and data tools.