Healthy Board Insights Beyond the Table - What Truly Makes a Board Healthy?

Boards are curious creatures and are often viewed as the finish line of a successful career, or less kindly, as exclusive clubs for those who have "arrived." But there is a deeper reality: effective board membership, yes, comes with a certain status, but it is also about a trusteeship requiring humility, clarity of purpose - and genuine collaboration.

A truly healthy board goes beyond the familiar comfort of consensus. It is a dynamic, courageous body willing to confront complexity head-on. Imagine a newly appointed CEO stepping into the role - it is a phase often filled with lots of promise, anxiety, and extensive vulnerability. In today's world, more than ever.  Well-functioning boards recognise their crucial role in this transition, supporting with genuine mentorship and guidance without 'needling' judgement, and instead with encouragement without patronisation.

I have witnessed the remarkable difference a united board can make when recruiting a CEO for a multifamily office in wealth management. Multifamily offices, in particular, manage uniquely layered dynamics among family members, each carrying distinct values, visions, and emotional nuances. Successfully navigating these complexities demands extraordinary strategic insight, pragmatism, and emotional intelligence.

In the case I observed, the board displayed exceptional professionalism and wisdom by seeing the simultaneous onboarding of a new CEO and a new Global Head of Private Equity (PE) as an opportunity for change and renewal. A 360 win-win in this particular case. The board used constructive ways in quite remarkable measures and aligned the new CEO’s strategic vision with the fresh ideas introduced by the new Global Head of PE.  To understand its particular challenge, they managed this balancing act with a sensitive and diplomatic finesse, respecting and addressing the varied and, in some instances, competing expectations of family stakeholders. Successfully navigating such a scenario shows that it sets a board apart, transforming potential conflict into strategic synergy.

Yet, too many boards who are facing lots of complexity, shy away from this constructive tension, mistakenly prioritising comfort and tradition. In practice, real inclusivity, frequently reduced to mere checkbox representation, demands far more. It can safely be said, that authentic inclusivity involves actively seeking and truly hearing diverse voices - voices that disrupt norms and challenge ingrained thinking. Boards have life cycles - and they should be healthy. The way is to replace comfortable consensus with rigorous debate, transforming boardrooms into spaces of meaningful, strategic dialogue.

Perhaps it's time we openly question the assumption that board membership represents the pinnacle of professional prestige. Why so? Ram Charan remarks, "Great boards continuously renew themselves, fostering strategic engagement rather than passive governance." This spirit of renewal should characterise modern boardrooms and replace dated assumptions with vibrancy and purposeful engagement.

As you consider your own journey in board service, reflect honestly on your motivations and your contributions. The modern board member finds genuine fulfilment in meaningful impact, sincere engagement, and openness to growth - and not just status. Healthy boards reflect humanity, or in other words, they are poised yet approachable, ambitious yet humble, diverse yet unified by clarity of purpose.

Our greatest contribution to today's dynamic time of, hopefully, meaningful reinvention and sustainability might be shifting the narrative - from board membership as a status symbol to an authentic, courageous act of stewardship. This is timely, and essential.

Cecile Hofer is the Co-Founder and Global Managing Partner of Selion Global, advising boards, C-suite leaders, and senior executives on leadership, transformation, and career transitions. Having lived and worked across global markets, she brings deep insight into leadership, adaptability, and the nuances of leading across cultures.