High Performing Boards – The Trick? They Put In The Time

A recent survey on corporate governance from McKinsey & Co found that there’s no magic formula for having an effective board of directors. Those with the highest impact or the ones whose members are able to spend enough time to move beyond the bare essentials, such as core governance and compliance, and really delve into strategic issues.

Boards' hierarchy of practices

“The distinction between higher and lower impact turns on the breadth of the issues directors tackle and on the time dedicated to them,” write Chinta Bhagat, a principal at McKinsey’s Singapore office, and Conor Kehoe, director of McKinsey’s London office. “It appears that boards progress through a hierarchy of practices that’s analogous to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.”

At the low...