For decades, the relationship between boards and executives ran on a familiar rhythm. Management led, boards oversaw. There were clear lanes, predictable cycles, and a shared sense of expectations on what “good governance” looked like…

Lately, “unlearning” has become a buzzword, tossed around in leadership seminars, innovation workshops, and strategy retreats. But behind the jargon lies one of the most difficult and essential skills for modern governance.

Years ago, a coach and friend shared a simple truth that has stayed with me: every leader needs a circle. A circle is a small group of people who see you clearly, stretch you deeply, and stand beside you quietly when the weight of leadership feels heavy…

Boards often celebrate alignment. It’s a mark of maturity, shared purpose, unified direction, and collective wisdom. But there’s a quiet danger in too much harmony. When everyone agrees too quickly, it’s worth asking: what are we not hearing? …

In boardrooms, we talk a lot about impact. Less often do we talk about effect. Yet understanding the difference between the two can mean the difference between being a director who shapes outcomes and one who simply reacts to them…

Technology has rewired the world faster than governance could evolve. Yet in boardrooms across Canada, one of the most subtle and consequential fault lines isn’t about balance sheets or bylaws. It’s about how directors think…

Sometimes, deep knowledge can cloud perspective. We think expertise keeps us safe — that the person who “knows” will steer us through complexity. But in the boardroom, expertise can quietly distort what’s meant to be a collective act of governance…

Or You Can’t Always Get What You Want, But You Get What You Need.

The Rolling Stones weren’t singing about governance, but they might as well have been. At the board table, this truth shows up every day: directors rarely get everything they want. You won’t always receive the perfect briefing package. You won’t always secure consensus for your position. You won’t always get the vote to go your way…

For years, boardrooms have talked about uncertainty. Volatile markets, shifting regulations, geopolitical unrest—all framed within a risk register, as if they could be contained in neat boxes with probability scores and mitigation plans. But what we face now goes deeper than uncertainty. It’s what I call not knowing-ness…

Boardrooms pride themselves on diversity. Gender, ethnicity, geography, industry experience—these all get airtime in competency matrices. But what about neurodiversity? ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other forms of different thinking are still the quiet elephant in the boardroom. They rarely show up in disclosure, yet they are almost certainly there…

Directors don’t come to the table empty-handed. Everyone has motives and some obvious, some subtle. Most directors I’ve worked with are a blend ticking the box on 3-4 of these at once. Here are a few of the common “whys” I’ve seen. . .

Communication is the board’s currency. Every agenda item, every sidebar conversation, every decision relies on it. But not all communication is created equal. In the boardroom, how you speak—and how you listen—shapes outcomes…

It happens to the best of us. A sharp tone, a cutting remark, or a visible flash of anger slips out in the boardroom. In a setting built on trust, composure, and collaboration, these moments feel bigger than they are. You can’t rewind, but you can recover. In fact, how you handle a mistake often tells the board more about your leadership than whether you made one in the first place…

In today’s boardrooms, expectations are rising. Directors are expected to not only govern with wisdom but also to bring fresh insight into emerging risks, new technologies, and shifting social expectations. That’s where upskilling comes in. Upskilling isn’t about collecting credentials for the sake of it…

If you have served on a board long enough, you have met them: the director who rubs you the wrong way. Maybe it is their style—too abrasive, too quiet, too long-winded. Maybe you simply do not understand where they are coming from. Boards are not friendship clubs. They are governance bodies…

Over the years, I’ve seen boards that hum with healthy debate, adapt quickly to change, and make courageous decisions together. I’ve also seen boards that become paralysed by entrenched positions, unspoken tensions, and directors who simply couldn’t work within the culture. They just don’t ‘fit’…

Board work is work. It may not come with a timesheet or a corner office, but it demands time, judgment, and real responsibility. And yet, it often sits at the crossroads of service and compensation especially in sectors like non-profits, start-ups, and Crown corporations where expectations are high, and resources may be limited…

Most boards are solid at the basics. Review the financials. Keep an eye on KPIs. Approve the strategy. Ask a few clarifying questions that don’t rock the boat. But when it comes to real leadership - the kind that stretches thinking, reframes issues, and creates room for something new - it’s easy for boards to coast…

Private conversations between directors are a normal, and often necessary, part of board work. They build trust, strengthen relationships, test thinking, and help directors prepare for high-stakes discussions. But there’s a fine line between allyship, which strengthens governance, and lobbying, which undermines it …

One of the most underrated parts of board work happens not in the boardroom, but around the dinner table the night before. Over the years, I’ve come to value these dinners as more than just a calendar placeholder. They are where tone is set, relationships are tended, and …