Board service is an excellent method to broaden your perspective and help you take a look at a company in its entirety instead of just the functional areas that you have managed. You’ll also be exposed to a broader variety of issues and challenges that businesses face. For instance, you could have to make tough decisions that impact people negatively such as choosing redundancies or closing branches. These situations teach you how to think objectively and not be influenced by your own feelings or the feelings of your colleagues.

Another issue to be addressed is how to ensure that a wide range of voices are heard in the process of deliberations and decision-making. There are many ways boards can accomplish this. Some boards encourage directors to be devil’s advocates during meetings, while other boards employ whiteboards to brainstorm ideas and spit out ideas prior to making decisions. This helps to separate the decision-making process from individual personalities and can help to avoid groupthink.

Boards can improve their effectiveness if they are willing to challenge long-standing traditions. A number of board members, for example are re-examining committee structures. They are questioning whether they serve their purpose and are the most effective way to run the meeting. They are looking for new methods to discover trends and insights hidden in digital and data tools.

advisory board