Directors Learn to Ask Questions Without Backseat Driving
It’s becoming harder for directors to keep their noses in and fingers out.
Senior Managing Director Jan Koors was quoted in the Agenda article, “Directors Learn to Ask Questions Without Backseat Driving."
Timelines for strategy execution are becoming more compressed as the advancement of technology drives an ever-accelerating pace of change. That makes it even more challenging for directors to balance effective and thorough oversight with the risk that they might get a little too close to day-to-day operations.
"The noses in, fingers out thing is getting more difficult," said Jannice Koors, a senior managing director at Pearl Meyer. "What's driving that difficulty is how the nature of strategy is changing. ... A five-year strategy is a pipe dream, and a three-year strategy is wishful thinking," she added.
While quarterly board meetings used to be sufficient for directors to receive necessary updates, three months is now a long time, and the business outlook can change drastically from one quarter to the next.
The full Agenda article is available to subscribers.