Insights
Boards of Directors
Boards of directors face increasing pressure to diversify their ranks, stay on top of regulatory and technological advances, hold executives accountable, and improve their functioning.
Yet, they’re susceptible to all the foibles of human dynamics—many of which are exacerbated by boards’ high-status members operating under time constraints and other pressures. Our ongoing research combines robust qualitative and quantitative methods with scientific insights to explore board effectiveness and generate pragmatic ways for Chairs and directors to optimize their work
In an August 11, 2023 interview on the BBC’s Business Matters podcast, Dr. Heidi K. Gardner discusses how women and other underrepresented groups must not only gain seats in corporate boardrooms, but actually be integrated into the board and listened to. She uses recent research conducted with London Business School professor Randall Peterson to show what a lack of inclusion looks like, and how these mindsets and behaviors lead to poorer decisions and performance.
Source: BBC’s Business Matters podcast
Year: August 2023
In recent years, many boards have made substantial progress when it comes to increasing diversity. But Dr. Heidi K. Gardner’s latest HBR article with Dr. Randall S. Peterson shows that simply increasing representation of women or ethnic minorities isn’t necessarily enough to achieve true inclusion in the boardroom.
Through an analysis of director diversity and financial performance of the FTSE 350 as well as a series of in-depth interviews with global board members, the authors identify common benefits and challenges associated with moving beyond representation on the board.
They then offer several research-backed strategies to help boards become not just diverse but truly inclusive, including adopting an intersectional approach, challenging assumptions around status and experience, and proactively investing in board culture.
Source: Harvard Business Review
Year: September 2022
Link: https://hbr.org/2022/09/is-your-board-inclusive-or-just-diverse
Dr. Heidi K. Gardner explains how if certain people on a board are discounted, the board is not only losing out on their wisdom but may also undermine the set of people that board member speaks for.
Source: Briefing
Year: September 2022
Link: https://mag.briefing.co.uk/2022/09/09/inclusivity-can-be-counterintuitive-heidi-gardner/content.html
In times of crisis, leaders and boards can fall victim to “threat rigidity”- stopping innovating and reverting to patterns that have previously worked. In this article, Dr. Gardner and Dr. Randal Peterson discuss three main traps and ways to avoid them.
Source: Harvard Business Review
Year: April 2020
Link: https://hbr.org/2020/04/executives-and-boards-avoid-these-missteps-in-a-crisis
Side conversations (outside of main board meetings) are common communication channels and can be enormously valuable—perhaps essential. But many board chairs and members fail to appreciate the subtler drawbacks of offline conversations and therefore also fail to proactively mitigate the downside. This article provides practical guidance on how to do it better.
Publication: Harvard Business Review
Year: September-October 2019
Link: http://bit.ly/2oN8y3H
Only a small fraction of corporate board chairs or members understand how to capture the potential value of a formal board review, conducted by an objective expert. Our ongoing qualitative and survey-based research with boards in the US and UK investigates how to optimize this kind of review, including the best ways to select reviewers, prepare the directors for the experience, and follow-through on feedback and recommendations. If you would like to get involved in the ongoing research, please email csilla@gardnerandco.co
Given all the constraints on corporate independent directors, how can they best prepare for board meetings to facilitate robust discussion and make better decisions? Despite good intentions, why do smart executives provide the wrong kind of board pack, in the wrong format, etc.? More time spent preparing for a meeting does not necessarily lead to better decision-making. But what does? Drawing on the latest neuroscience findings on how human brains compute inputs, our ongoing research aims to recommend specific steps to communicate and use the right kind and amount of data and information that enables rich, productive boardroom conversations. If you would like to get involved in the ongoing research, please email csilla@gardnerandco.co