One of the major issues facing Boards today is the tendency towards prescription and conformance with relation to governance systems, rather than conscious governance administered in a way that removes friction and adds value to the organization.

A sophisticated and thorough compliance and governance system is only as useful as the people who are responsible for that governance. In other words, no amount of compliance or governance systems will compensate for Board members who do not consciously govern!

The processes of governance and the systems that Boards should put in place are well documented. What is seldom discussed is how to harness the insight, passion, enthusiasm, excitement and energy that should be the right of every Board, and the contribution of every Board member.

Ask yourself: Why does the Board exist in the first place? Does it meet to tick the boxes on compliance? Or is it about choices and creation? If you read any of the academic literature on the role of the Board, you will find yourself in the former category.

We would like to offer an alternative definition:

"The role of the Board is to make the choices that create the future for the communities it serves."

Why do we love this definition?

Firstly, because it’s optimistic and geared toward the future.

In fact, we wrote a short whitepaper dissecting exactly what we mean by this definition entitled ‘Choices, Future and Communities’. It will show you how to empower your decision making around the Boardroom, how to remain focused on the communities you need to reach the most and provide a reality-check for anyone that thinks they are too small to make a difference.