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Experience Bias

Is experience the same as wisdom? “I’ve seen this before…” is the kind of statement that lands with quiet authority. Not loud, not forceful but just enough to shift the room…

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AI & Blind Spots

Where could AI break your business? Not in theory. In practice. That’s the question boards should be asking…

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Political Acuity

Why is the most important comment in a board meeting sometimes the one no one picks up on?

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The Likeability Factor

It shows up in almost every selection conversation.

“I just like him.” “She reminds me of . . .” “I like what they said.”
It sounds reasonable. Human, even. But it’s not really about liking someone…

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A Good Fit

“He’s not a good fit.” It’s one of those boardroom phrases delivered with a nod and just enough certainty to end the conversation. No one asks what it really means. We all move on…

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The Newbie

The advice usually goes something like this: observe quietly at first, learn the personalities around the table, and slowly ease your way into the conversation. I’m not entirely convinced…

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Give to Gain

International Women’s Day on March 8th often brings a familiar rhythm—celebration, reflection, and renewed calls for progress. This 2026 theme, Give to Gain, resonates for a simple reason: it reflects how many women have quietly advanced leadership for decades.

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Agility or Scenarios?

There was a time when preparing for uncertainty meant booking a full day retreat, printing thick binders, and running through table-top risk scenarios. Pandemic. Cyber breach. Commodity shock. Regulatory change…

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Leaving Well

There comes a time in every director’s board experience when you ask yourself. . . Is it time for me to leave? It doesn’t matter whether you serve on a nonprofit, corporate, or Crown board…

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The Power of Four

There’s a familiar governance refrain: you need at least three of any under-represented group on a board for their voices to truly carry. Most often, this gets framed around women. One is token. Two can feel paired. Three becomes “normal.” The research calls it critical mass…

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Recruitment & Evaluation

How do you get to an unbiased truth, especially when power and politics are in the room? I’ve seen two very different governance environments when it comes to board composition…

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To Post or Not

In the last ten years, I’ve watched social media move from something boards barely talked about to something directors are increasingly expected to navigate. LinkedIn, X, and industry forums now shape reputations and narratives far faster than board decks ever will…

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Rethinking Risk

In periods of geopolitical and economic volatility, I’ve noticed the same pattern play out again and again. Risk conversations speed up. Requests for updates multiply. New information arrives constantly, each data point demanding attention…

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Five Questions

Joining a board as a new director can feel like stepping into a conversation already mid-sentence. The history is rich, the relationships are often well established, and the rhythms are familiar and well worn. In that context, credibility doesn’t come from talking more; it comes from asking better questions…

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Sorting Signal from Noise

We didn’t ease into 2026. We lurched.

The year opened against a backdrop of geopolitical aggression, economic brinkmanship, market speculation, and a steady hum of conspiracy theories that blur the line between fact, fear, and fiction…

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Intuition in the Boardroom

We don’t talk about intuition enough in governance circles. Not the mystical kind, but the deep, practiced knowing that comes from years of pattern recognition, lived experience, and the ability to read the room beneath the words…

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IQ & EQ

“How much does IQ matter when you’re sitting at the board table? What about EQ?” This might seem like a deceptively simple question , but the leaders in the room went quiet…

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Interviewing for Integrity

At a recent board workshop, we spent time unpacking how to approach a board interview, what to ask, what to listen for, and how to evaluate the culture you may be stepping into. The conversation surfaced an important theme: integrity. . .

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Stone Soup

Boardrooms are full of impressive people yet even with all that talent, conversations can feel thin, decisions heavy, and progress slower than it should be. Which brings us to the old folktale of Stone Soup

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OnBoarding Toolkits

Onboarding isn’t paperwork. It’s culture-setting. In the first weeks of a new director’s term, a board signals what it values, what it neglects, and how it expects people to show up. A good onboarding process equips directors…

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